Healthy Mediterranean Quinoa Salad with Beans

5 from 1 vote

Healthy Mediterranean Quinoa Salad with Beans

Ready in less than 30 minutes, this delicious, healthy Mediterranean quinoa salad is rich in protein and also vegan. I prefer to use a combination of white and red kidney beans for this recipe, but black beans will also do!

Prep Time20

Cook Time25

Total Time45

Course: Lunch, Salad

Cuisine: Greek, Mediterranean

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 566kcal

Author: Makos

Ingredients

For the quinoa

1 cup quinoa
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cups water or vegetable broth
½ teaspoon salt

For the salad

1 can white beans rinsed and drained
1 can red kidney beans or black beans rinsed and drained
1 cup sweet corn frozen
1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced or cubed regular tomatoes
1 cup fresh parsley chopped

For the dressing:

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed. Start with one tablespoon, taste and add more in needed.
1 red bell pepper chopped
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
½ teaspoon dried garlic powder or 1 garlic clove - for stronger flavor

Instructions

Prepare the quinoa:

Rinse: Place the quinoa in a fine sieve and rinse well under cold water for 2-3 minutes or until the water comes out completely clean. Drain well.
Sauté the quinoa (optional):
Transfer the olive oil and the quinoa to a pot or saucepan and sauté, stirring often, over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes.
Boil:
Add the water (or vegetable broth) and the salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover the pot with a lid and cook for 14 minutes.
After the 14 minutes, add the frozen sweet corn, stir, cover with the lid and cook for 1 minute more.
Rest:
Remove the pot from the heat, but keep the lid on. Let it sit for an additional 5 minutes so that the quinoa can absorb any remaining moisture.
After the 5 minutes, gently fluff the quinoa with a fork to separate the grains and make it light and fluffy.

For the salad dressing

Transfer the olive oil, the lemon juice, the bell pepper, the salt, the black pepper and the garlic to the bowl of your blender and blend until smooth. You may need to shake the blender a few times until the bell pepper blends well. If needed add a splash of water.
Taste the dressing and add more salt or lemon juice in needed.

For the salad

Transfer the quinoa and the corn, the beans, the tomatoes and the parsley to a large salad bowl and mix.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Serve.

Notes

This recipe makes 4 servings as a light meal or lunch and 6-8 servings as a side salad.

Instead of canned beans you can also use boiled dried beans or leftover beans (rinse them and drain well). If you use dry beans you will need approximately half cup white and half cup red dry beans (uncooked).

Rinsing the dry quinoa before cooking with plenty of water is very important. This procedure removes any bitter-tasting saponins that coat the quinoa grains.

Sauteing the quinoa with a bit of olive oil is optional but it will make it more tasty.

To make the salad dressing you can also use a small chopper or a tall jar and an immersion blender.

Nutrition