In This Week’s Lunchbox: Black Bean Salad

Ingredients:
• 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
• ¼ cup of corn (I just use frozen corn that is cooked and then cooled)
• Diced red onion (just under ¼ cup)
• Quinoa (just under ¼ cup of cooked quinoa – this is actually the quinoa I still have left from the 1 cup of dried quinoa I cooked up last week. It makes a lot when cooked and I keep it in the fridge and use it in a variety of recipes)
• Diced chiles (jalapenos, serranos, etc. whatever you have or like – I leave the amount up to you. It depends on how hot you want it)
• Lime-Olive Oil Dressing (juice ½ of a lime, add olive oil and salt and pepper, amounts will be based on your tasting preference with the oil and s/p).
• Red pepper flakes (as you like, if you like)

Basically, it’s very simply you just mix all the ingredients together and then add the dressing – slowly drizzle in and taste until it has the amount you want. I also tossed a little bit of ranch dressing dip mix (just the dry mix) in with mine. Salt and pepper to taste, if needed. It will depend on if you already put enough black and pepper in the olive oil-lime dressing.

You can eat the salad on its own or have it with tortilla chips, particularly if the salad doesn’t have a grain element.

Alterations: I recommend that you add tomatoes (chopped/diced), if you have them. I normally do, but I didn’t have any this week. Another nice addition to this salad is fresh cilantro, chopped. It makes a big difference, in a very good way. You can also omit the quinoa, if you like, or replace it with couscous or rice. Some people I’ve shared this with like to top it with shredded cheese.

Quinoa

Quinoa is an amino acid-rich (protein) seed that has a fluffy, creamy, slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when cooked. I thought it was a grain, but learned from the Whole Foods website that it is actually a relative of leafy green vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard. It is a recently rediscovered ancient "grain" once considered "the gold of the Incas." I ate a lot of quinoa in the first trimester of my pregnancy, when I was very sick and nauseous and, basically, vegan. I have 2 quinoa recipes to share today. They have some shared ingredients, which makes it easy.

1. Quinoa Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh is a Mediterranean dish typically made with parsley, tomatoes, cucumbers and bulgur (and sometimes onion and additional herbs), olive oil and lemon juice. I love to make it with quinoa instead of bulgur (and have made it with cilantro instead of parsley, giving it a tex-mex twist).

Ingredients

• Parsley (1 cup, chopped)
• Quinoa (1 cup - I actually only used around 1/4 cup in this recipe and saved the rest for my other recipe)
  
• Red Onion (I used a bit 1/4 of a large red onion chopped)
  
• 1/2 Cucumber, Chopped
  
• 1 Small Shallot, Chopped
• Lemon Juice (fresh squeezed)
• Olive Oil
• Crumbled Goat Cheese (as garnish)
• Salt and pepper (to taste)

Preparation

1. Chop Parsley, Onion, Shallot (shallot is optional, but since I had some, I used it)
2. Cook Quinoa (per package instructions) - I cook mine in my rice cooker
3. Juice 2 lemons (some of this juice is used in other recipe)
4. Mix all ingredients together, adding lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste - garnished with crumbled goat cheese

2. Quinoa Salad with Roasted Veggies and Chickpeas (this is a variation on Martha Stewart's Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Chickpeas, which I found in Everyday Food)

Ingredients

• 1 carrot (sliced for roasting)
• 1 small head cauliflower (chopped for roasting)
  
• 1/2-3/4 tsp. cumin (depending your preference)
• olive oil
• sea salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup quinoa (the half leftover from the quinoa tabbouleh)
• fresh lemon juice (from two lemons - leftover from previous recipe)
• herb salad mix (from Trader Joe's)

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 450. Place carrots and cauliflower on a baking sheet, toss with cumin, salt, pepper and olive oil and roast for 20-30 minutes (rotating halfway through). I drizzled with olive oil, so I don't have an exact measurement. (I also added a dash of garlic-onion spice mix that I had to the vegetables before roasting)
2. Cook quinoa (in accordance with box instructions or in a rice cooker, which I prefer because I am terrible at cook rice or quinoa on the stove)
3. Make dressing with lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt and pepper (to taste - you can also add lemon zest and/or vinegar if you want) and toss with salad mix (Martha suggested arugula - I used the mix I had)
4. In a bowl, combine veggies and quinoa and serve over salad mix (you can also add some of the dressing directly to the quinoa/veggie mix if you want).

The instructions are as the salad was intended. I ended up having this meal with friends and we put plum tomatoes and goat cheese on the salad and used the lemon-olive oil dressing. We chose to have the quinoa with roasted veggies on the side. It was great lunch.