With Christmas just around the corner, I’m already stuffed and sick of sugary pastries, heavy foods, and basically any sweet of any kind.
I’ve started craving summer salads. Summer salads that are a teensy bit heavier and served either warm or at room temperature (it is December, after all). When Mom (hi!) sent me a beautiful and perfectly timed bag of quinoa (thanks!), I knew a salad needed to happen.
I’m bringing this salad to a ladies’ night tonight, and hopefully it will help combat all of the other delicious and amazing heavy winter foods that I know I won’t be able to resist. The problem is that I love winter foods, but I hate that weighted down feeling when you eat too much of them, too many days in a row.
Mango Salsa Quinoa Salad (from the blog Two Peas and Their Pod)
- 1 C uncooked quinoa, rinsed
- 2 C water
- 1/2 C cilantro, roughly chopped
- 2 medium avocados, diced
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1 ripe mango, diced
- 1/4 C lime juice (1 lime)
- 1 T olive oil
- 1/2 t ground cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
This is a nice and easy throw-together recipe. Rinse the quinoa (I gave it a quick rinse even though the bag said I didn’t need to), and bring it to a boil in two cups of water. Turn the heat down to low, cover, and let it simmer for fifteen minutes or so until all of the water is absorbed and the quinoa is light and fluffy.
You say it keen-WAH, by the way. So weird. It’s also a seed, not a grain! Weirder.
In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, cilantro, and avocado.
Add the tomato.
Next, the mango, olive oil, lime juice, and spices.
Give it a nice stir to combine and serve at room temperature or warm (or cold–up to you, really).
Look at this totally gorgeous bowl that I bought at Pier One the other day (on sale!). Perfect for a Mexican-themed salad.
This recipe has the perfect amount of lime and cilantro (though Fritz won’t touch anything with cilantro with a ten-foot pole).
The best part was how creamy the avocado was.
Actually, the best part was the sweet bites of mango combined with the cumin.
It might have all been the best part. This salad was super dang delicious. If you are craving some basic but delicious, quick and healthy meals, go for this one. You could serve it with some chicken if you happen to be married to a man who thinks keen-WAH seeds don’t count as a real protein.
Henry was being super cute all day, but the best part was the perfect light combined with Christmas lights in the background and his quite impressive modeling skills.
That cat loves to be photographed. Seriously. And I’m also like a stage mom–we need to get some cat food ads going or something.
Cat sneeze:
8 comments
Skip to comment form ↓
Caitlin
December 16, 2011 at 6:03 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Oh I’m really excited about this! I’m always looking for ways to include Quinoa in my diet because it’s so good for you! I suck at proteins lol
Hannah
December 16, 2011 at 8:10 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Mmm sounds really good, I’ll have to give that a try. I don’t happen to have avocado, or mango, and maybe no quinoa – BUT I can remedy that. Can’t wait to see you in a couple of days (and I hope you don’t need a break from cooking for a few days, since I have to work all week)
As for summer salad cravings: only 5 more days and the daylight starts to INCREASE – so technically we begin the countdown to summer, the worst part is almost over.
Tine
December 17, 2011 at 6:02 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This really looks divine! I love the combinations of this salad!
Thanks for sharing!
Kathy
December 19, 2011 at 7:39 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hey Lauren – I’m sick of sugar, too. Please make me stop eating Christmas goodies! The salad looks wonderful and I never get sick of superstar Henry. Henry and the Christmas lights is an amazing photo – should be your 2012 Christmas card.
Anna @ hiddenponies
December 28, 2011 at 3:43 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This looks delicious, but my favourite part has to be the cat sneeze – priceless!
Lauren Zietsman
December 28, 2011 at 9:08 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
That’s my favorite part, too!
kero
May 20, 2012 at 4:54 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I”m going to a solar eclipse watching party and this sounded perfect during our LA heat. When I was done, though, a lot of the avocado had mixed to the point of making the quinoa creamy (like I had mixed guacamole into it). Maybe from sitting on the warm quinoa while I got my other ingredients together? My my entire salad seems a bit wet, too. Any advise on what I may have done wrong? Thanks!
Lauren Zietsman
May 20, 2012 at 8:32 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Your avocado was probably more ripe than mine was so it creamed up faster. I’d save the avo for last and just gently mix it in next time. As of the wateriness, I think that also depends on the ripeness and wetness of the ingredients? Next time, possibly cool the quinoa first and drain everything before you add it? Good luck!