Whipped this fresh and tasty quinoa salad up with the kiddo on yet ANOTHER spring snow day.
Luckily, I had everything on hand for this recipe except the olives—but they do make a very tasty addition. This is the kind of cooking I like best, when you just throw together what you need to use up and come out with something tasty.
The original version of this recipe called for fresh or frozen corn; all I had was a bag of mixed frozen veggies (corn, carrots, and green beans), so I threw those in instead! It just made it even more colorful and flavorful, but you can do what you like. 🙂
This recipe is toddler-friendly, and mine even helped mix all the ingredients in the bowl. It’s also vegan and gluten-free, so it’s very allergy-friendly. I like to eat it with a BIG spoon, or with tortilla chips on the side!
Also, if you’ve never tried making quinoa in your rice cooker, try it! It’s a game changer.
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- 1/2 cup cucumber, chopped
- 1/2 cup scallions, chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn or mixed vegetables, thawed or blanched
- 1 can beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/4 cup black olives, pitted and diced
- 2 T olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- salsa and avocado for topping, if desired
Instructions
- Thoroughly rinse your quinoa and cook. I like to cook my quinoa in my rice cooker; measure and cook exactly as you would for brown rice in the rice cooker. Or, boil 2 cups of water, salt the pot, and add quinoa. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
- Mix quinoa, vegetables, beans, herbs, and olives in a large bowl. Add lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and mix well.
- Serve room temperature or chilled. Top with salsa and avocado if desired.
Love this recipe! Will be trying this one very soon!
Awesome! Thanks!
Oh how I love recipes like this one that can be easily altered depending on what you have on hand. This salad looks so colorful and delicious – and healthy too!
It’s REALLY addictive! I had two bowls full for lunch—but I don’t feel too bad about that because it is so healthy!
This seems like a really good recipe I am going to pin it so that I can give it a try later!
Thanks Beth!
Great recipe! Love quinoa so I will definitely try this. Thanks!
My pleasure! Hope you love it!
Bookmarked! I’ve been looking for things to do with that bag of quinoa I’ve had languishing in my cupboard for a while. This looks nice and easy to make so I’m going to try it. Thanks!
It’s really yummy, Ana!
I made the Fiesta Quinoa Salad, but used red quinoa. It's so good. Thanks for the recipe.
So glad you liked it, Dianne! I bet it is beautiful with red quinoa.
Using a rice cooker to prepare the quinoa–genius! I tried it last night with my go-to quinoa salad recipe (similar to yours, but with lime zest and juice in the dressing) and it really was much easier. Thanks so much for the idea!
This sounds great! Can’t wait to try it! I am sharing this on Pinterest!