Southwest Bean & Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

For the salad:

- 1/2 cup dry quinoa

- 3 (15-oz) cans beans of choice, drained and rinsed (i used black, pinto and red beans)

- 1 cup corn kernels (fresh, canned or thawed from frozen)

- 1 small zucchini, diced

- 1 bell pepper, diced

- 1/2 red onion, diced

- 1 jalapeño, finely diced (optional)

- 1 small bunch cilantro, chopped

- 4 oz crumbled cotija cheese (try feta as a substitute if you can’t find cotija)

For the dressing:

- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

- 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

- Optional squeeze of honey or agave nectar

- 1 Tbsp chili powder

- 2 tsp ground cumin

- 1 tsp smoked paprika, optional

- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

1) Thoroughly rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and cook according to package instructions. Rinse under cold running water to cool it off.

2) In a large bowl, combine the salad ingredients: cooked and cooled quinoa, black beans, pinto beans, bell pepper, zucchini, onion, cilantro, and cotija cheese.

3) In a small jar, combine the dressing ingredients: olive oil, vinegar, lime juice, honey or agave, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Shake together.

4) Pour dressing over salad, toss together

Notes

Definitely use real lime

Used nutritional yeast instead of cojita

Adding tomato would be good