WFD: Chili-Lime Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

I love quinoa. I can - and do - eat it morning, noon and night. Not every day, mind you, but I certainly could if I wanted to because it is so versatile.

This recipe was inspired by a chili-lime pasta salad I had recently. It's super easy, flavorful, and packs plenty of protein and healthy carbs to make it a meal in itself if that's how you roll. I only use two peppers if I'm serving it to company and I don't know how well they like spicy food. If I'm cooking for myself and no one else, I use 3 or 4 peppers, sometimes hotter varieties. It's also good with extra veggies, like sweet peppers, carrots, cukes, celery, and even wilted greens. Modify it and make it your own!

Chili-Lime Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

For the salad:

• 3 cups cooked quinoa
• 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) corn kernels
• 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped or sliced
• 1 red chili pepper, finely chopped or sliced

For the dressing:

• 4 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp raw agave nectar
• 1/8 tsp fresh lime zest
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp sea salt (or to taste)

To garnish:

• fresh cilantro

1. Cook the quinoa as directed. Allow to cool to room temperature. Rinse the black beans and add them to the quinoa along with the corn kernels.
2. Finely chop the jalapeno pepper, the red chili pepper and the scallions. Add to quinoa mixture.
3. Take the juice of two limes, vegetable oil, the zest of one lime, agave nectar, sea salt and the garlic clove and process in food processor or blender until smooth.
4. Pour over quinoa mixture and allow to marinate for at least 20-30 minutes.
5. Garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Serves 6-ish as a side, 3 or 4 as a main dish.