Fiesta Quinoa Avocado Salad

Every Sunday morning, my ritual is as follows: I drink my coffee, watch Food Network, and browse Pinterest to see what new and exciting lunch recipes were posted. 

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I get bored with food VERY quickly. I know there are some people (cough, my husband) who can eat the same thing for lunch every day and never get tired of it. Well, my friend, I am in no way like that. 

I like to think of lunch as my reward for getting through the morning at work. Therefore, I want this "reward" to be utterly delicious and refreshing to my palate! 

There are 4 qualities that are very important to me when it comes to lunches. I want:

• A dish that's easy to make
• A dish that doesn't require 800 ingredients 
• A dish that's healthy and hearty (has enough protein to keep me full)
• A dish that doesn't smell (like fish or curry- let's be honest, we hate the people who bring smelly lunches into work)

This dish was inspired by a Barefoot Contessa recipe that I saw on Food Network this morning. She made a delicious-looking corn and avocado salad that almost made me start drooling. I decided to sort of recreate this with my own flare. I used black beans and quinoa in my salad to amp up the protein and fiber to really keep me satisfied throughout the day. I also added cumin and paprika to give it a little zesty edge. 

In addition to being great for lunch, this salad is also the perfect dish to bring to a party or BBQ because it really adheres to most dietary restrictions: The salad is gluten free, dairy free, nut-free, and vegan! Could you ask for more?!

I used cilantro in this recipe, which I know a lot of people dislike. Feel free to sub this out with parsley or any other herb you love. I also found the most beautiful cherry tomatoes that I thought would be perfect for this salad, but you can use any kind of tomato you want. Lastly, I used black beans, but I think kidney beans or cannelini beans would also also work very well. Mix it up and have fun with this recipe!

My superfood of the week is quinoa which I've featured before in my Quinoa Fried "Rice." To get the health benefits of quinoa check out that recipe: Quinoa Fried "Rice"

Ingredients:

2 cups cherry tomatoes

1 cup dried quinoa

1 large english cucumber-sliced

1 can black beans- rinsed

1/2 cup cilantro-chopped

2 cups corn (I used frozen and thawed it prior to adding)

1 avocado- diced

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/8 cup olive oil

2 limes- juiced

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. paprika

Directions:

1) Cook quinoa to package instructions and let cool

2) Combine tomatoes, cucumber, beans, corn, cilantro, and avocado in large bowl

3) Mix vinegar, olive oil, lime juice, sugar, sea salt, pepper, cumin and paprika in a small bowl with a wire whisk. Add dressing to the veggie mixture

4) Add cooled quinoa to mixture and stir to combine

5) Taste for seasoning and add more salt/pepper if necessary

6) Refrigerate at least 2 hours before eating to allow flavors to marry