Vegan Friendly Red Quinoa Corn and Red Bean Salad

I was flipping through the current issue of the magazine/ad that a local company sends out, Marlene’s Market, (Sound Outlook) when I saw a recipe for a warm quinoa salad that sounded interesting.

My version of the salad:

The recipe was by Debra Daniels-Zeller, who is the author of The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook: 200 Recipes That Celebrate the Flavors of Oregon and Washington:

I changed a couple of things but kept the basis of the recipe, although I chilled mine as a cold salad versus eating it warm. I used red quinoa, added shallots but left out green onions and added a little sweetener to the dressing. I used nearly all organic ingredients tonight but not to worry, you don’t have to! PS: on the rinsing of the quinoa – with Ancient Harvest brand you don’t need to but it never hurts either. If your brand says you don’t need to rinse you can skip the step.

In a couple of days the new copy of the magazine should be up on Marlene’s website if you want to see the original version (they put the magazine up as a PDF).

Red Quinoa Corn and Red Bean Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 cups organic low sodium vegetable broth
• 1 cup organic red quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup organic frozen corn
• 1 ¼ tsp organic roasted garlic (jarred)
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 3 Tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp organic agave nectar (or honey for non-vegan)
• 1 Tbsp dried shallots (find in spice section)
• 15 ounce can organic kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup organic frozen green peas (preferably unsalted)
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan bring the broth, quinoa, corn and garlic to a boil. Turn the heat to medium-low, cover tightly and let simmer for 20 minutes. Take off the heat and let sit for another 5 minutes.
2. Whisk the vinegar, oil, agave, shallots and pepper together.
3. Put the frozen green peas and beans into a large mixing bowl.
4. Add the cooked quinoa to the beans and mix gently. Drizzle the dressing over and toss gently to combine.
5. Let refrigerate for a couple hours tightly covered.

~Sarah