pinto beans | One Small Vegan

Vegan MoFo 2012 Post #5

Look at all that good stuff! Can you tell why I call this a ‘confetti’ salad?

I am in love with this Southwest Confetti Quinoa Salad! In not much longer than it takes to cook a pot of quinoa (20 minutes) you can have a big beautiful bowl of hearty salad, stuffed full of beans, vegetables, and lots of flavour. And this includes the Chipotle Vinaigrette. And this recipe makes roughly five cups, so you have lots to share, or can enjoy it all week long, like I did.

Southwest Confetti Quinoa Salad
Salad:
1/2 cup dry quinoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup corn, cooked (I microwaved some frozen corn)
1 cup chopped cabbage
1/2 cup diced orange pepper
1/2 cup diced red pepper
1/4 cup roughly chopped black olives
1 jalapeño, finely diced (seeds and ribs removed if you don’t want your salad spicy)
1 398ml can (1 cup) pinto beans (or black beans), drained and rinsed
Zest of 1 lime
Optional topping: diced avocado

Chipotle Vinaigrette:
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Juice of 1 lime (2 – 2 1/2 tbsp)
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp prepared Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp chipotle pepper powder (depending on your preferred level of spiciness)

Place quinoa and water in a pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to low heat, cover, and let simmer for 12 minutes. Remove lid and stir chopped cabbage into the quinoa. Cover, and let simmer a few more minutes, until the quinoa is fully cooked. Turn off heat and transfer quinoa to a large bowl or container (if you use one with a lid you won’t need to use another dish). Zest the lime over the bowl, and set quinoa aside.

While quinoa cools a bit, prepare the Chipotle Vinaigrette. Just place all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake until thoroughly combined.

Stir the corn, orange pepper, red pepper, jalapeño, olives, and beans into the quinoa. Pour the dressing over top and mix thoroughly. Cover salad, and place in fridge to cool. You can eat this right away, while its still warm, but the flavour will be better once its cooled and had a chance to sit for a while. Make sure you stir the salad again before serving. Enjoy!