There are a few key words in some recipes that jump out to me to tell me that it’s gonna be something I’ll really like.

Some of these key words would be chocolate, healthy, cookie, cupcake, cookie butter, biscoff, chocolate – so important it deserves to be mentioned twice, peanut butter, southwest, and last but certainly not least-fiesta. Helloooooo who would not want something with fiesta involved?! Fiesta tacos, fiesta enchiladas, fiesta brownies, fiesta cookies, fiesta ice cream, fiesta salad. I can totally hop on all those first trains.

The fact that fiesta was in the name of the recipe I got adapted my fiesta salad from, was what partly motivated me to make it. I also bought quinoa because the blogoverse is like obsessed with it almost as much as cookie butter…please tell me how anything can even be compared with cookie butter?!

Anyways, I tried quinoa for the first time. I’m no longer a quinoa virgin! woohooo. It was scary. It was scary good. I loved this recipe, it was super flavorful and perfect on the side with some salmon. I’d even eat this salad as a main course, it would be killaa with some grilled chicken! I’ve seen so many other interesting recipes with quinoa that I’m anxious to try now that I have finally tried it and gotten through the scary first time of preparing the stuff (one of those recipes is a cookie recipe. cookies with quinoa?! crazy!)

Fiesta Quinoa Salad

(adapted from mom de cuisine)

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 cup black beans, washed and drained

1 cup corn, cooked

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped

2 Tablespoons lime juice

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 cup cilantro (chopped), or to taste

Cook quinoa in 2 cups of water according to package directions-about 15 minutes, or until water is soaked up. Drain quinoa and rinse with cool water. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine chopped onion, chopped bell pepper, black beans, and corn. Mix in cooled quinoa to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together lime juice, olive oil, ground cumin, and chili powder. Pour dressing over quinoa salad and mix with fork to incorporate.
Mix in chopped cilantro, and serve. May be prepared a day in advance. Store in airtight container in fridge.