Category: Vegan Salads

Quinoa-Avocado Salad with Black Beans and Salsa

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This is my new summer favorite vegan dish! It is simple and quick to make – and it uses some of my favorite ingredients: avocado, quinoa and black beans. It is perfect for hot summer nights when you don’t want to cook over a hot stove. It is great for left-overs too (in fact, I like it cold). Again, all these ingredients can be found at Aldi which makes this a reasonably priced and quick vegan meal that your whole family will enjoy!

This dish can be found on page 44 of “One Dish Vegan” and it serves about 4. It usually takes me about 20 minutes or less. For mine I like to substitute black beans for the pinto beans. Enjoy!

Quinoa-Avocado Salad with Black Beans and Salsa

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups of water
  • salt
  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked pinto or black beans or 1 (15.5 oz) can of pinto or black beans – rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup tomato salsa (our favorite is Newman’s Own Peach Salsa)
  • 2 ripe Hass avocados, pitted, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
  • 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro (opt)
  • 2 scallions, minced (opt)
  • Juice and zest of 1 lime (about 2 Tbsp. lime juice)
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Torn mixed salad greens for serving (opt)

Directions:

  1. Place water in a saucepan, add 1/2 tsp salt, and bring to a boil. Add the quinoa, return to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until the quinoa is tender and the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a large bowl to cool. (I like to pop the bowl into the refrigerator until the other ingredients are ready to add).
  2. Add the beans and salsa to the the bowl, and toss to combine. Add the avocados, cilantro, scallions, lime juice and zest, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss gently to combine. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.
  3. If serving as a salad: arrange the salad greens on plates, top with the quinoa-bean mixture and serve.

Green Bean and Mango Salad

It’s the middle of summer and the past few weeks have been HOT and muggy – definitely too hot to cook! So I found this great salad that we made last summer that earned a rare a 5 star rating. It uses fresh ingredients that are easy to find at my local Aldi store (for you cost conscious people like me out there). This recipe is Thai inspired and found on the Forks Over Knives website and was created by Jessica Nadel. It is super easy (takes 15 minutes) and serves 4 – 6 people. It is gluten free (depending on what you serve it over) and full of color and fresh crunchy flavor! Give it a try and let me know how you like it.

Green Bean and Mango Salad

Ingredients:

For Salad:

  • 3 cups of fresh green beans or Asian long beans (I like to cut them into 1 – 2″ pieces before cooking)
  • 2 slightly underripe mangos
  • 1 cup cherry, grape or calamari tomatoes, halved
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro – trimmed (opt. – my husband hates cilantro so I left it off)
  • 3 creen onions, sliced
  • 1/4 peanuts, crushed
  • Optional: Cooked rice (we used Simply Nature Seven Grains which warms up in 90 seconds in the microwave)

For Dressing:

  • 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 1 Tbsp gluten-free tamari
  • 1/2 tsp unrefined cane sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw)
  • 1 fresh Thai Chili, minced (optional
  • Optional: 1 Tbsp Pad Thai Sauce

Instructions:

  1. Bring a 3 qt pan of water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook for up to 2 minutes, until bright green and tender-crisp. Drain, then plunge them into a bowl of ice water to halt the cooking process. Drain again. (Optional: trim the ends and slice the beans in half lengthwise). Place them in a large bowl and set aside.
  2. See and peel the mango and slice into long, thin strips. Add Mano to the green beans, along with the tomatoes, cilantro, onion and peanuts.
  3. Wish together the lim juice, Tamara, cane sugar, and chili in a small bowl. Pour over the salad, toss and serve. The salad can be made and dressed ahead of time and left to chill and marinate in the fridge for up to 3 hours.

Quick Tip: This salad can be served alone or on a bed of rice, quinoa or other grains. We used the Simply Nature Organic Seven Grains from Aldi which adds 8 grams of protein to this meal.

Green Bean and Mango Salad