Quinoa Salad - a recipe pastiche a la Laura

Quinoa is such a trendy grain these days. It's Andean in origin and packed with protein. I first encountered quinoa while living in Bolivia and have been in love with it ever since. Unfortunately, the hubby doesn't love it so I usually only make it when I know I will have help eating it. I love quinoa salad, but I hadn't found a recipe I liked so I decided to combine recipes to make a new one - hence the pastiche :)

There really isn't much to it. First I added 1 cup of organic multicolor quinoa to 2 and a half cups of boiling water with 1 T. of olive oil (this works best for high altitude, if you are making it at lower altitude it might take less time and less water). I let it simmer over low heat with the lid on for 20 minutes and then removed it from the heat and allowed it to rest 10 minutes more with the lid still on. While the quinoa was cooling I mixed together the vinaigrette and chopped up the vegetables, then mixed it altogether - voila!

For the vinaigrette, whisk together in a small bowl:

Juice and zest of 1 lime (if the lime is not very juicy, juice another one)
2 T. Olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. freshly grated ginger

Other ingredients:

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 avocado, chopped
1/2 a red pepper, chopped
1 ripe mango, chopped
1/2 c. cilantro, chopped (you can add more or less)

I poured the vinaigrette over the avocados first so the citrus would prevent browning and then mixed all of the ingredients together! Let it chill and then a comer! Enjoy :)