Southwestern Quinoa Salad

Gluten-free, Vegan, Soy-Free, Nut-Free

There are few things Mr. Hatch Health and Hap­pi­ness loathes more than mak­ing his lunch­es for the week. Lucky for him, some­times I take pity on him and do it myself – and this South­west­ern Sal­ad is the result! Quinoa is a super-seed (yes, it’s a seed!) packed with a full pro­file of pro­tein and lots of vit­a­mins and nutri­ents. Sweet pota­to, black beans and avo­ca­does are all packed with fiber and deli­cious nutri­tion to help you avoid the after­noon slump and keep you rock­ing and rolling until din­ner time.

Ingredients

Use organ­ic when­ev­er possible

• 2 medi­um sweet pota­toes, peeled and diced
• 1–2 tea­spoons olive oil
• ½ tsp. chili pow­der, divided
• ½ tsp. cumin, divided
• ½ tsp. sea salt, divided
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups water
• ¼ tsp. gar­lic powder
• Juice of half a lime, plus more for dressing
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1–2 cups corn
• 2 large avocadoes

Instructions

1. Pre­heat the oven to 425 degrees and line a large bak­ing sheet with parch­ment paper
2. Toss the sweet pota­to with the olive oil, ¼ tsp. chili pow­der, cumin and sea salt until com­bined. Spread into an even lay­er on the bak­ing sheet
3. Roast the sweet pota­toes for 15 min­utes until eas­i­ly pierced with a fork
4. While sweet pota­toes are roast­ing, rinse and drain the quinoa and then put it in a medi­um sized pan with the 2 cups of water
5. Bring the quinoa to a boil, then cov­er it with a lid and low­er the heat to medi­um low
6. Cook the quinoa for 12–15 min­utes, until all of the liq­uid is absorbed
7. Remove from heat, and sea­son with remain­ing salt, cumin, chili pow­der, gar­lic pow­der and lime juice
8. Stir in black beans, corn and roast­ed sweet potatoes
9. Top with avo­ca­do and enjoy!

* Serves 4 as a main dish and 8 as a side. If mak­ing ahead of time, top with avo­ca­do and a sprin­kle of lime juice imme­di­ate­ly before eating. *