Quinoa Salad With Mangoes, Cashews and Mint
Quinoa, a whole grain, has a natural protective coating called saponin. Rinse quinoa before cooking and you’re good to go with this easy summer salad. It looks like a bowl of jewels, tastes like a mouth of wonderful. It’s high in protein and low in calories and fat, too. Serve room temperature or slightly chilled. Good on its own or mounded on a bed of fresh spinach, arugula or other salad greens.
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa rinsed
- 2 cups water or vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon canola grapeseed or other neutral oil
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1/2 jalapeno minced (about 2 teaspoons)
- 1 handful of mint leaves coarsely chopped
- 1 bunch cilantro leaves coarsely chopped
- 1 mango peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
- 1/2 cup roasted unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped
- sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring water or vegetable broth to boil over high heat. Pour in quinoa. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook quinoa for about 25 minutes, or until all all the liquid is absorbed and quinoa’s little endosperm tails appear.
- Spoon quinoa into a large bowl. Add lime juice and oil and toss to combine. Add celery, jalapeno, mint and cilantro. Mix again.
- Gently mix in mango. Season with sea salt and pepper.
- Mix in roasted cashews just before serving.
- Keeps covered and refrigerated for 3 days, although nuts may lose some of their crunch.