southwestern quinoa salad

well, i think i ran myself into submission last week.  52 miles.  in one week.
who does that?

i guess i do now.

so my answer to all this running is to stock up on good food.  a 2 hour round trip drive and $270 later, my pantry, fridge and freezer are overflowing with Trader Joe's goodies...two buck chuck baby.  i pinned a couple of yummy recipes i wanted to try but was too lazy to try them separately so i combined them with a few extras.  SO good. not too heavy but filling.

here is what I chowed on tonight...you need to try this one fo' sho.

ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup quinoa-rinsed
1 3/4 cup water

1/2 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 jalepeno pepper
2 avocados, diced
big handful of quartered cherry tomatoes
1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed well

1 cup of roasted corn (i used trader joe's frozen roasted corn)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tsp cumin

juice from 1 lime fresh squeezed

handful of chopped fresh cilantro

sea salt to taste

feta cheese

1. Warm the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once it’s hot add the rinsed quinoa and toast for about 2-3 minutes until it starts smelling nutty. Add water, stir once, cover, and simmer with a lid on for 20 minutes.
2. While the quinoa is cooking, combine next set of ingredients in a large bowl. Prepare the dressing by combining the lime juice, oil, cumin, and salt. Whisk it aggressively. Adjust seasoning as necessary.
3. When the quinoa has finished cooking, remove it from heat and fluff with a fork. Add black beans and roasted corn and toss to warm them through.
4. Let the quinoa cool for about five minutes and then add all the remaining ingredients, including the dressing, and mix.  Sprinkle with feta cheese if desired.  You should desire feta cheese ;)