Day 146 -- I Love Summer Salads

With summer coming up fast, I'm looking for some new recipes to take advantage of good summer veggies.  I found a recipe for a Quinoa-Black Bean Salad in the internet and decided to do a little revising to make it low fat.  It calls for fresh cherry tomatoes which will be in season soon, so I'm looking forward to giving this a try!

Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

10 halved cherry tomatoes
1 c. frozen corn
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
5 green onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Dressing:
3 limes, juiced
1 T. olive oil
1 T. yellow miso
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 t. chia seeds
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 t. red pepper flakes, or more to taste

Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender and water has been absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.  Combine ingredients for dressing and blend.   Combine quinoa, corn, tomatoes, black beans, and green onions together in a bowl. Pour dressing over quinoa mixture; toss to coat. Stir in cilantro; season with salt and black pepper. Serve immediately or chill in refrigerator.