Black Bean and Kidney Bean Quinoa Salad

Preheat your oven to 375F. Drizzle a little olive oil over the head of the garlic and rub it over the exposed garlic cloves. Wrap the garlic in foil, place it on a baking sheet, and roast for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves are soft and fragrant.
While the garlic roasts, rinse the quinoa through a ﬁne sieve. Transfer the quinoa and 1 ½ cups water to a small pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Fluﬀ the quinoa with a fork, re-cover, and allow it to rest while you prepare the rest of the salad.
When the garlic is ready, squeeze all of the cloves out of the garlic head into a blender or a food processor. Add all remaining dressing ingredients. Blend the dressing till smooth.
To prepare the salad, pile the edamame, green beans, bell pepper, kidney beans, black beans, and arugula into an extra-large mixing bowl. Add the cooked quinoa, the chives or green onions if using, and then the vinaigrette. Toss the salad well to combine, then adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Banner Image:

The Full Helping_Black and Kidney Bean Salad.jpg

Grain:

Quinoa [1]

Ingredients:

Salad:

¾ cups uncooked quinoa (or 2 ½ cups pre-cooked quinoa)

1.3 cups shelled edamame (fresh or frozen and thawed)

2 cups green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces and steamed or blanched till crisp tender

1 cup chopped, roasted red bell peppers (about 4 roasted bell peppers – you can roast them yourself, or purchase them in the jar) or 1 ½ cups chopped, fresh red pepper

1 ½ cups cooked kidney beans (1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed, or ½ cup beans if you’re preparing from scratch)

1 ½ cups cooked black beans (1 can black beans, drained and rinsed, or ½ cup beans if you’re preparing from scratch)

3 – 4 cups loosely packed baby arugula

Optional:

¼ cup loosely packed snipped chives

¼ cup loosely packed chopped green onion tops

Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette:

1 whole head garlic, top sliced oﬀ crosswise

5 tablespoons olive oil plus extra for roasting the garlic

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon maple syrup or agave

¼ teaspoon salt

black pepper to taste

Active time:

10 minutes

Yield:

5-6 Servings

Nutrition:

Calories: 370, Total Fat: 17g, Sodium: 150mg; Carbohydrate: 43g, Fiber: 11g, Protein: 15g, Sugars 5g

Author:

Recipe and photo courtesy of “The Full Helping” and American Pulse Association [2].

Diet:

Vegetarian & Vegan Diet

Course:

Salads

Dietary choice:

Vegetarian Vegan Gluten-free

Rating:

Description:

This salad features black and kidney beans, along with shelled edamame and green beans, which makes it a four-bean salad. To enhance and make all the ﬂavors come together, add the roasted garlic vinaigrette.