Three Bean Quinoa Salad

| Serena Wolf
Serving size:4
Three Bean Quinoa Salad

As far as health benefits go, this vegan salad is a nutritional powerhouse, which is great news since it happens to be scarily addictive. The trio of edamame, chickpeas and black beans packs fiber, protein and antioxidants into a delicious meal. Richly textured and fresh with a hint of garlic and a lemony kick, this recipe only requires a handful of ingredients and about 20 minutes of prep time.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (used a tri-color blend, but any quinoa will do)
  • 3/4 cup minced red onion (about ½ of a medium red onion)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 large lemon, juiced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3/4 tsp kosher salt (if you only have table salt, you will need significantly less, so be careful!)
  • 3/4 tsp coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 15-ounce organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 15-ounce can organic black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup shelled edamame (If using frozen edamame, run it under warm water for 20 seconds to thaw)
  • 1/4 cup packed Italian parsley leaves, finely chopped
  • 3 scallions, finely chopped

Directions

  1. Place the quinoa and ¾ cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Let the quinoa rest, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
  2. While your quinoa is cooking, combine the minced red onion, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Let stand for 10 minutes, until the onions have softened slightly.
  3. Drain and rinse your beans. When it comes to the chickpeas, I like to remove their skins because I’m obsessive like that. To do this, place the drained chickpeas between two sheets of paper towel and rub lightly. This will loosen the skins, which you can then pick off and discard. (Yes, this is optional, but it’s not that hard, so you should probably just do it.)
  4. Place the beans in a large mixing bowl with the cooked quinoa, parsley and scallions. Add the red onion mixture and mix to combine. Taste and season with extra salt if necessary.
  5. Cover and refrigerate your quinoa bean salad for at least half an hour to let the flavors mingle. Serve cold or at room temperature.

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