Black Bean-Quinoa Salad with Basil-Lemon Dressing

Yes, another quinoa recipe.  If you haven't already tried quinoa, this is the universe's way to tell you that you should.

I attended the ladies' brunch this weekend and brought my requested quinoa dish.  I knew the host would enjoy it, since she requested it,  but I wasn't sure how the rest of the group would take to it.  They loved it!  It got a lot of compliments and several questions about if it was going to be on my blog.  So, here it is!

It turned out very light, yet filling.  It's chock full of healthy things and the dressing gives it a good blast of flavor.  You can feel good about eating this one.

The original recipe called for tofu, but I wasn't sure how the ladies would take to tofu.  Plus, and I know this is vegetarian blasphemy, but I just don't like cooking with tofu.  It always gets stuck and breaks apart, resulting in me getting irritated and wondering why I tried to cook with it, yet again.  So, I replaced it with edamame.  If you are good with tofu, please by all means, throw it in there. 

The base recipe is from Cookinglight.com.  I fiddled with the amount of basil and lemon in the dressing.

Black Bean-Quinoa Salad with Basil-Lemon Dressing
Serves 10

1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa (and as always, please rinse to prevent bitterness)
3 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh basil
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard 
2 teaspoon sugar 
2 tablespoon grated lemon rind 
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 (10-ounce) package frozen baby lima beans
6 ounce frozen edamame
4 cups chopped tomato (about 3 medium) 
1/2 cup sliced green onions 
1/2 cup chopped carrot 
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained


Combine quinoa and vegetable broth in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until broth is absorbed and quinoa is tender. Remove from heat.

Combine  4 tablespoons oil,  salt, basil, and next 6 ingredients (through garlic) in a large bowl; stir with a whisk until blended. Stir in quinoa.

Cook lima beans and edamame together in a pot of boiling water until done. Add the lima beans, edamame, chopped tomato, green onions, chopped carrot, and black beans to quinoa mixture; stir gently to combine. Store, covered, in refrigerator until ready to serve.