It's recipe swap time, hosted by A Taste of Home Cooking!
If you've noticed a decrease in swap posts, it's because our swaps have dropped to once a month instead of once every two weeks. Our swap theme for August was Summer Salads.
I was intrigued when I received my assigned recipe. I had never had quinoa before (though it's been on my radar to try, and I had a bag of it in my pantry). Most people call quinoa an "ancient grain," but it's actually a seed, though it resembles cous cous and often takes the place of a grain in a meal.
The inclusion of other ingredients — mango, avocado, red onion — almost sounded like ingredients for a fruit salsa. Combined with lime juice and honey, I really wasn't sure I was going to like the way it tasted.
I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be a good dish. It's probably not a recipe I would have ever picked out for myself. My quinoa was still slightly warm when I added the avocado, mango and red onion, and the avocado softened almost into a creamy coating on the quinoa.
The recipe is vegetarian as-written, and you could easily substitute agave syrup for the honey to make it vegan.
Mango Avocado Quinoa Salad
Recipe source: Cheese Curd in Paradise
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 ripe mango, peeled and diced
- 1 ripe avocado, diced
- ½ of one red onion, diced and soaked in ice water for 10 minutes
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- Juice of 2 limes
- 1 tsp honey
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Cook the quinoa according to the package directions. Once fully cooked, scrape into a medium serving bowl and set aside to cool.
- Gently fold the mango, avocado, red onion and cilantro into the quinoa.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice and honey. Pour over the quinoa and gently stir to coat the salad.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Can be served immediately or chilled until needed.
Diet type: Vegetarian
Number of servings (yield): 4
To see other recipes from the swap, click on any of the images below!
I love quinoa based salads because they're so filling. I need to try this one before summer is over.
I love this salad and so happy that you were able to give something new a try!