Southwest Quinoa Salad

This past weekend was Super Saturday at my house which is our quarterly Beachbody meeting where we discuss the upcoming products and promotions and just network with other Beachbody Coaches.  I decided to host my team at my house this time!  Everyone brought a side dish to share and this one absolutely rocks!!!  I seriously couldn’t be more excited to share this with you.  If you have a 4th of July picnic or family get together this one is going to have people asking for the recipe!!!  Thank you Sara Stakeley for sharing it with me!!!!

Southwest Quinoa Salad

Serves: 8
Makes: 8 cups
INGREDIENTS:

• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted, or 1 tsp ground cumin
• High-heat cooking oil (such as sunflower, safflower, peanut or grape seed oil), as needed to lightly coat grill grate
• 2 cobs fresh corn, husks and silk removed (or 1 1/4 cups frozen corn, thawed)
• 1 cup cooked black beans, drained
• 1 plum tomato, diced
• 1 zucchini or yellow zucchini squash, diced
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice, olive oil, cilantro, salt and pepper; set aside.
2. In a saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil; add quinoa and cumin. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Uncover, fluff with a fork and let cool for at least 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat an outdoor grill to medium-high and lightly oil grate with cooking oil. Add corn, close lid and grill, turning once, until tender and lightly charred, 10 to 15 minutes. (Alternatively, boil cobs in a large pot of simmering water. Cover and cook until tender, 6 to 10 minutes.) Let corn cool, then cut kernels from cob.
4. In a large bowl, combine quinoa, corn kernels, beans, tomato, zucchini and onion. Pour lemon-cilantro dressing over top and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate salad for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to meld, or up to 2 days.