A nutritious Mexican-inspired Quinoa Corn Salad with fresh avocado, crisp corn, black beans, cilantro, and green onions. This salad is dressed in our favorite chipotle-lime vinaigrette.
QUINOA: Combine the quinoa and water with salt to taste (I add 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt) in a small pot. Follow package directions to cook the quinoa. Cook until all of the liquid is absorbed and quinoa has "popped", about 15-25 minutes (depending on heat, pot size, etc). Remove from heat; let stand, covered, for 5-10 minutes to steam. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a bowl; refrigerate to chill through. (To get it cold faster, spread it on a lined sheet pan and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.) Quinoa can be prepared 3-4 days in advance -- this salad comes together so quickly if the quinoa was prepped in advance!
CORN: Two options here, see note 1.Easiestoption: Cut the corn off the cob (no need to cook it-- it's delicious and crunchy raw!) or thoroughly drain a can of corn and use that without charring it.
DRESSING: Add all the dressing ingredients to a small blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (I add about 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, but add to your preference.) Blend until smooth. Store dressing in a sealed Mason jar in the fridge until ready to use. (The heat from the chipotle pepper will intensify as this dressing sits.)
SALAD PREP: Remove stems and coarsely chop the baby spinach, drain and rinse the black beans, coarsely chop the cilantro, thinly slice the green onions, chop the avocado (squeeze a wedge of fresh lime over the avocado to keep it from browning).
ASSEMBLY: In a large bowl, toss the spinach with the cooked and completely cooled quinoa. Add in the cooled corn, black beans, cilantro, green onions, and avocado. Remove the dressing from the fridge, shake to re-combine, and then pour over the salad (*read storage note below) to desired preference -- you may not need all the dressing on the salad. We usually use about 3/4 of the dressing, but if you like a very generously dressed salad you may like to use all of it! Leftover dressing stores nicely for up to 2 weeks in the fridge. Using two large salad spoons, toss the salad and then sprinkle with cotija cheese. Serve salad on plates with fresh lime wedges if desired.
*STORAGE: If you aren't planning to finish this salad all in one day, I'd recommend keeping the dressing separate from the salad and only dressing what you'll be eating. Also, only add avocado to what you'll be eating that day.
Video
Notes
Note 1: Use either 2-3 ears of corn or 1 can of well-drained corn. Either add the corn into the salad raw or char/grill corn. To char canned corn: Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon butter or oil and then the well-drained corn in one even layer. Let it sit, stirring occasionally until you get a nice browning on the outside of the corn (I don't stir often so it gets nicely browned!). Remove the corn from the heat and set aside allowing it to cool completely. To grill corn on the cob: Preheat a grill to medium-high heat, around 400 degrees F. Remove the husks and silk from the corn. Pour about 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil on each corn cob and rub that oil onto all the sides. Very lightly sprinkle salt and pepper on all sides of the corn. Place corn on grill grates (nothing needs to go down first; don't wrap in foil) and close grill. Cook (temps remaining at 400F) for about 3 minutes per side undisturbed. Using tongs, turn and continue cooking, for about 12 minutes total. When all sides are browned, remove from the grill onto a plate.