Corn and Walnut Salad

I love walnuts and am always trying to incorporate them into my dishes. And they are so good for you too!This is a recipe for a simple salad that I threw together a few days ago and absolutely loved it.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 3

Ingredients: Corn (frozen or fresh) - 1 Cup, Garbanzo beans - 1 can, Walnut halves - 3/4 cup, Red Onion (medium) - 1, Lime Juice - 2 Tbsp, Salt to taste, Crushed black pepper (to taste), Cilantro - 2 Tbsp, Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 2 tsp

Prep Away...

> Rinse and drain the garbanzo beans and set aside

> Thinly dice the onion, chop the cilantro and set aside

> Toast the Walnuts halves on medium high for a couple of minutes so their flavor really pops out and set aside

> Place a saucepan on medium high heat and add the olive oil and chopped onions and saute for a couple of minutes. Now add the corn and saute for a couple more minutes, add salt and black pepper

> Turn off the heat and allow it to cool for a few minutes

> In the salad bowl, add the corn and onion mixture, garbanzo beans, walnuts and add the lime juice and toss thoroughly so everything's mixed nicely. Garnish with the cilantro.

> Serve as a side dish or even a main dish!

My Thoughts..

> You can use any kind of beans you have on hand, Kidney beans or Black eyed peas or even black beans. I like the Garbanzo with corn, it's a great combination

> I use red onion because it's sweetness balances the salty walnuts nicely

> If you want a little bit of spice, you could throw in a couple of chilli flakes when cooking the corn and onions

> If you have Coriander powder on hand, you could add half a teaspoon of it. Adds that little kick to the salad.

Enjoy!

Quinoa Salad with Black-eyed peas, avocado and corn

This recipe is my first tryst with Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wa). I've heard and read so much about Quinoa and it's nutritional value and decided it was time to try it. This recipe is a modified version of the "suggested" recipe on the Organic Red Quinoa box (Love you, Trader Joe's!)

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4 (or 2 really really hungry people)

Ingredients: Organic Red Quinoa (1 cup), Black-eyed peas (1 15-oz can), Avocado (1), Corn (about a cup - frozen, fresh, whatever you have on hand), Red onion (half, diced), Tomato(1 - I used Roma, recipe suggested grape tomatoes), Cilantro (Half a bunch, but I just put in tons of it, there is never enough cilantro if you ask me!), Lime juice (about 2 tsp), Pine nuts (about 1 Tbsp, if you have them), Salt, Pepper, Olive oil

Cook away..
> Cook the Quinoa according to the instructions on the box. Typically 1 cup Quinoa with 2 cups of water, bring it to a boil and cover with a lid and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes
> While the Quinoa is cooking, put about 2 tsp of Olive oil in a pan and roast the corn and onions for about 5 minutes until golden brown (You can skip this step, if you like and just use raw onions and corn, I just like mine sauteed a little). Put these away in a bowl
> Cut the avocado into 1/2 inch pieces, dice the tomato
> Drain and rinse the Black-eyed peas (can use Black beans too, or even Dark red kidney beans)
> Chop the cilantro
> Now combine the sauteed onions and corn, avocado, tomato, black-eyed peas and half of the cilantro and toss lightly
> Add salt and pepper and a tsp of lime juice and toss some more
> Turn off the stove once the Quinoa is done and add some olive oil, salt, pepper and lime juice to the cooked Quinoa and toss it
> Let the Quinoa cool a little
> In the serving bowl, spread the Quinoa and add the combined black-eye peas mixture and toss lightly. Add the rest of the lime juice and garnish with the remaining cilantro and top off with the toasted pinenuts
> You could use any store brought salad dressing to go with this, I personally loved the Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette with this salad. Recipe suggests Cilantro salad dressing

My thoughts...
> A decent not-too-big serving of this dish was quite filling, because of the high quantities of fiber and protein in the Quinoa, the good fats in avocado (monounsaturated fats that reduce bad cholesterol, raise good cholesterol..someone stop me or I'll go on and on about avocado), the protein in black eyed peas.
>The pine nuts are optional but I love them and you taste that little crunch in every bite.

Do try this and leave your comments or suggestions for improvement. Enjoy!