Posted By Kimberly Turner on Apr 28, 2014 in Beef, Cinco de Mayo Recipes, Cooking How-To Videos, Cooking Shows, Cooking with Kimberly, Ethnic Foods, Featured, Holidays & Events, How To Cook, Main Dishes, Mexican Food Recipes, Quick Meals, Salads, Tex Mex Recipes | 0 comments

Quinoa, being an ancient super grain, is one food you should, by all means, include in your diet often, and this recipe for How to Cook Mexican Quinoa Salad is very tasty & healthy.

Once you taste this salad, you will wish to serve frequently, especially when preparing Mexican food.

This show is brought to you by the Cooking with Quinoa Cookbook.

How to Cook Mexican Quinoa Salad:

This red milled variety of quinoa, I used in this show, is already rinsed and air dried. So, check the directions on the package you have, as you might have to rinse it.

This salad can be served warm or cold and can be customized to a vegetarian dish by omitting the beef and using some variety of beans in its place, as well as any vegetables you wish to include.

My salad recipe will be served with the quinoa on a bed of lettuce with the other ingredients on top.

Type: Salad Recipe

Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 22 min
Yield: 4 – 6 servings

The ingredients & instructions are listed below the video for measurements & directions. Please enjoy this webisode of Cooking with Kimberly:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups quinoa
1 lb ground beef
2 cups broth, stock, tea or water
salt & freshly ground pepper – to taste
dash ground chili flakes or chili powder
1 cup frozen corn
2 tbsp olive oil
6 – 8 large leaves of Romaine lettuce – wash and pat dry
3/4 cup salsa – I used The Garlic Survival Co.’s Triple Garlic Salsa
1 tomato – cut into wedges
1 lime – sliced
1 cup grated cheddar cheese or Tex-Mex mix
1/4 cup cilantro – chopped

Instructions:

Into a medium sauce pan, pour 2 cups of your chosen liquid, cover and bring to a boil.
In a large saute pan with 1 tbsp hot olive oil, brown ground beef, breaking up any lumps. Season beef with salt, pepper and chili pepper. When beef is browned, strain off any excess oil and set aside for later when you top the salad with this beef.
Add quinoa to boiling liquid, stir and cover, reduce heat to medium and cook for about 10 min.
Remove pot from stove, stir contents. Add in 1 cup corn and 1/4 cup salsa. Season with ground chili flakes, salt and pepper- to taste. Stir to combine ingredients and place pot back on stove, cover to cook an additional 2 – 3 min.
Tear romaine lettuce from the rib and place into a suitable serving bowl.
Remove quinoa mixture from stove, mix in a further 1/4 cup salsa and 1 tbsp olive oil. Cover pot and return once more to stove to cook for a further 2 – 3 min.
Remove from stove and serve.
To serve, place some of the romaine leaves in bottom of each salad bowl, place a serving of quinoa in middle of leaves, and top quinoa with a heaping ladle of ground beef. Sprinkle some of the cheese on top of each serving and garnish with tomato wedges and some cilantro. Place a slice of lime on each plate and serve the rest of the salsa in a separate bowl, for each person to use, if desired.