Red Quinoa, Black Bean and Corn & ChileTomato-less Salsa Salad

  Posted on May 25, 2010  by Leslie Blythe  1 comment

Warning:  Anyone who lives in a country / state/ city that does not have Trader Joe’s, probably should not read this.  I am sorry, especially for my friends in Colorado….

Last week, I was wandering around Trader Joe’s and was pulled by a magnetic force over to the tasting station.  They made a cold red quinoa salad.  They added a can of black beans and a jar of the corn salsa and mixed it all together. It was really good.

I am usually dubious about esoteric grains.  I do not wear Birkenstocks (if I did, it would be grounds for divorce, though they do look rather comfortable, I must say). 

Red quinoa (there is also white quinoa) is a complete protein which has essential amino acids – good for building strong bones, muscles, skin and blood.  Quinoa has twice the amount of protein than rice.  It is a good substitute for rice.

Here you have an example of why those tasting stations are a good thing, especially for Trader Joe’s, I bought it all.