Quinoa Avocado Salad
Serves 1
Some of the best recipes just seem to happen. Of course, it helps when you have great ingredients around to experiment with, which is how this really delicious salad recipe came together when making lunch the night before to bring to work the next day. We had a can of butter beans in the pantry that was begging to be used, having been long neglected. A quick taste made for pleasant surprise how truly tasty they were, along with the affirmation I was on to a good thing. As I am a big fan of lunches made from grain and bean salads, adding in the leftover quinoa came next. Zesty arugula and aromatic sage (freshly picked from my garden!) provided extra texture and flavor and using avocado in lieu of salad dressing, accented with a tiny amount of salty/sour ume vinegar (a little goes a LONG way!) capped it off. While it would have been good eaten on the spot but allowing the flavors to meld overnight and until noon the next day made it glorious. Cooking for more than one? Simply multiply the ingredient amounts to match how much you need.
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1/2 cup cooked butter beans, drained (aka baby lima or sieve beans) or use gigande beans
- 1 cup arugula
- 1–2 leaves fresh sage, finely chopped
- 2–3 tablespoons avocado, mashed
- 1/4 teaspoon umeboshi vinegar
Combine quinoa and butter beans. Mix in arugula and fresh sage. Season avocado with the umeboshi vinegar and then fold it into the salad mixture, combining well with the other ingredients. Transfer to a covered container and allow the salad to marinate 4+ hours, refrigerated, before eating.
