Roasted Edamame and Quinoa Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing
This recipe came about when I decided to see how many stray bags of quinoa I had. I'm embarrassed to say that I had 2 full bags, plus another opened bag. I get these ideas of eating healthy while shopping and then they go away once I get home! So I set out to see what else I had on hand and low and behold there was a frozen bag of shelled edamame along with a 1/2 bag of frozen corn! Put these together with some random items in my vegetable drawer and this is what I came up with. I used a yellow pepper, but a red pepper would work great and give more color. I think an addition of a can of rinsed black beans would also be good. I like to use my rice cooker to cook the quinoa. For every one cup of quinoa, use 2 cups of water.
To tell you the truth, I can't wait to make it again. I absolutely love roasted veggies and together with the quinoa and the crunch from the celery, it's the perfect combination. I could literally eat this every day. I hope you enjoy it too.
Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, cooked as directed and cooled
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
12 oz. bag of shelled edamame (I use Trader Joe's)
8 oz. corn kernels
1 bell pepper (red or yellow), chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup celery, diced
Dressing
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro
1 jalepeno, coarsely chopped
1 large clove of garlic, coarsely chopped
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar (I used Fig balsamic)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a sheet pan (with sides) toss together the edamame, corn, onion, bell pepper and garlic with 1-2 Tbsp. of olive oil. Place in the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the oven once the edamame start to brown and the other veggies have slightly softened. Set aside to cool.
While the veggies are cooling, you can make the dressing. In the jar of a blender add the dressing ingredients. Blend on high until smooth. Mix the cooled quinoa and roasted veggies together, add the dressing and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.