Southwest Chicken Quinoa Bean Salad is a hearty, delicious salad that's more like a meal. I have two dressing recipes for you to choose from - cilantro lime and a creamy southwest dressing with yogurt and sour cream. This salad recipe is a keeper for warm summer months!
For either dressings, blend all the respective ingredients in a blender till smooth.
Transfer all the ingredients for the salad in a bowl and toss with the dressing. If serving later, pour the dressing just before serving to avoid the salad from getting soggy.
Notes
How to cook Chicken Breasts: If you are making the cilantro lime dressing, you can use a portion of the dressing to marinate the chicken for ten minutes and then cook the chicken for 6-7 minutes on each side. If you are using the creamy southwest dressing, marinate the chicken in minced garlic, salt and pepper for ten minutes and continue to cook it.
How to cook Quinoa: I've mostly seen two varieties of quinoa in supermarkets here - red and white. Either of them work for the recipe. To cook quinoa, it's really important to wash it thoroughly with water to get rid of the bitter coating that can give quinoa it's weird taste. Once washed, cook quinoa in water or broth with 1:2 quinoa to liquid ratio till soft and fluffy.
Roasted Corn: I prefer roasting my own corn at home for this salad, but you can buy pre-roasted corn or even use frozen corn that is thawed for this recipe.
Black Beans: Black beans are my favourite in this recipe, but you can substitute them with kidney beans or any other beans that you have on hand. Make sure the beans are cooked well.
The nutritional information below is for the cilantro lime dressing