This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BalancedNewYear #CollectiveBias
Tex Mex Quinoa Salad with a Creamy Avocado and Cilantro Dressing. A healthy recipe with quinoa, kale, tomatoes, bell peppers, corn, black beans and red onion to help you achieve your health and wellness goals in 2016.
Yum
Have you noticed a theme on the blog for the new year? Yep, I am getting back to my healthful ways 😆 2015 was a whirlwind year for us: got engaged, planned a wedding and got married!! Couple all of that with the normal holidays and you have a recipe for a year without the best eating habits. But I am determined to renew my health and wellness goals for 2016 and make it my best year ever!!
I have to admit that I do have a secret weapon to help me start 2016 off on the right foot with balanced meal options…LEAN CUISINE® Marketplace Collection meals! I know what you are probably thinking, “um your a food blogger and you like creating your own meals?” Yes, this is true but sometimes I am just too darn busy and life gets in the way of that.
I love that these new LEAN CUISINE® Marketplace Collection meals have organic ingredient options, gluten-free options and protein packed options!! These are options that anyone can enjoy and now it is easier than ever to have a balanced and satisfying meal!!
I am going to be taking them to work with me. I use my lunch hour at my “real job” to work on the blog. This means that I usually just skip lunch (bad idea because I am starving later and eat way too much). This way I will keep on track toward my health and wellness goals.
What I like to do is to pair one of the LEAN CUISINE® Marketplace Collection meals with a homemade side dish. Over the weekend, I paired the Spicy Beef & Bean Enchilada with my Tex Mex Quinoa Salad with a Creamy Avocado and Cilantro Dressing.
I have also enjoyed this salad warm. I know a “warm salad” doesn’t sound like the most appetizing thing but it was really good!! We got a cold snap and I just didn’t feel like eating anything cold because I was already freezing, so I warmed it up and it was excellent 🙂
Here is your recipe for Tex Mex Quinoa Salad with a Creamy Avocado and Cilantro Dressing and see below the recipe for step-by-step pictures!!
- 1 cup uncooked red quinoa
- 3-4 cups (one large bunch) kale, chopped
- 2 (15 oz.) cans of reduced-sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 each red, yellow, orange bell peppers; seeded and chopped
- 1 ripe avocado, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 16 oz. sweet corn
- ¼ cup red onion, chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp. chives
- ½ cup cilantro
- 1 ripe avocado, peeled, seeded and chopped
- ½ cup non-fat, plain greek yogurt
- Zest and juice of one lime
- 3 tbsp. water
- 1 tsp. chipotle chili powder
- Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- Combine quinoa and 2 cups of water in a large sauce pan, cover and place over high heat. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add kale to the saucepan with quinoa and simmer for 5 additional minutes or until water is completely absorbed.
- Combine black beans, bell peppers, avocado, corn and red onion in a large mixing bowl.
- While the quinoa is cooking, make the dressing. Add garlic cloves to a food processor and mince. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add chives and cilantro and mince. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add avocado, greek yogurt, lime zest and juice, water, chipotle chili powder, salt and pepper and blend until smooth. You may need more or less water to achieve a dressing consistency.
- Once the quinoa is fluffy and the kale has softened and cooked down some, add to the bowl with the other vegetables. Add dressing and stir well to combine. Add cherry tomatoes and give one final stir.
- Serve cold or warm.
I just love how convenient it is to have a satisfying and balanced meal with these new LEAN CUISINE® Marketplace Collection meals!! Last night I came home from work late because we had an evening event and I was exhausted!! The college football national championship was just coming on and I was starving. I popped one of these in the microwave and a few minutes later I had dinner…DONE!!
I am so glad that on my last trip to Walmart, I stocked up on these LEAN CUISINE® Marketplace Collection meals!! They are right there on the frozen food aisle and you can’t beat the everyday low prices!! I probably bought 12-15 of them because I wanted to try out all the different varieties!
Need more inspiration? Then you are going to want to check out the Flavorful Moments Pinterest Board! Head on over there and let me know in the comments what you want to try first 🙂
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BalancedNewYear #CollectiveBias
We adore Mexican food in our house, so I will definitely try this sometime soon. It sounds so good.
That salad sounds so good! It’s a great compliment to those enchiladas.
That salad looks so yummy! I love making healthy sides like this. Thanks for sharing it.
This salad looks so amazing! And I love that LEAN CUISINE® Marketplace Collection offers meals have organic ingredient options, gluten-free options and protein packed options!! Easy and yummy! -client
I have never had luck with quinoa. Every time I do it it turns out really bad, have to try what you did here and see if that makes it better.
These meals look delicious, and so does your salad! [client]
This looks amazing! I love quinoa and I am always looking for new ways to cook it!
I’m not familiar with quinoa but I’ve been seeing it a lot lately in recipes so I need to change that. I know one thing though, your food has me drooling. I’d like to try to make the salad in the near future.
Your tex mex quinoa salad looks so tasty! I love quinoa and have been trying to get my family to “like” it for years. no go for them.
That is a perfect side dish! All those healthy stuff in one bowl.
Oh and I forgot to thank you for the recipe! I’ll head on over to Walmart to get the stuff I need to prepare this awesome dish.
I really like your dressing recipe – it sounds absolutely delicious. I need to try the meals too. It has been so long since I used those and the flavors they have now look great.
Hi Becky! I am glad to have come across this blog post. I’m looking for healthier ways to prepare food.
Thank you for the recipe! It is a chore to get my family to eat quinoa, but they love foods with latin flavor…so I will definitely give this one a shot!
This Tex Mex Quinoa salad looks so delicious and easy to make. I will have to try making some on the weekend. I am sure it will be a big hit.
I bet my mom would really love this. She is a huge fan of any kind of Salad and a perfect side dish for her.
This salad looks so good and sounds so filling! I love the burst of colors, I’m pretty sure this is very tasty. I have to try this!
I tried making quinoa before and I was surprised how good it was, even the kids and husband loved it. Thanks for sharing the recipe for the salad, I will try this soon.
That salad looks so tasty! I’ve never tried Quinoa before. I hope I can find it here.
This looks like a great recipe!! I may need to they this soon!! I love quinoa and avocado!!
This looks like a great recipe that my family would love. My daughter may actually get some quinoa.
Looks like Lean Cusine has created some new products.
I like your salad recipe. I only ever tried to make Quinoa once, and it really turned out awful, even though everyone says it should be easy to make.
I’ve never had Quinoa Salad before, but I think I’ve had Quinoa before. This looks and sounds like a yummy recipe.
Yum… I love Mexican food 🙂 This quinoa salad looks delicious and pretty healthy
Quinoa is a super food I need to use more of in my recipes. I have yet to try the red and wonder if it tastes much different then the white.
I love the new selection Lean Cusine meals, I want to try them all.
I love those Lean Cuisine marketplace meals! my fave is the butternut squash ravioli – I have it a couple of times a week at work. soo good!
Back in my cubicle days Lean Cuisine was my brown bag lunch option of choice, easy to tote, quick to prepare, glad to hear they have re-vamped them!