Fatty Friday || Mexican Quinoa Salad

oh hai guyz.

got something healthy for today. a nice break for me since I ate out the past two days--first at a Chinese buffet, and then at Subway.

classy.

epic lulz to be had.

 let me digress and just say I really dislike eating at Chinese restaurants, buffet or otherwise. I'm not sure why, maybe 'cause it's really Americanized-Chinese food... and I find nothing appealing about it. I don't even know... however, I went because of 2 reasons: 1. it was Easter and my parents needed a break, 2. if I didn't go, my mum adamantly declared she wouldn't go either (even though deep down, she definitely wanted to). I knew I'd be such a horrible child to deny my dear mother the right to relax, so I shut my whiny mouth and trekked across the street from our complex to the sketchy restaurant aptly named "Fun Buffet" (I kid you not) and had dinner with jiaster's family. the rest of the evening was spent grubbin' on lots of sushi, making faces at jiaster's little sister, Sarah, and laughing at the slip of paper tucked into my fortune cookie.

alright, back to the salad. I found this recipe from the kincommunity channel on Youtube, right HERE. I used couscous the first time I made this because our PathMark didn't have quinoa. having tried both, I still prefer couscous. 

for this recipe, you'll need:

2 ½ cups (460 g) cooked quinoa
½ medium red onion, diced
2 roma tomato, seeded and diced
½ cup (85 g) black beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup (85 g) frozen corn, thawed

vinaigrette:
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
½ bunch cilantro, minced
2 teaspoons (10 mL) cumin
1½ teaspoons (7.5 mL) honey
2 limes juiced
2 tablespoons (30 mL) white balsamic vinegar
⅓ cup (80 mL) extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

I made a couple changes with the recipe. I opted out the black beans, because legumes never settle well with my pa grape and also, because I didn't want my mother to have to go through the trouble of finding white balsamic vinegar, I substituted it with balsamic vinaigrette that we already had. as a twist, I threw in some pitted black olives since I love salad with olives, or rather just olives period. 

the vinaigrette that this recipe calls for is AMAZING. hopefully, you're a fan of cumin, cause if you're not, this might not work for you. but the sweetness of the honey balances out the acidity of the lime juice and vinegar and when you throw the distinct flavor of the cumin in there, it's absolutely perrrfect. 

all you have to do is mix the salad part in a separate bowl from the vinaigrette and then put it all together. salads don't take any effort other than chopping stuff up and throwing it all into a big bowl. they're perfect for people that don't like to do much work and for that lazy spring day.

for prettier images, go check out the video. happy grubbin' ;)