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Quinoa / Adzuki Bean Salad

Ridiculously healthy tastiness, served.

You know when you go to the farmer's market and every single vegetable looks so good that you want to buy one of each, but you can't figure out how to possibly prepare them all before they go bad? Enter this versatile quinoa (or couscous) and adzuki bean (or any other bean) salad. The more veggies, the better.

On this particular day, I had acquired: sugar snap peas, carrots, cherry tomatoes, red onion, and cucumber. Add to that some avocado, dried cranberries, mandarin orange slices, capers, and parsley from the garden, and we have the beginnings of something delicious.



My only quinoa trick is to cook it in stock. It's 10 times better than it is in water.

I've come to love adzuki beans, and they're extraordinarily good for you in their natural form (as opposed to in their sweet paste form in Japanese sweets). I boil them with a piece of kombu (which I acquired for this bean and rice recipe) because I read that it makes them taste better and also aids digestion. But I'm sure you could skip the kombu.

 I made a huge serving of this and it tasted great 6 days later. We ate it for lunch all week... it's easy to pack for school/work lunches, since it can sit out and be eaten at room temperature.

Adjust the grain, bean, veggies, and dressing to your liking. It's hard to go wrong with this one.


The Recipe:
1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups veggie or chicken stock
1 cup dry adzuki beans
Small piece kombu, optional
3 tb extra virgin olive oil
2 tb lemon juice
1 tb mustard
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper, to taste
Sugar snap peas, carrots, cherry tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, avocado, dried cranberries, mandarin orange slices, capers, and parsley... or whatever veggies you prefer.
  • Cook the quinoa in stock.
  • Soak the adzuki beans for at least a few hours, then cook them in water with the kombu for about 40 minutes, until soft.
  • Blend olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper into a dressing.
  • Cut your chosen vegetables into your chosen shapes and sizes.
  • Mix everything together and enjoy at room temperature.

The Verdict:
Overall grade: A
Overall reason: So. Healthy. And it tastes really good, too.
Time to prepare: 1 hour of work, 3+ hours for soaking beans.
Husband quote: (With great surprise in his voice:) Woah, this is good!



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