This Mexican Quinoa Bowl is quick and easy to put together, full of protein, and customizable to your tastes!
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Whew! Summer is here! It hit 100 degrees here this week, and it’s still the first half of June! Who wants to cook when it’s that hot? While trying to decide what I should feed my family on that 100 degree day without heating up the house, I thought I heard my daughter ask, “What are you planning for dinner?” I told her I didn’t have a plan yet, and asked what she wanted. She said, “I didn’t ask what you were planning, I said I wanted something planty.” Is planty short for plantiful?
She requested some kind of quinoa bowl, and this is what I came up with. A Mexican quinoa bowl. It’s high in protein, iron, Vitamin A, Vitamin C fiber, and calcium!
What’s In This Mexican Quinoa Bowl?
My quinoa bowl has a base of chopped Romaine lettuce for some leafy greens. Quinoa is spooned on top of the lettuce. Then the fun begins. Top the quinoa with any toppings you like. I used black beans, corn, black olives, tomatoes, and avocado. My husband added diced onions to his, since he absolutely loves raw onion. Having all the toppings prepped and in separate bowls allows each person to customize the bowls to their own taste.
Feel free to add any of your favorite ingredients to this quinoa bowl: fajita vegetables, green onions, guacamole, and pinto beans would be great options!
For a dressing, I mixed some salsa in with my Vegan Ranch Dressing. Plain salsa would work also.
How Long Did it Take to Make this Dinner?
This dinner was so quick and easy, and there was no need to heat the house. While the quinoa cooked in the Instant Pot, I heated the canned black beans and the frozen corn in the microwave. I used bagged, pre-cut lettuce, diced some tomatoes and sliced the olives and avocado. My ranch dressing was already made, so mixing it with the salsa to make the dressing took seconds. This dinner was ready in less than half an hour. Even with washing and cutting your own lettuce and making the ranch dressing, you can have dinner on the table within an hour.
For more tasty Mexican dishes, see:
- Quinoa and Black Bean Enchiladas
- Black Bean and Grilled Vegetable Tacos
- Easy Vegan Black Bean Dip
- Mexican Vegetable Saute
- Cherry Tomato Salsa
- Tamale Pie
- Soy Curl Fajitas
- Mexican Coleslaw
- Vegan Taco Salad
- Mexican Rice
- Guacamole
- Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes
- Fat Free Tortillas
- Whole Wheat Tortillas
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Mexican Quinoa Bowl
Ingredients
- 4 cup chopped Romaine lettuce
- 4 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 tomato,diced
- 1 cup frozen corn, cooked
- 4 tablespoons black olives, sliced
- ½ avocado, sliced
Dressing
- ½ cup Vegan Ranch Dressing
- 1.4 cup Prepared salsa
Instructions
To Cook the Quinoa
- To cook the quinoa, place 2 cups of quinoa and 2 1/4 cups of water in the Instant Pot.
- Cook the quinoa on the manual setting for 5 minutes with a manual pressure release.
To Assemble the Mexican Quinoa Bowl
- Place about 1 cup of lettuce in the bottom of the bowl.
- Add 1 cup of cooked quinoa.
- Top the quinoa with toppings of your choice.
- Stir the salsa into the ranch dressing and drizzle on top of the bowl.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition calculations are approximate, and will vary with your choice of ingredients in your bowl.
