(Note: This recipe contains quinoa, a pseudo-grain. I posted this back in my gluten-free days, before I started eating grain-free. We still love this Mango Black Bean Salad as a grain-free salad, just omit the quinoa!)

A few months ago I started juicing…and have been seeing some great health benefits because of it (more on that later..). My husband drank green smoothies and since I couldn’t stand the texture, I felt like juicing would be a better choice for me. Along my quest for juice recipes I found this fantastic Quinoa Salad recipe that I absolutely love.

The original recipe is on Reboot with Joe’s website. The following is my adaptation.

Mango Black Bean Salad

(prep time 15 min; chill time 10 min)

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa (any color)
2 cups purified or filtered water

1 large mango
1 1/2 cups black beans, drained and rinsed
2 vine ripe organic tomatoes
1/4 red onion
1 avocado
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium lime
4 cups/handfuls spinach or green lettuce
handful of cilantro

NOTE: You can cook and chill your quinoa before starting to cube the vegetables. I just like doing it all at the same time.

Begin by cooking your quinoa and water on high heat. When this reaches a boil, reduce, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally while on simmer.

Next, cube the onion, tomato, avocado, and mango. Place in medium sized mixing bowl. Squeeze the entire lime onto the cubed vegetables and add the olive oil.

As soon as your quinoa is cooked (the spirals will have separated and look like tiny tails) chill it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes (or in the freezer for 5 minutes to save time).

While quinoa is chilling, prepare your spinach/lettuce on dinner plates. I use organic Costco spinach, so mine is already triple-rinsed and ready to use. This saves a ton of time!

After the quinoa is chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and stir into the cubed vegetables.

Spoon 3/4 cup of the Quinoa Mango mix onto your spinach/lettuce and serve!

NOTE: This makes enough for 4-5 servings and is great as a quick leftover meal!