Mango Avocado Black Bean Quinoa Salad is a beautiful, healthy salad that is perfect as a vegetarian main course salad or a side dish. I first made this vegetarian salad six years ago for a Ladies’ church luncheon. We used to host monthly lunches at people’s homes, and our pastor would stop by for a short discussion or Q&A session. Now that our church has gotten so much bigger, I’ve found that participating in small Bible studies are the best way for me to stay connected with other women from our church.
Throughout this school year, I’ve been part of an incredible women’s Bible study group. Being around women of faith in a loving, supportive environment has helped me grow as a Christian, and deepen my faith. Our most recent study on love (Kelly Minter’s What Love Is study) was especially impactful. I learned that Christian love is so much more than having loving feelings towards someone. Loving in a Christian way means dying to ourselves, putting other people’s needs ahead of ours, being gracious to people we don’t like or we don’t deserve it, and loving people instead of judging them. This is not easy to do, but when I consider how much God loves me by allowing his son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my salvation, the proper and only response is for me to try to love others. It is the second most important commandment.
Matthew 22:38-40 – “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’“
This Mango Avocado Black Bean Quinoa Salad was originally inspired by a favorite Mango Salsa recipe. Quinoa and black beans make this salad heartier, so it can be served as a vegetarian/vegan main course salad or as a side dish. Last week when I made this for our Bible study celebration, I added the juice of an orange to add a little natural sweetness. This quinoa salad is gluten-free (and dairy-free) too, so this recipe meets the dietary needs of many people.
If you’ve never cooked quinoa before, check out my How To Cook Quinoa post. Quinoa comes in different colors – red, white and black, so use your favorite.
Here’s the original mango avocado black bean quinoa salad I made six years ago, using red quinoa.
Mango Avocado Black Bean Quinoa Salad
This is great for entertaining. Double the recipe for a large party. Serves as a side dish or vegetarian main course salad.
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons raspberry balsamic vinegar
- 2 cups mango diced
- 1 1/2 cups avocado diced
- 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans drained
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1/4 cup cilantro minced
- 1/4 cup mint minced
- 1/4 cup scallions minced
- 1/2 jalapeno pepper seeded, minced
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 orange juiced
- sea salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
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To cook quinoa, place well rinsed quinoa in a small saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low and cook, covered, for 15 minutes or until water is completely absorbed and quinoa is fluffy. Transfer to a large bowl.
Whisk together olive oil and raspberry balsamic vinegar. Add to quinoa and leave uncovered until cool. (Can be refrigerated until ready to finish making salad.)
When quinoa is cool, add mangoes, avocado, black beans, red bell pepper, cilantro, mint, scallions, jalapeno pepper, lime juice and orange juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
If you like this Mango Avocado Black Bean Quinoa Salad recipe, you might also like:
Quinoa Citrus Mango Avocado Salad
mmMMmm this looks sooooooo good right now!!! i love mango, avocado, and quinoa! what a great combination of flavors!
absolutely gorgeous Jeanette and one that we will eat!
Avocado, mango, and black beans are a combo I really love especially in a salsa I make. I know this would be a great flavor combo for this salad. Yummy!
Thank you for another beautiful healthy recipe. We love quinoa and thank goodness we do as it is SO good for you. Lovely flavors – Yum
Mary
Love this one! Awesome
Great summer salad. I love the mango in there!
very sexy! so attractive, how can they eat them all! 🙂
Thanks everyone, glad you are all liking this quinoa salad. I actually packed some of this for the plane ride down to BlogHer Food and the two men sitting next to me were drooling. I felt almost guilty eating it in front of them.
You had me at mango…
This looks so pretty, especially with the red quinoa!
This looks and sounds great, love quinoa. Great to meet you in Atlanta.
I've become a big fan of cooking my quinoa in the rice cooker (thanks to Karina of Gluten-Free Goddess for instructions on how to do it — so very easy), and as a result, I've been using quinoa a lot more often. I seldom have the red quinoa, but it makes such a beautiful presentation that I'm going to start keeping it in my pantry.
I've never made quinoa in a rice cooker before – great idea! Quinoa is actually really quick and easy to make. When I first started cooking quinoa, I bought the white quinoa, but now I buy red or black quinoa whenever I find it just because I love the visual appeal when it's tossed with colorful vegetables.
That looks delicious!
I love quinoa salads…sooo tasty!!
I just bookmarked this one to make as a side dish for our BBQ this weekend. What a beautiful dish! And the flavors sound just perfect together! Love this one, Jeanette! 😉
Thanks! This is a nice healthy side dish to make for your own BBQ or to bring to a friends (so you have something healthy to eat!) 😉
Jeanette, thanks for submitting this gorgeous quinoa to our Get Grillin' event 🙂
What a gorgeous dish. Thanks so much for sharing it in our Get Grillin' event!
I am all about this salad! I eat quinoa all the time, but only recently began eating the red. The pairing with Mango & avocado must be an amazing burst of flavor. Thanks for posting this!
Great summer salad! I always love mango and avocado, and it looks beautiful with the quinoa.
Thanks for all the feedback on this quinoa salad – I love mangos in the summer, and buy them by the case practically every week!
i only once made a dish with quinoa. should make it again. with mango, that sounds good…
This recipe with quinoa looks really really good. I’m gonna try it really soon as I’m obsessed with quinoa!
I also recently wrote an article on the health benefits of quinoa, check it out: http://www.theironyou.com/2011/03/more-on-quinoa.html
Peace
Mike @TheIronYou
I was looking for a salad recipe for the whole family and I stumbled on this article. I read and followed the instructions carefully and I made it deliciously! Every member of my family is so happy! Thanks for this!
This looks so full of color and flavor! Also seems like it would be very histamine and sinus health friendly, which is always great to see. Perfect for warm summer days. Looking forward to trying this!