Detox Green, Bean, and Avocado Quinoa Salad

Want a salad that checks all the boxes? This is it.

BIG TIME deliciousness, friends! 

This satisfies the needs of all of my family members. Or at least the preferences.

I love quinoa in a salad.

The only grain that is a complete protein. Prep this component in advance for a quick assembly when you’re ready to eat.

My mother loves the sweet and savory combo of fruit in a salad.

I know there are people who are strongly against any fruit in their salad, but my mom has been adding strawberries, grapes, and blueberries to salads since 1997 and they slap.

My sister in law’s favorite food of all time is corn.

She is from Buffalo, New York which is pretty much the midwest in case you didn’t know. So she loves, loves, loves corn.

My daughter is very into chickpeas and black beans and they are the driving ingredients to get her to try some salad.

(I actually wrote out chickabeans instead of chickpeas without thinking because that’s what she calls them and it took me a beat to realize why spellcheck was calling me out for that one).

Pair with something like a fritatta

And you’re read to roll!

Detox Green, Bean, and Avocado Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

• 1 5oz container of spring mix or baby greens

• 1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

• 1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed

• 1 cup corn kernels

• 2 ½ cups cooked and cooled quinoa (3/4 cup or 138 g dry quinoa yields ~2 ½ cups or 460 g cooked)

• 1 teaspoon olive oil

• 1 cup fresh blueberries

• 1 avocado, diced

• ½ cup slivered almonds

Maple Balsamic Dressing:

• ½ cup olive oil

• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar

• 1 Tablespoon maple syrup

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

• ½ teaspoon sea salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. Grab a big bowl and load on salad ingredients starting with a base of greens, chickpeas, black beans, corn, blueberries, avocado and slivered almonds. Toss with maple balsamic dressing, adding a little at a time as though not to overdress. Store any leftover dressing in the fridge for later.

Notes

• Almonds – Not a fan of almonds? Swap in a different nut! Or pepitas!

• Mix-ins – Feel free to get creative in the kitchen and add your own toppings to the salad. Want to add goat cheese? Go for it!

• Dressing – I love maple balsamic dressing, but I also use a simple olive oil and vinegar sometimes in a pinch and that works too!

• Blueberries- If blueberries are our of season, used dried cranberries instead