Rocket Quinoa (Quinoa salad with black beans & peppers)

We hadn’t had a hamburger in awhile.
We knew we had one of those evenings where we needed to get down to the whole eating business pretty quickly. We happened to have some lean ground beef frozen. We decided to make burgers.
Only problem – we didn’t have a side to go with the burgers. We had some of the makings for a quinoa salad recipe that I saw in Food & Wine. If you’re not familiar, quinoa is a high-protein grain that can be cooked up like rice or couscous. We didn’t have all the ingredients, so, I improvised a bit:

• 3/4 c. quinoa
• 1 1/2 c. water
• green pepper, chopped
• roasted red peppers, a few, chopped
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 oz. jar cocktail onions, drained and chopped
• 1/2 c. cilantro, chopped
• 3 tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 1/2 tbsp. ground cumin
• salt, pepper, olive oil

Put the quinoa in a saucepan with the water and some salt. Bring to a boil. Stir, cover, and cook over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring once. When cooked, spread on a baking sheet or in a baking pan and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Combine the green pepper, roasted red peppers, beans, onions, and cilantro in a bowl. Stir to combine.

Whisk together cilantro, lime juice, and cumin. When quinoa has cooled, add it to the mixture with the dressing. Mix well. Put back in the fridge until you’re ready to eat. (You can refrigerate overnight if you wish.)
For the burgers, the SPinC made patties that included diced onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and dill. We decided on mushroom & swiss burgers topped with a little mayo. The final result looked like this:

While we used the quinoa salad as a side, it would make a really tasty main dish if you’re looking for a simple meatless meal.