Quinoa Black Bean Salad

Cold grain and bean salads work really well with warm summer days. Additions of spices are limitless, really. Yesterday I chose quinoa, black beans, green onions, cilantro and corn.

According to me (and this Wikipedia entry) Quinoa is a really special "grain" (in quotes because it isn't technically a grain, I learned) because of its intense nutritional value. It's a complete protein with lots of dietary fiber and, when cooked,  it looks like each piece has a cute little tail!

The salad:
3-4 Cups cooked quinoa
1 can black beans
1 uncooked ear of corn
minced cilantro and green onions, salt and pepper to taste

Just add these all together and eat. It's so simple, and better yet, the salad gets better as it sits because all the flavors develop. I added a little lemon vinaigrette at an attempt of more flavor and it was almost negligible. Here is a picture of the salad before adding the quinoa:

This would be a great salsa all by itself.

Note: I've had decent results with a lentils, onion, olives and spinach combo, too.