Quinoa Taco Salad

This post is part of "Pennywise Platter Thursday" over at

The Nourishing Gourmet

I love making "taco-seasoned" quinoa and I decided to get creative this week and I made it into a taco salad. It turned out pretty good. This recipe would probably feed 4 adults, or maybe closer to 6 with some kids in the mix. Keep in mind when you make it though, it doesn't keep well, make what you can eat 'cause the leftovers get pretty mushy!

Quinoa -

Cook 1 cup of dry quinoa according to the directions (2 cups boiling water, add 1 c. quinoa- simmer and cook till water is absorbed)

Add taco seasoning -

I usually do something along the following, but add what spices you like - it's pretty forgiving!

1 can tomato sauce

1-2 TB BBQ sauce, chipotle flavor is my favorite

couple dashs of Chipotle Tabasco hot sauce

2-3 TB chili powder

1-2 TB cumin (vary depending on your preference for hotness)

1-2 tsp garlic powder - or fresh garlic

1-2 tsp onion powder - or fresh onion (I like red onion best)

Mix throughly

Prepare 1 head of lettuce in a large bowl

Add a couple chopped tomatoes (fresh is best but especially in taco salad you could get away with canned if you had to, I would add to the quinoa above and mix there)

Add 1-2 cups crushed/broken up tortilla chips

Add 1 cup cheese

Add 1 cup of kidney or black beans

Add quinoa mixture

Mix everything together and serve immediately.

We all enjoyed this and even my 2 year old ate a full serving and my 4 year old declared it his favorite salad!