Have you gotten on the quinoa bandwagon yet? If you haven’t you might want to give this recipe a try. Quinoa is a seed that works as a healthy substitute for rice or pasta. In the same way that rice and pasta get soft and fluff up in boiling liquid, quinoa gets fluffy and tender when it is cooked. When you substitute quinoa in place of rice you are getting more protein, fiber, and nutrients. Katie (author of Dashing Dish) suggests that if you are not comfortable with trying out quinoa with this recipe you could used whole grain rice instead.
This recipe is so healthy and it tastes delicious. I was surprised at how good this recipe tasted. So much so that I wanted to share it with my friend. I called her up and asked her if she wanted to try a great recipe and then I took some over to her. You know it is a good recipe when you want to share it with your close friends, am I right?
This Southwest Quinoa Chicken Salad can be served warm or cold.
This recipe dropped from 4 WW SP to 2 WW FreeStyle SP per serving! 🙂
Here is what you need:
1 ½ c. water
½ c. dry quinoa
1 c. diced cooked chicken
1 (15 oz.) can black beans
1 (15 oz.) can corn
2 plum tomatoes
1 small red onion
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow summer squash
1 medium avocado
¼ t. salt
Pinch of black pepper
2 t. sweetener that measures like sugar
1 t. minced garlic
Juice of 1 lime
Here is what you do:
Place the water and quinoa in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.
Once it begins to boil, reduce to medium-low and simmer. Cover the saucepan and cook until all the water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. (You will know the quinoa is done when the grain appears soft and translucent.) Remover the pan from the heat and set aside to cook. (If using the whole grain rice, cook rice according to the package directions, or skip this step if you are making a grain-free version.)
I chopped up the vegetables while the quinoa was cooking.
Once cooled, add the cooked quinoa to a large bowl, add the chicken, beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, zucchini, squash, avocado, salt, pepper sweetener, garlic, lime juice, and cilantro, and gently toss.
Serve immediately, or chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight to let the flavors fuse together.
Makes 10 cups.
One cup is 2 WW FreeStyle Smart Points.
- 1 ½ c. water
- ½ c. dry quinoa
- 1 c. diced cooked chicken
- 1 (15 oz.) can black beans
- 1 (15 oz.) can corn
- 2 plum tomatoes
- 1 small red onion
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1 medium yellow summer squash
- 1 medium avocado
- ¼ t. salt
- Pinch of black pepper
- 2 t. sweetener that measures like sugar
- 1 t. minced garlic
- Juice of 1 lime
- Place the water and quinoa in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Once it begins to boil, reduce to medium-low and simmer. Cover the saucepan and cook until all the water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. (You will know the quinoa is done when the grain appears soft and translucent.) Remover the pan from the heat and set aside to cook. (If using the whole grain rice, cook rice according to the package directions, or skip this step if you are making a grain-free version.)
- Once cooled, add the cooked quinoa to a large bowl, add the chicken, beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, zucchini, squash, avocado, salt, pepper sweetener, garlic, lime juice, and cilantro, and gently toss. Serve immediately, or chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight to let the flavors fuse together.
*MyWW® points calculated by Meal Planning Mommies; Not endorsed by MyWW (formerly Weight Watchers and WW). All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. MyWW® green, blue, and purple values calculated without WW Zero Points foods using the WW Recipe Builder.
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