Fiesta Quinoa Salad(Vegetarian)

This part of my pregnancy has kind of sucked in the food department.  Food just doesn't sound good lately(unless it's sugar or carbs of course...methinks this boy is gonna be just like his daddy).  Vegetables are especially hard for me to get down so I've been eating a lot of carbs, a lot of fruit, a lot of sweets and a lot of meat.  Before getting pregnant I had a goal to do at least one vegetarian meal a week.  Since being pregnant I basically need to eat what I can or what sounds good or doesn't make me wanna barf.  I have a huge bag of quinoa sitting in my pantry and I keep telling myself I need to try more with it but because of how I feel I keep putting it off.  Well today I decided I just needed to make something meatless with not a whole lot of prep and use that quinoa.  So here's what I came up with.  It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.  So here's the vegetarian protein packed recipe I came up with:

Fiesta Quinoa Salad

1 c. quinoa
2 c. chicken broth(1 can plus 1/3 cup water)
salt and pepper

Bring chicken broth to a boil.  Using a mesh strainer rinse off the quinoa.  Add quinoa and salt and pepper to the boiling chicken broth.  Reduce heat to medium-low.  Cook for 10-20 minutes until the water is absorbed.  Return to mesh strainer.  Add about an inch of water to the bottom of the pan and place the strainer over top.  Put the lid back on and steam quinoa for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool. 

To a large bowl add:

2 cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed(1 if your prefer less beans)
1 1/2 c. frozen corn, cooked(or 1 can of corn)
1 red pepper, diced
cooked and cooled quinoa

In a small container(with a nice tight lid) add

juice from 2 limes
2-3 T. of good quality olive oil
2 T. of grated onion
4-5 cloves of garlic
following spices can be adjusted to taste preferences
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in your small container(use a microplane to grate onion and garlic) and shake.  Pour over quinoa and mix everything together.  Serve right away. 

I was surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did and the dressing really brought the meal home.  Sometimes I think quinoa has a funny flavor that isn't always appetizing but everything combined really well in this to make it just as tasty as if I made this meal with rice.  Looking for a good vegetarian meal?  Give this a try!