Black Bean, Corn and Mango Quinoa Salad

Have you ever known that you had to do something, but you kept putting it off because you assumed it would be unpleasant?

Then you finally bite the bullet and the task you were dreading turns out to be no big deal at all, or even, at best, a positive experience?

For example, last week at work, a purchase order landed on my desk. I was super busy at the time. I glanced at it briefly and recognized it as coming from a rather problematic account of mine. I decided to get other stuff done meanwhile, and deal with the problem order when I had a few minutes. It sat on my desk over the weekend, and finally I got to it. I completed the order and sent a confirmation of it to my contact there, Ryan. Ryan’s response indicated that he wasn’t happy about the delay. “I sent this order in a week and a half ago and now you confirm it?!” he replied. “Does this mean my order hasn’t shipped yet?”

There was clearly an exaggeration in that email, but I knew he had a right to be disappointed. I was, however, surprised and worried by the angry tone of his email. Part of me didn’t think I had to worry much about it. After all, this was the same customer who once emailed me that he took a week off from work for annual hunting and mating season. I kid you not. This isn’t the sort of thing I could make up, even if I wanted to. The other part of me was super nervous about this, as I had delayed his order, and he did seem upset.

I carefully responded to his email, telling him I had received it a couple of days ago, not a week and a half ago. Furthermore, I added, the item he had ordered was backordered, so it wouldn’t have shipped either way. And then, to make him feel good, I told him I am pressing our vendors for a date on the next shipment, and hope to have more information for him shortly.

I was dreading sending that, worried about how he would respond. Turns out, I didn’t have to be. His reply was simply, “Thank you Miriam. I appreciate your help. :)” Yep, he totally included a smiley face in a business email. We have already established his lack of professionalism, haven’t we?

Want to hear another thing I dreaded for no reason? Making quinoa for the first time. I ate bad quinoa more than once in my life, which basically meant I was traumatized at the thought of making or eating it ever again. But I started to worry that I would be prosecuted by the Food Blogger’s Association for shunning its favorite food. In the interest of honesty, I am not aware of any such organization, but if there were I am sure that they would make having quinoa recipes on your blog a prerequisite of membership. And so I forced myself to conquer my PTSD and face my fear.

Turns out, I totally didn’t have to worry about this either. When made properly, quinoa is delicious. Like in this salad. Honestly, I was expecting to be okay with it. I was definitely not expecting to refuse to share any with anyone else. But that’s what you do when you have something awesome to eat. You eat it. By yourself. 

Moral of the story? There will always be things in life that you dread. Face them. Furthermore, there will always be things in your life that are unpleasant. This quinoa salad is far from one of those things.

Black Bean, Corn and Mango Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked quinoa

1/3 cup olive oil

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

15 ounce can black beans

1 1/2 cups corn kernels, frozen then defrosted okay

1 red pepper, finely diced

3 scallions, green part only, thinly sliced

1 mango, diced

Instructions:

Cook quinoa according to manufacturer’s directions. Place in a large bowl and set aside to cool.

Whisk together the oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.

Add the beans, corn, diced pepper, sliced scallions and diced mango to the cooked quinoa. Add the dressing and toss everything to combine.

Serve room temperature. This is delicious served the next day as well.

Note about the dressing: some people might opt for a cilantro/lime/cumin dressing for this salad. I opted to go simple, but that way should be delicious too. 

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you had a great weekend and are staying cool in this insane heat! -Miriam