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Grain Salad

Quinoa, Mango and Black Bean Salad

A cooled quinoa salad with black beans, red bell pepper, and red onion in a lime and cumin dressing, with mango and cilantro folded in at the end.

Prep
25 min
Cook
25 min
Total
60 min
Servings
6 (about 7 cups, six as a side or four as a light main)

For the quinoa

  • 1 cup / 180g quinoa, rinsed in a fine-mesh strainer and drained
  • 1.75 cup / 415ml water
  • ½ tsp fine salt

For the dressing

  • 4 tbsp / 60ml fresh lime juice, from 2 to 3 limes
  • 1 tsp, finely grated lime zest
  • 4 tbsp / 60ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp, plus more to taste red pepper flakes
  • ¾ tsp, plus more to taste fine salt
  • 2 oz / 60g red onion, finely diced

For the salad

  • 1 can (15 oz / 425 g) canned black beans, drained, rinsed, and shaken dry in the strainer
  • 5 oz / 150g red bell pepper, about 1 medium, diced into 1 cm (½ in) pieces
  • 12 oz / 340g ripe but firm mangoes, peeled flesh of about 2 medium mangoes, cut into 1.5 cm (½ in) cubes
  • 0.25 cup / 15g fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, tender stems included

Cook and cool the quinoa

  1. Put the rinsed quinoa, the 415 ml (1¾ cups) water, and ½ tsp salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Follow your package instead if its ratio or time differs.
  2. Take the pan off the heat and leave it covered for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
  3. Spread the quinoa on a rimmed baking sheet and let it cool completely, about 20 minutes, fluffing it once or twice. Don't dress it while it's warm.

Make the dressing

  1. In a large bowl, whisk the lime juice, zest, cumin, red pepper flakes, and ¾ tsp salt. Whisk in the olive oil.
  2. Stir in the red onion and leave it for 10 minutes while the quinoa cools.

Combine

  1. Add the cooled quinoa, black beans, and bell pepper to the bowl with about two-thirds of the dressing and onion. Toss gently with a fork, until the quinoa is evenly coated.
  2. Cut the mango. Slice the two wide cheeks off each side of the flat pit, cut a grid into the flesh without piercing the skin, and scoop out the cubes. Trim the flesh from around the pit and cut it into cubes the same size.
  3. Just before serving, fold in the mango and cilantro. Taste, and add the remaining dressing, salt, or pepper flakes as needed.

Quinoa salad goes mushy for dull reasons: too much water, dressing while the grains are still warm, and fruit that went in hours too early. Fix those three and the rest is easy.

Cook it dry-ish, cool it fully

The ratio here is about 1¾ parts water to 1 part quinoa. More water than that gives a wetter, softer result, and a salad needs grains that stay separate. Let the pan rest covered for ten minutes, fluff it, and then spread the quinoa on a tray to cool all the way. Dressing it while it's warm gives you a damp clump, so wait. This is the opposite of the farro salad, where the warm grain is the point.

Beans and pepper

One can of black beans is enough for the batch. Shake them dry in the strainer after rinsing, since the clinging liquid is the other source of sogginess. Red bell pepper adds crunch and some sweetness, so keep it diced to the size of a bean.

The dressing

Lime and oil go in at equal parts. That sounds sharp, but it has to stand up to sweet mango and plain quinoa. The cumin gives it a savory backbone, and the red pepper flakes are there for a little heat, so add more if you like it. The red onion sits in the dressing while the quinoa cools. Ten minutes in the lime takes the rawest edge off. Dress the base with only about two-thirds of it, and keep the rest to adjust at the end.

Mango last

Ripe but firm is the right mango for this: it should give a little under your thumb and smell fruity at the stem, but still hold a clean cube. A very soft mango turns to pulp when you fold it in. Cut it on the day, and fold it in just before serving along with the cilantro.

What's essential, what's optional

The quinoa, beans, mango, and lime dressing are the salad. The bell pepper gives crunch and a little sweetness, and it's the easiest thing to leave out. Cilantro is the freshest part, but it's optional if you don't like it; a handful of parsley is the next best choice. For another make-ahead grain salad, this one with pearl couscous and lentils, see the Couscous, Lentil and Chickpea Salad with Cranberries.

Keeping it

Refrigerate the base within two hours of cooking (one hour above 90°F/32°C), covered. With the dressing but without the mango, it keeps for up to three days. Add mango only to what you're serving. Once the mango is in, the salad softens quickly, so eat it by the next day.