Quinoa and Mango Salad with Lemony-Ginger Dressing

Quinoa and Mango Salad

• 1 cup regular, red or black quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 3 mangoes,
• 1 large red onion, halved stem to root and slivered
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups micro greens (I used a rainbow blend package from Whole Foods herb section: mizuna, curly cress, red and yellow beet, arugula, cabbage) – if not available, mesclun, spring or baby greens are fine, rinsed and dried
• 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1-2 avocados, halved, pitted and sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Lemony-Ginger Dressing

• 3-4 teaspoons lemon juice
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Toss onion slivers with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for about 30 minutes. Resist stirring until they begin to brown, then stir occasionally; not too much or they will not brown as nicely. Remove when they are soft and nicely colored. Let cool.
3. Pit and dice mangoes. Try to squeeze out some of the juices from the fibrous part surrounding the pit before discarding it – there's often a lot of juice in that section. Add it to the diced mangoes
4. Make the dressing: Whisk the olive oil into the lemon juice. Whisk in the ginger and add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Assemble the salad: Mix the quinoa, mango (and juices), black beans, and cilantro together. Spread the micro greens on a large plate and layer the quinoa mixture over the greens. Top with the roasted onions and the avocado slices. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve.