Chopped Mexican Quinoa Salad with Chili Lime Shrimp

5 from 7 votes

Chopped Mexican Quinoa Salad with Chili Lime Shrimp

Super delicious, super healthy and bursting with fresh, south of the border flavor, this entree salad is sure to please! Skip the shrimp and you have a perfect side for parties, picnics and potlucks!

Prep Time30

Cook Time6

Course: Main, Salad

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: Serves 6

Calories: 696kcal

Author: Chris Scheuer

Ingredients

3 cups cooked quinoa I use this method for preparing perfect quinoa (3 cups is half of the recipe.)
For the dressing:
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup fresh lime juice
2 medium cloves garlic finely minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
For the corn:
3 medium ears fresh corn unhusked
For the shrimp:
2 tablespoons sunflower canola or other mild-flavored oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh oregano finely chopped
1 ½ pounds raw peeled and deveined shimp
For the salad:
2 medium zucchini diced in ¼ inch pieces*
1 medium white onion diced in ¼ inch pieces*
1 medium red bell pepper diced in ¼ inch pieces*
1 bunch scallions thinly sliced
¼ cup roughly chopped fresh oregano
1 15 ounce can black beans drained and rinsed (optional)

Instructions

For the dressing, combine all ingredients in a medium-size glass jar. Cover tightly and shake until well combined. (If dressing is made ahead and refrigerated, oil may solidify slightly. If this happens just let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes and it will liquify. You can also warm it in the microwave for 15 seconds to liquify.)
Prepare corn by placing the three ears in the microwave, unhusked. Cook on high power for 12 minutes. Remove from microwave with a clean kitchen towel or oven mitt to a cutting board. Holding the corn with the towel or oven mitt, cut off 2 inches at the bottom of each ear. Hold corn at the silk end and push the corn out of the husk. The corn comes out perfectly cooked and free of silk! Here's a video demonstration of the technique.
Cut corn from ears. Set aside. (I like to leave some of the corn in bigger pieces.)
About 30 minutes before grilling, combine all marinade ingredients in a zippered bag. Gently squeeze bag and tilt back and forth to combine ingredients. Add shrimp and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and drain well, discarding marinade.
Prepare a medium-high (about 450˚F) gas or charcoal grill fire.
Clean and oil grill surfaces. Sprinkle shrimp lightly with salt and pepper. Grill the shrimp on the first side for about 3 minutes, or until they begin to curl up, turn pink and look charred here and there on the surface facing the grill. Flip shrimp to other side and grill for another 2-3 minutes or until done. Don't overcook or shrimp will be tough and dry.
For the salad, combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl and stir gently to combine. Drizzle lightly with dressing and stir again. Top with shrimp. Pass extra dressing at the table.

Notes

*There are LOTS of diced veggies in this salad. Notice how they're all quite perfect and uniform in size? You might be thinking that I'm very skilled and precise with my knives. Truth be told, I'm actually a bit lazy in the kitchen so I have a secret weapon to make quick work of dicing zucchini, peppers, onions, carrots, eggplant, cabbage, celery, apples, pears - just about any vegetable and lots of fruits. It's this Vidalia Chop Wizard and I use it all the time for soups, salads and desserts. It comes with two different sized dicing inserts for perfect and quick dicing and chopping. I also love that the catch container doubles as a measuring cup so you can see exactly how much you've diced or chopped. I just throw it in the dishwasher when I'm done and it's ready for my next cooking extravaganza.

Nutrition