Quinoa and black bean salad

I love using quinoa to make salads.  As I've already mentioned, quinoa is ridiculously cheap to buy at Costco and is quite good for you.  It only takes 15 minutes to cook and makes a great addition to salads.  I've used it in many different salads but I don't have any of those recipes written down so it might be awhile before they get posted to the blog.  However, I found this recipe last summer and saved it in my email, allowing me to post it here.  I don't remember the name of the website but please know that it's not an original recipe of mine. Of course, I have made changes to it and those changes are included below.  

Ingredients

Dressing

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons oil (e.g. olive, flax, hemp, grapeseed)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon teaspoon black pepper
• Juice of one lime
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Salad

• 1/2 cup quinoa, washed and rinsed
• 1x19 ounce can black beans, rinsed
• 2 green onions, minced
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped (optional - green pepper = yuck!)
• 1 small avocado, cubed
• 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped (not in mine - hate cilantro even more than green pepper!) You could use parsley instead if you'd like
• 1 small can corn niblets or 1 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta (optional)

Directions

Salad

1. In a small pot of water, cook the quinoa, following the directions on the package.
2. While quinoa is cooking, in a large bowl, stir together the black beans, onions, tomatoes, celery, green peppers, avocado, and cilantro/parsley. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, sugar, oils, vinegar, chili powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
4. Once quinoa is done, remove from heat and stir in the corn (if using frozen). Let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove lid and let quinoa cool. Add quinoa and dressing to salad and toss together well.
5. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Makes 2 large or 4 small servings. If you don't have time to refrigerate the salad, it will still be perfectly yummy.