Roasted Sweet Potato, Corn And Black Bean Quinoa Salad With A Creamy Cilantro Cashew Lime Crema Dressing

Meal prep friendly meals have been a life saver as a busy parent. They save me time and allow me to eat healthier throughout the week with more ease. This roasted veggie quinoa salad has been a go-to of mine for years. It’s easy to prep, delicious, family friendly and makes great leftovers. I love this salad because you can eat it hot or cold.

One of my favorite things about this salad is the dressing. I make this tasty dressing almost once a week to top on meals like this, tacos, burrito bowls and more. I love this sauce because it contains cilantro which is packed with some healthy benefits including promoting healthy detoxification. Not a cilantro fan? You can absolutely skip it or just add spinach to add some greens (and it will be totally tasteless once blended!).

For this recipe, I did add all of the roasted veggies to one pan to cook. The single pan does get loaded up so the sweet potatoes don’t end up getting crispy on the outside. If it is important to you to have crispy sweet potatoes, you can air fry them or cook them in a pan separately.

What you need (serves 4-6):

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 of a red onion diced
1 cup frozen corn
A few pinches of salt (about 1/2 a tsp)
Fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp cooking oil like avocado oil
2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
Optional 1/2 avocado sliced
Optional pickled onions or other pickled veggie for topping

Cilantro Lime Cashew Crema Dressing

1 cup cashews (soak in hot water for 15-20 minutes if you don’t have a high speed blender)
The juice from 2 juicy limes
1/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 cup water
1 handful of fresh cilantro
Salt to taste

Directions:

    1. Preheat your oven to 415F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Add the sweet potato, bell pepper, black beans, corn, onion, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, paprika, ground cumin and oil to the baking sheet. Toss and place in the oven for 25 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are cooked through.

3. Meanwhile, in a blender combine the ingredients for the crema dressing. Blend until smooth and add water gradually as needed to thin. The sauce should be smooth, creamy and pourable but not watery.

4. In a large bowl add the quinoa and roasted veggies. Toss.

5. Assemble your bowl with the quinoa and roasted veggie mix and top with the dressing. Toss until well combined. Top with your additional ingredients. Enjoy!

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