Quinoa Salad with Smokey Bear Dressing

Is it weird that the entire time I was enjoying this bowl of quinoa salad I was thinking of Smokey the bear?

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Only you can prevent forest fires…

Oh my gosh, blast from the past.

But this recipe isn’t about bears, or forest fires, or PSA’s from 1950, sorry to disappoint.

This recipe is about smoky dressing that pairs nicely with quinoa, beans, and is great heated up, too.

It has a smokey BBQ flavor with a slight kick at the end.

If smokey the bear could pick his favorite dressing, I think he’d choose this one.

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Smokey Bear Dressing

Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free, Refined sugar free, Yeast free, Corn free

Low fat sweet BBQ flavored gluten-free salad dressing.

Yield: 2 cups (500mL)

Servings: 16

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup unpasteurized honey or agave nectar *see note
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp onion
• 1 tbsp gluten-free mustard
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp Herbamare
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• dash of freshly ground pepper

Directions

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

note: if you want to keep this recipe vegan, use agave instead of honey

(1 serving = 2 tbsp) calories: 58 | fat: 3.5g | carbohydrate: 7.5g | sugars: 6g

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Smokey Bear Quinoa

Yield: 3 cups

Servings: 2

• 1 cup mixed beans
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cucumber, diced
• 8 baby tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
• 1/4 cup curly parsley, diced
• 1/4 cup smokey bear dressing
• 1/8 medium red onion, sliced

Mix and serve!

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After I finished enjoying this salad last night, Lexy, Pebbles and I went out into the backyard to let off some steam. They were running around the house like crazy. Chasing one another, barking… maybe they were jealous of my dinner?

That happens a lot around here.

After 45 minutes of fetching the ball at least 3582735982 times, I decided to take them inside and make a batch of their favorite snack, Cinnibone Dog Treats.

There was no running around after that! I even got some shots of Lexy staying still! She never, ever does that for me.

Tagged as: bbq, bean salad, beans, quinoa, salad, salad dressing, smoked paprika