This salad has its roots in a salsa. Trader Joe's used to carry a mango-black bean salsa that I thought was the best on the planet; I used to eat it right from the jar. They stopped making it for a while, and that's when I began improvising and making it myself. At one point it hit me: Can't I make this a meal? So here we are. I've added other things I can't do without, like onions and avocado. You can certainly omit roasting the onions, but try it at least once with them roasted – the flavor really adds to this dish. The sweetness of the onions and mango plays well with the dressing.

Quinoa & Mango Salad With Lemony-Ginger Dressing

Ingredients 

• Quinoa and Mango Salad
• 1 cup regular, red or black quinoa, rinsed well in a strainer
• 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
• 2 avocados, halved, pitted and sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pinch salt and pepper, to taste

• Lemony-Ginger Dressing
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice, plus more to taste
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
• 1 pinch salt and pepper, plus more to taste

• Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Cook the quinoa: In a saucepan, bring quinoa and water to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until most or all of the water is absorbed, about 12-15 minutes. The little "tails" should pop free from the grain and it should still be pretty chewy. If any liquid remains, strain the quinoa. I usually add it to a strainer either way and rinse it under cold water to stop the cooking process, then continue to fluff it every so often as I'm preparing the other ingredients.
• 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.
• 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
• Make the dressing: Whisk the olive oil into the lemon juice. Whisk in the ginger and add salt and pepper to taste.
• 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.

https://food52.com/recipes/17492-quinoa-mango-salad-with-lemony-ginger-dressing