Quinoa Salad with Creamy Avocado-Lime Dressing

Cook the quinoa: Place the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Rinse the quinoa and add to the saucepan. Toast quinoa grains for several minutes, stirring constantly, until fragrant.

Add the water and seasoning and bring mixture to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, for five minutes more. Uncover and fluff quinoa with a fork. Let cool.

Prepare the dressing: Cut the avocados in half and remove the seed. Scrape the flesh from the skin and place it in a blender or food processor. Add the juice from the lime, the salt, cilantro leaves, and the chili powder. Add 3 tablespoons buttermilk (or plain yogurt) and process mixture until smooth. Add more buttermilk until desired texture is obtained (if using yogurt, you can thin the dressing with water instead). Taste for seasoning, and add more lime juice, salt, chili powder or black pepper to taste.

Seed and chop the red bell pepper into bite-sized pieces. Chop the white and green parts of the green onions.

Assemble salad: Arrange the lettuce on one large serving dish (or divided into individual plates). Top the lettuce with the quinoa. Scatter the red bell pepper, corn, black beans, and scallions over the quinoa. Sprinkle chopped fresh cilantro over the salad as a garnish if desired.

Serve salad with avocado-lime dressing on the side.