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Saturday, June 23, 2012

Quinoa & Black Beans

Primarily Vegan - this is my new addiction.  It's great hot or cold.  It's great with a fried egg on top.  It's great with some chopped tomatoes and mixed greens.  It's just great... and hearty!




I got this recipe by doing a google search for quinoa side dishes and then added and subtracted ingredients until I made it my own.

Before beginning to cook this dish prepare the following:
chop the garlic and onion
roast red peppers and dice (really easy in a toaster oven- For instructions click here.)
rinse 2 cans of black beans
wash and chop kale

What you will need:
3 Cloves of garlic; minced
1 Onion chopped - I used a Vidalia onion
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 Cup Quinoa
3 1/2 Cup vegetable or chicken broth (I used water since I didn't have this - and it is still great!)
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and black pepper
a bunch of kale chopped and cleaned
1-2 red peppers roasted and diced (sauteed is fine too - but the peppers seem sweeter when roasted)
2 15 oz cans of black beans rinsed and drained
1/2 Cup of chopped up cilantro

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook until they are slightly browned.  While they are cooking, rinse the quinoa.  Add quinoa to the pan and stir together with garlic and onions.  Cover with vegetable broth and add cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper.  Bring this to a boil.  Cover and reduce to a simmer.  Allow to simmer for 20 minutes.  Top with kale and put a lid on in order for the kale to wilt down.  Add rinsed black beans and diced roasted red peppers.  Stir and allow to heat up for a few minutes.  Remove from the heat.  Toss with cilantro!

I made this for dinner as a side dish to our Roasted Red Pepper Soup that you can find below as the last recipe added to the blog.  We served both of these with shrimp we grilled on skewers with a Jamaican spice blend.  A great summer dinner!  In the morning I warmed some up and served it with a fried egg on top and a dash of Chalula.  So much you can do with this.  I hope you enjoy.

Elway's Roasted Red Pepper Soup


Red Peppers were on sale at the store, so I grabbed four of them and headed home to find a good red pepper soup recipe.  This is the one I found.  We tried it just last night and I learned that it had to have been born in yum-town.  Thank you Elway's for sharing your recipe - you can find the original link HERE!
-You'll need a good stock pot and immersion blender or a stand up blender works as well - you just have to blend it in rounds. (if you don't have an immersion blender - I recommend getting one - they're great for making soups!)
Elway’s Roasted Red Pepper Soup
4 red bell peppers
5 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil, divided
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 onions
3 large carrots, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
6 cups water
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar, or as desired *(I didn't have that so I used Sherry cooking wine [2 Tablespoons] and White Wine Vinegar [1 Tablespoon].
1. Heat the broiler. Core the bell peppers and place them, skin-side up, on a baking sheet. Drizzle over 2 tablespoons oil and season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Broil the peppers until they are well-charred but not burnt, 3 to 5 minutes depending on the heat of the broiler.
2. Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat until hot. Meanwhile, peel the onions and halve them lengthwise. Coat the onions with 1 tablespoon canola oil and season with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Grill the onions on all sides until well-charred. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then trim off the root end and coarsely chop the onions.
3. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the onions and stir around the pot for a minute to soften, then add the carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent. Stir in 2 teaspoons of salt and one-half teaspoon of pepper, along with the garlic. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the carrots are softened slightly and the garlic is aromatic, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the tomatoes and peppers. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes to develop the flavors. Add the water and bring the soup to a simmer. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, loosely cover the pot and cook for 45 minutes.
5. Blend the soup using an immersion blender, or in batches using a stand blender, and strain. Add the sherry vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper. This makes a generous 2 quarts soup.

Pasta Nicoise


Pasta Nicoise
Found in Martha Stewarts Everyday FOOD magazine
Serves 4 or more!
517 calories per serving
*You can make this recipe gluten free by using gluten-free pasta noodles.

2 large eggs, *wash shells like you would fruits and veggies before putting in pot to boil
salt and pepper
½ lb short, twisted pasta *like cavatapi, fusilli, rotini,
¾ lb small red potatoes, thinly sliced
½ lb green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise (length)
2 cans (5 oz. each) of tuna packed in olive oil, drained *but reserve the oil!
1/3 cup pitted olives lightly chopped (kalamata are good) – or capers if you prefer!
2 large tomatoes, diced medium
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

  1. In a large pot, bring eggs and 6 quarts water to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 6 minutes.  With a slotted spoon, remove eggs and run under cold water.  Peel eggs when cool enough to handle. 
  2. Salt water and return to boil over high.  Add pasta and potatoes and cook 3 minutes less than package instructions, then add green beans and cook until crisp-tender, 3 minutes.  Reserve ½ cup pasta water (or a little more in case you need it); drain the pot.  Return pasta, potatoes and green beans to the pot and add tuna, 1/3 cup reserved oil, tomatoes, olives, and vinegar.  If necessary, add enough pasta water to create a light sauce that coats pasta.  Season with salt and pepper.  Slice eggs and scatter over pasta.

This is great warm and it is even better cold for lunch the next day.  I added more salt on top of mine and it made all the wonderful flavors come out more.  So summery and fresh and light.  I love this one!  ENJOY!