vegan quinoa and black beans*

It's official. I have jumped on the quinoa bandwagon! There was a mysterious box of quinoa that was left from some vendor awhile back that has just been chillin in the kitchen waiting to be used. I have wanted to try it for quite sometime, but I'll admit, I was skeptical. I didn't think it would be very good. This recipe may be cheating because it definitely isn't lacking in flavor or ingredients, but I'm telling you I am going to start using quinoa more often! I ate lunch at 1:00 and it is now 7:30 and I'm still not hungry in the least. This stuff fills you up and it is AMAZING! Really, I am going to be living off this stuff until biggest loser ends. It is so healthy, it is jam packed with protein and it tastes delicious! Also, it is VEGAN! That probably doesn't mean much to most of you, but we have vegan students and when there is something that we can give them that actually tastes decent I literally jump for joy!

Vegan Quinoa and Black Beans
from Tablespoon

Yield:  8 servings

Ingredients
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1 cup frozen corn
2 (15 ounce) cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 ripe avocado, diced (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Rinse the quinoa in a strainer. Sometimes it can have a bitter taste on the outside so rinsing gets rid of this.

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and cook for a couple of minutes or until onion is soft.

Add the quinoa and vegetable broth to the pan. Add the cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil and then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir in lime juice and frozen corn into the pan and simmer for 5 minutes or until corn is heated through.

Finally, mix in the black beans and cilantro. Garnish with chopped avocado if desired (I didn't because I really am not a fan).

Serve hot or cold. Store in refrigerator.

AMAZINGNESS in a bowl! Really, you gotta try this! I am being dead serious when I say that I will be living off this for over a month! Not only will I be living off of it, but I will be enjoying every second of it! And you better believe this replaced an item on my new menus!

-alyssa*