Black Bean and Quinoa

This is a dish can be served many different ways.  I like this recipe as it is a one skillet dish and it is easy to make if you need to serve something in a snap.  This dish has a ton of protein with the quinoa and the black beans.

A quote from a co worker of mine "I would not miss meat with this dish".

Ingredients

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
3/4 cup uncooked rinsed quinoa
1 teaspoon cumin
1 1/12 cups vegetable broth
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you want spicier increase to 1/4 tsp)
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 cup frozen corn
2 cans of black beans (15 ounce each) drained and rinsed
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Toppings
Shredded Cheese
Guacamole
Plain yogurt, or sour cream
Salsa
Tomatoes

Directions:

1. Rinse the quinoa in a strainer.  This helps to take out the bitter taste on the outside of the seed.  (Quinoa is a seed, not a grain.  Ill leave that for another post). 

2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Stir in the onion and garlic.  Saute until the onion is soft and almost opaque.  Maybe about 5 minutes.

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

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

5.  Transfer the quinoa mixture into a big mixing bowl and combine the black beans and cilantro.

Makes at least 5 servings.  If making as tostadas makes about 10 servings.

This can be served as tostadas (pictured above), burritos, tacos or you can just enjoy it the way it is.