Something Warm

We tucked in this weekend as we anticipated our first real snow storm of the year. We ran our errands early in the morning and put a hot-pot of chili on the stove to munch on throughout the day. Sometimes there is nothing more blissful than doing...nothing. In addition to making a pot of chili I cooked my favorite quinoa dish so I would have an easy lunch at my disposal all week. I thought I'd share the recipe with you to tide you over for the next week and a half.

I am taking a bit of a blogging break as I dig myself out from under the mountain of work I have to do before we depart on a mini-vacation this Friday. We will be headed south to meet friends in Guatemala for a few days. I'll be back to the blog in two weeks with many photos and stories to share.

Until then....enjoy!

Quinoa and Beans  (from this recipe)

This is my favorite way to make quinoa but each time it is a bit different. It is a wonderful lunch or light dinner. I always have it with a side of blue-corn tortilla chips...but that's because I'm a tortilla chip junkie.

Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil to a heavy pot

Add one onion and one red pepper, chopped

After 2 minutes add one minced chili in adobo and approximately 1 tsp. of the adobo sauce (these can be spicy but I love them!)

Once the onion and pepper are cooked and soft add one cup of rinsed and drained quinoa. (I find rinsing and draining the quinoa impossible because the grains are so tiny. I would love to hear how you complete this step, please!).

Stir in 2 TBS of chili powder, approximately 1 TBS of cumin and a bit of salt

Add 1.5 Cups of Water and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to medium low and cook for about 14 minutes. Sometimes at minute 10 I add a chopped sweet potato, too. Mmmm...

After 14 minutes add a can of (rinsed!) beans and a handful of chopped cilantro. I usually add black beans but kidney beans work just as well.

Cook uncovered until the rest of the water is absorbed.

At time of consumption I sometimes add feta cheese or whatever is in the house. Today I added a tiny dollop of sour cream and that was great, too. Enjoy and be well!

Comments

[Lisa]

I was looking for photos of your trip and ran into this yummy recipe which I plan on making tonight. Thanks! Lisa