Quinoa and Black Bean Tacos

There must be something in the water, a full moon, something.  My students have gone absolutely nuts this week and I have had a headache for 3 days straight!  See, my problem in creating engaging blog posts is I can't really discuss the biggest part of my life.  I cant tell you about my students, what they do in class, my successes (and failures) because of confidentiality.   However, if there are any other teachers out there I'd like to know if your students have lost their minds too :)  I don't know what it can be.  Halloween was last week and we made it through the day after with little incident.  Daylight savings was this last weekend but they got an extra hour of sleep so it shouldn't be that.  Maybe its the weather.  However Monday it was 60 degrees.  I don't know.... at least we have Thursday off.  Thank goodness!

I made this recipe on Sunday.  I wanted to continue to use items that I have stocked up in my cabinets and get a little more room (and save some money while doing so).  I saw black beans and began trynig to build from there.  When I saw this recipe, it fit well with my current stock of items.  All I had to buy was tortillas, cilantro, and a pepper.

To make this dish, I first decided to toast the quinoa.  From somone who has eaten a lot of quinoa before discovering toasted quinoa, take the extra time and do it.  It gives you a nutty flavor and stronger texture. To toast quinoa, first rinse it in a fine mesh strainer.  Then shake to remove as much water as possible.  Heat 1 Tbs in a pot over medium heat.  Add the quinoa and stir until light brown.  This takes around 10 minutes.

If you want to use one pot, then pour the quinoa into a bowl while you cook the vegetables.  Otherwise, you can start the vegetables in another pot.  Put 1 Tbs of vegetable oil in a pot and heat over medium heat.  Add onion and pepper.  Saute until vegetables begins to soften, around 5 min.

Combine vegetable mix with quinoa, cumin, and Sazon in a pot.  Stir for 30 seconds.  Combine tomatoes with water to make a total of 1 1/2 cups of liquid.  Then add liquid to pot.  Bring to a boil, cover, then let simmer for around 14 minutes until quinoa is tender.

Add black beans and cilantro.  Cook uncovered until liquid is fully absorbed, around 3 minutes.  Take off of heat and mix in the lime juice.  You can serve it on its own or wrap in warm corn tortillas.

Quinoa and Black Bean Tacos

Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup of quinoa
2 tsp of ground cumin
2 packages of Sazon con culantro y achiote
7 oz can of salsa mexicana (I used Embasa)
Water
1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
Juice from 1/2 of a lime
Corn tortillas optional

Rinse quinoa for 1 minutes in a fine mesh strainer and shake, removing as much water as possible.  Put 1 Tbs of oil into large skillet.  Add the quinoa and stir over medium heat until light brown.  This takes around 10 minutes.  If you want to use one pot, then pour the quinoa into a bowl while you cook the vegetables.  Otherwise, you can start the vegetables in another pot.  Put 1 Tbs of vegetable oil in a pot and heat over medium heat.  Add onion and pepper.  Saute until vegetables begins to soften, around 5 min.  Combine vegetable mix with quinoa, cumin, and Sazon in a pot.  Stir for 30 seconds.  Combine tomatoes with water to make a total of 1 1/2 cups of liquid.  Then add liquid to pot.  Bring to a boil, cover, then let simmer for around 14 minutes until quinoa is tender. bAdd black beans and cilantro.  Cook uncovered until liquid is fully absorbed, around 3 minutes.  Take off of heat and mix in the lime juice.  You can serve it on its own or wrap in warm corn tortillas.

Toasted Quinoa with Spinach, Blistered Tomatoes, and Walnuts

One of my new favorite things to do to remember vacations, other than take pictures and video, is buying cookbooks.  I try to find older cookbooks written by locals that may have more authentic recipes.  In New Orleans I was on the lookout but most of the cookbooks were from current chefs (yes, we went to Emeril's restaurant NOLA) or were written for tourists.  We were walking in New Orleans when we came upon a sign for a National Park.  I've been to many National Parks but all of them have been in wide open spaces, not in the middle of the city.  We went into the Jean Laffite National Historical Park, which was a small  courtyard and museum.  In the museum I found Talk About Good a cookbook from 1967 written by the Junior League of Lafayette Louisiana.  It is real cajun cooking from the 60s.  I don't know if I will make any of the savory recipes.  I am not a fan of cream, a lot of oil, grease or butter, or cheese and most of the recipes have these.  However, I think I could try to convert the sweet recipes to gluten free so I could use it.  Reading it is just as much fun as cooking for it, so it was a good buy!

One grain that the book definitely does not have in it is quinoa.  In my home, I use wild rice and/or quinoa as much as my go to basmati, jasmine, or long grain rice.   However, I have never toasted it before.  It adds an additional flavor profile.  Yes, this dish also includes blistered tomatoes.  It may seem like blistered tomato overload, but I made this dish around a month ago and it was the inspiration for my previous dish.

Toasted Quinoa with Spinach, Blistered Tomatoes, and Walnuts

Adapted from Fresh, Fast, and Vegetarian 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups quinoa

3 Cups of vegetable broth

2 Tbs olive oil

3 garlic cloves minced

1 tsp coarse salt

1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes

1 bag of baby spinach

1/2 cup walnut pieces

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup torn basil leaves

Rinse quinoa for 1 minutes in a fine mesh strainer and shake, removing as much water as possible.  Put 1 Tbs of oil into large skillet.  Add the quinoa and stir over medium heat until light brown.  This takes around 10 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Then add 3 cups of vegetable broth and bring to a boil.  Cook, covered, over medium low heat until the water is absorbed and quinoa is cooked, approximately 20 min.  

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in small skillet over medium high heat.  Add whole tomatoes and agitate them by shaking skillet back and forth for around 5 minutes.  You will se the tomatoes begin to blister and pick up some color.  Put to the side

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lay walnut pieces on baking sheet and roast for 5 - 10 minutes until they start to brown.  Put to the side.  

Put spinach in the quinoa and cook over medium heat until wilted, around 3 minutes.  Add tomatoes, walnuts, cheese, basil and fluff to combine.  

Savory Stuffed Apples

This is one of my favorite recipes. I really like the Vegetarian Times "stuffed" recipes. My first true vegetarian dish in this "vegetarian diet exploration" was their stuffed peppers and they were so awesome that I didn't mind just eating vegetables. I made this before with apples that I got from the apple orchard (They had fallen apart so I wasn't able to take pictures) and they were much better than the apples that I just got from the grocery store out of season. Again, I wish there was an apple orchard around here. The one I went to in October was a good 100+ miles away but I so missed the smell that you savor when you walk into a apple orchard store along with apple cider and apple cider doughnuts. They also had the most amazing vidalia onion tomato salad dressing. I really wish I remembered when kind it was so I could try to find my own recipe.

Savory Stuffed Apples

Adapted from Vegetarian Times

Ingredients

1 cup of vegetable broth

2 cups of water

1/2 cup of wild rice

1/4 cup of quinoa

2 Tbs olive oil

1 cup of shiitake mushrooms (finely chopped)

1/4 cup of red onion (finely chopped)

2 tsp of dried sage

1/4 cup cranberries (chopped)

4 medium apples (I used red delicious)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring 1 cup of water and vegetable broth to a boil in a saucepan. Add wild rice and reduce to medium low. Cover and cook for 50 minutes. Then stir in the quinoa and cook for 20 minutes more or until most of the water is absorbed.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat and saute mushrooms for around 7 minutes. Stir in the sage and wild rice and turn the heat to medium high heat. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes to meld flavors. Then remove from heat and fold in cranberries.

Cut the apples in half through the stem and scoop out the core and seeds with a spoon, leaving a 1/4 in thick wall around the sides. Fill the apple halves with the rice mixture. Place it in a large baking dish and fill the baking dish with 1 cup of water (or 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup apple cider). Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 min - 1 hour (until apples are soft)

Spicy Quinoa Salad

I hate gastroparesis. If you have it, you know why. I have a relatively mild case, my stomach is completely paralyzed but somehow I do not have the severe symptoms and can eat whole foods. I am grateful for that. But every few months I get a flareup that is debilitating. Monday I had so much pain that I could barely stand up and have had to take the last two days off of work (which for me, a type A personality, brings a whole lot of guilt and stress). One of the worse things is I also cannot eat anything I like. Last May it wasn't too bad because I didn't feel like cooking, but right now I feel like cooking new things and instead can only make plain rice, eggs, and pasta. Maybe I can use a little soy sauce but that is it. I do have a lot of recipes that I haven't posted yet, so I am going to have to go through them and wish I could eat something with flavor.

I saw this recipe as a post on Seriouseats. I was in the middle of reading Barbara Kingsolver's local food book and The Omnivore's Dilemma so I felt a bit guilty buying tomatoes and cucumbers at the beginning of October from the grocery store, but I wanted something healthy and light. I really like Quinoa. It doesn't have a strong taste and it is a great substitute for couscous. I used to make a similar couscous salad (Moroccan Couscous Salad) from Epicurious but couscous has gluten. Oh well.

Spicy Quinoa Salad

From SeriousEats

Ingredients
1 cup of dry quinoa
2 medium cucumbers
2 cups of tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes)
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
3 Tbs of olive oil
1 small red onion, minced
2 Tbs fresh lime juice
1 tbs red wine vinegar
salt
ground black pepper


Cook the quinoa according to directions on box. While cooking quinoa, mix the cucumber, tomato, olive oil and a pinch of salt together. In a separate bowl combine the onion, jalapeno, lime juice, and vinegar. Let sit while the quinoa is cooking. Combine the sauce and vegetables and toss. Then stir in the quinoa. Add more salt, oil, ground black pepper or lime juice to taste.