Happy Vegetarian Day!

Not all my dishes are vegan or vegetarian but they are the easiest to work with since they do not usually contain milk ingredients. And since today is World Vegetarian Day I thought Dinner should be sans meat, and I have been looking forward to trying quinoa. Quinoa is one of those "new" super foods everyones been talking about recently. I say "new" because its new to the American supper market, but it was a staple in the Inca diet... So its not so new to the world. Its know as a super food because it beats all grains when it comes to its protein content. I got the following nutritional info from wikipedia.org Quinoa's "protein content is very high (12%–18%), making it a healthy choice for vegetarians and vegans. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source.^[5] It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten free and considered easy to digest. " But enough about nutrition lets get to the recipe!

Quinoa and Black Beans

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped (I think a red onion would taste best)
  
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
2. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
3. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

This turned out amazing! I think that it would be great if you used Chicken broth instead of the vegetable broth. I think I will also be using a red onion next time instead of the yellow one I had on hand. Its also important that you wash the quinoa because it has a bitter outer coating, and make sure there are no non-quinoa items or you might have a split pea soup chipped tooth. I am also considering other vegetables I can add to the dish perhaps some jalapeños or bell peppers.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Till my next non dairy kitchen adventure good bye