Mexican Quinoa

October 29, 2015

This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.

I made this today for my youngest daughter and her vegetarian friend and it was so delicious – I was quite sad that none was left over for another meal. It is a really filling lunch and the health benefits are very positive. The main ingredient Quinoa (pronounced Kin-wa) is my new go-to ingredient and in this recipe I substituted ordinary Quinoa with the red version. It is one of those ‘superfoods’ that nutritionists highly recommend and there is much interesting reading about the health benefits of Quinoa.

Mexican Quinoa

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ an onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ a large jalapeno, minced (taste before adding all of the jalapeno, depending on how spicy you want the dish to be)
125g quinoa (I often use red quinoa which I prefer)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 (400g) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (400g) can diced tomatoes (not drained)
1 (400g) can sweetcorn drained
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (I used ¼ tsp kosher salt- taste first before adding more)
1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves

(creme fraiche see below)

How to prepare:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan with a lid over medium heat.

2. Sauté the onion, garlic and jalapeno until it starts to brown, about one minute.

3. Add the quinoa, vegetable broth, black beans, diced tomatoes, corn, chili powder, cumin, ¼ tsp salt to the pan and stir to mix well.

4. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and cover the pan with the lid.

5. Cook covered for 20 minutes (I put in simmer over in my Aga), until the quinoa is cooked through, but stir it halfway through cooking just to make sure the quinoa cooks evenly.

6. Before serving, sprinkle the chopped coriander and diced avocado on top and then squeeze ½ of the lime in as well. Taste and add more lime juice, salt and pepper if needed.

7. I did put a pot of creme fraiche (or sour cream) on table for guests to add if they so wished!

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