Tuesday, July 29, 2014

One Pan Spicy Quinoa!



Quinoa?
Yes Indeed, when I first saw that word I mentally placed a question mark after it. It even took me a while just to learn how to pronounce it correctly.
My first thought was what the heck is Quinoa. I had heard people say how much they enjoy it, read recipes with it as the main ingredient, but had sadly never tried it.
I would now like to say thank you to Angie Spada from over at the FB group Motivational Fitness, Strength & Nutrition for posting a recipe the other day for a quinoa dish the inspired me to give this ‘new to me’ pantry staple a try.
Of course, my version is just a little different from the original, but that is the beauty of the internet recipe collective. You find a recipe that you like, you write it down with a #2 pencil then change it up as you cook.
This is a VERY TASTY dish - a real must try. Hat tip to Angie for posting this one and inspiring me to give quinoa a try here at the Tango Test Kitchen.
Please, give this a go in your kitchen and let Angie & I know how much you enjoyed it.
I have included links to her FaceBook Group and her YouTube page. Stop by, join in on the conversation and let Angie inspire you as well.

One Pan Mexican Quinoa

Ingredients:
1 TBS Olive Oil
3 Cloves Garlic / minced
1 Jalapeños / minced

1 Cup Quinoa
1 Cup Crawfish Stock (sub vegetable stock)
1 (15-ounce) Can Black Beans / drained & rinsed
1 (14.5 oz) Can DelMonte Petite Diced Chili Style Tomatoes
1 cup Corn Kernels / frozen or canned
1 tsp Tango Spice Southwest Sunset (sub chili powder)
1 tsp Cumin
1 Avocado / diced **
Juice of 1 lime
2 TBS Chopped Fresh Cilantro

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and jalapeño, sauté 1 to 2 minutes.
Stir in quinoa, crawfish stock, beans, tomatoes, corn, Southwest Sunset and cumin.
Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in avocado, lime juice and cilantro.
Serve immediately.***

I will let you all know now that this was a great dish, tasty and a really nice texture. I whole heartedly recommend you giving this a try as soon as possible.

** Do not dice the avocado until the dish is off the heat. Keep that crispness as you serve & enjoy.

*** This was great while it was hot, though you should know that it was darn good as a cold side as well. If you make extra, set aside what you are going to cool before putting the avocado in. Dice one and add it just before serving cold.

As Always, Thank You For Reading!