Eating For Your Future/Quinoa and Black Bean Vegetable Salad

A few months ago, I received a lovey email message from Diane of www.rememberingoz.blogspot.com. She knows how much I enjoy quinoa, as well as a healthy dish in general, so she thought that  might enjoy the dish that I'm sharing with you today. I think Diane must know me well as I REALLY did enjoy it and my husband did too!

Quinoa and Black Bean Vegetable Salad

Dressing;
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice or juice of 2 limes
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 minced garlic clove
1/3 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon fresh minced cilantro

mix all ingredients together and set aside

Salad Mix
1 cup quinoa(cook according to package directions)
14 oz. can black beans drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper chopped
1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped
2 green onions chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh corn(I sliced mine off the cobb)
1 small avocado chopped

Cook quinoa and allow to cool. Combine all other ingredients. Add quinoa once it  has cooled. Stir in dressing and serve.

The only changes I made to the recipe was to add more green onions and I also chopped up 2 jalapeno peppers and added them to the mixture. I like spice!!
The salad will keep well for lunches, in fact, it's probably better the second day as the flavors have had time to mingle. The salad is also wonderful on a bed of your favorite lettuce. Maybe add some sliced avocado and sliced tomatoes and you'll have a wonderful main dish salad.

Thanks so much for the recipe Diane! I think it will become a go to recipe in my house.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did if you give it a try.
Rhonda

Sunday's Soup

I was initially attracted to this soup recipe because of these little guys, tomatillos!! They are a fascinating little vegetable. Although, they may actually be considered a fruit, regardless, they make a lovely addition to many recipes. I especially like making a sauce with them for white fish. Yum!

This recipe was developed by Kalyn, whose story is very interesting. She tells how she lost 42 pounds and became a food blogger here http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2005/04/how-i-lost-42-pounds-and-became-food.html. All of her recipes are seasonal, low glycemic and promote healthy eating, weight loss, and blood sugar control.
If you enjoy an aromatic soup with a bit of a tang, you will enjoy this recipe. The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of lime juice which I did not add. With the tomatillos, I did not want the lime juice, but you may. It's added at the end, so you can make the decision once the soup has cooked. You can find the original recipe here, http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2008/10/crockpot-recipe-for-vegetarian-black.html
This soup is cooked in a crock pot, so it's a make it and let it cook kind of a soup. Oh I love it when things are easy!!! I added an extra 1/2 cup of brown rice which made my soup more of a stew, so it has a thicker consistency and I like that.

Vegetarian Black Bean and Tomatillo Soup
Ingredients:
1 T olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
8 tomatillos, chopped in 1/4 inch pieces (about 2 cups chopped tomatillo)
1 T finely minced garlic
1 T dried cilantro (optional, but recommended, available from Penzeys)
2 tsp. dried Mexican Oregano
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 cans (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed well
2 cans (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with juice
4 cups vegetable broth or chicken stock (I used homemade chicken stock, but you could use canned vegetable or chicken broth)
1 cup water
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (or a bit less if you don't love lime like I do)
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish if desired

Instructions:

Chop onions and tomatillos into pieces about 1/4 inch. Heat olive oil in large frying pan, then saute onions and tomatillos about 5 minutes, then add garlic, dried cilantro, Mexican Oregano, and cumin and saute 1-2 minutes more. While vegetables saute, dump beans into a colander placed in the sink and rinse until no more foam appears.

Put tomatillo-onion mixture into large 4-5 quart crockpot. (I used a 5 1/2 quart crock pot, but it was not completely full.) Add beans, tomatoes with juice, chicken stock, water, and brown rice. Cook on high for 4 hours (This could also be cooked on low for 8 hours.) Slow cookers can vary, so check and adjust the cooking time accordng to how hot your crockpot gets.)

After 4 hours (or 8 hours if using low) turn the crockpot to low setting, and let it cook 15 minutes to lower the temperature, then add the fresh lime juice and cilantro and cook 10 minutes on low. Serve hot, with additional chopped cilantro for garnish if desired.

I served mine with some shredded white cheddar and Tabasco sauce!! My husband said that he would have enjoyed it a little more served on a bed of rice. Regardless, I really enjoyed this recipe and I think it is a good one to have on file.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!
Rhonda