Quinoa with Black Beans

Forgive my absence. Life happened. I've cooked lots of yummy things, but not much of anything that was more than two ingredients and I definitely did not take any pictures. I've experimented with grilled tofu recently. In short here is my recipe: Tofu with water pressed out sliced into 6 pieces + marinade of your choice. Marinate for a couple of hours. Throw it on a clean grill (also... you might want to spray the grill with Pam or brush it with oil or something before lighting it)... turn it at some point. Take it off when the tofu has shrunk some and looks dryish on the edges... or whatever you think looks "done". Maybe 20 minutes?

So I've been thinking about black beans and cilantro for a few days. Black bean tacos. Black beans and rice. Black bean soup. Pico de gallo. Fresh salsa. You get the idea.

We had a box of quinoa in the pantry and some cilantro in the refrigerator and black beans are a staple in my house. If we run out its time to go to the grocery store. Well actually, it IS time to go to the grocery store, but we still had black beans.

Quinoa with Black Beans (and cilantro!)

2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained (um, minus the handful that I ate)
1 can of mild Rotel
3/4 cup of uncooked quinoa
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 tsp cumin
2 gloves garlic minced
1/2 medium onion
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 handful of cilantro, stems removed, chopped

Garnish:
cilantro
lime wedges

Saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil, add everything else. Stir it around, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 20 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and a twist of lime. To make this a one pot meal, add some frozen corn and chopped multicolored bell peppers.


And the lazy girl's version of the nutritional analysis is as follows:

Calories: on the low side
Fat: on the low side
Protein: high
Sodium: maybe

Summary: good for your heart and butt and tastes delicious too!