Black Bean Quinoa is one of my favorite go to lunches. It keeps really well and tastes just as delicious on Friday as it did on Monday!
I usually will put the quinoa on in the morning when I get up. It cooks so quickly, it is finished in about 20 minutes. Then, I put it in a large bowl to cool. Sometimes I don’t get to the rest of the recipe ’til later in the day, and my quinoa is cooled and ready to go!
For this recipe, I love to use red quinoa, its nutty flavor goes great with the black beans. While the quinoa is cooling, I make my dressing and chop the herbs.
When the quinoa is cooled, I pour the dressing over and mix well. I always like to mix the quinoa and dressing before adding any other ingredients to make sure everything is evenly covered with dressing.
After mixing the dressing in, I add the herbs and stir again. I have found that if you mix the herbs and the dressing in at the same time, the herbs get stuck together and don’t disperse as evenly.
Next I chop the rest of the ingredients and toss in the bowl.
Mix it up so everything is evenly dispersed. Then I split it into containers so that it is ready to pack in my lunch each day. slice the avocado and add it on top only a day in advance. If you do this at the beginning of the week for each day’s portion, it doesn’t stay as well.
Spicy Black Bean Quinoa
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups of red quinoa
- 3 cups of vegetable broth
- zest of one lime
- 2-3 limes, juiced
- ½ tsp. chili powder
- ½ tsp. chipotle chili powder (adjust depending on your spiciness preference)
- 1 tsp. cumin
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- ¼ tsp. freshly crushed black pepper
- Medium size bunch of fresh cilantro (about 20 stems), chopped
- 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can of large black olives, cut in half
- 1 pint of grape tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 orange bell pepper, diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup of frozen corn
- 3 scallions (green and white parts), sliced
- 2-3 avocados, diced
Instructions:
- In a small saucepan, combine quinoa and 3 cups of vegetable broth (you can also use water) and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and cover,
- Let cook for 12-15 minutes. Remove lid to check that all liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and transfer to a large mixing bowl to cool.
- While the quinoa is cooling, prepare the dressing and herbs.
- In a small bowl whisk together, lime juice, chili powder, chipotle chili powder, cumin, sea salt, and black pepper.
- Pour dressing over quinoa and mix well.
- Add cilantro to quinoa and mix well.
- Add black beans, olives, grape tomatoes, orange and yellow bell peppers, corn, and scallions to quinoa mixture and mix well.
- Add sea salt and fresh black pepper as needed.
- Top with diced avocado just before serving.
- Keeps in fridge for up to 5 days in an air-tight container.
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