Keen on Quinoa

Bet you can’t guess what we had for dinner.  🙂

Our afternoon was spent doing more work…specifically, I got to work cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.  I got some Mrs. Meyer’s counter cleaning spray…have you tried this?  I got the Lemon Verbana scent, and I really like it!  Very fresh smelling.  I also mopped and vacuumed.  And then mopped again when I found a few “gifts” from Baxter in the living room.  Nice.

We didn’t make it over to the gym…well, actually, we were going to go, but we called to ask about the hours around 3:30, and they told us that they close at 4:00 on Saturday!  Rats! Oh well…I think we’re going to go tomorrow morning.  I ended up walking/running 3.5 miles on our “home gym” treadmill, which was perfect!  My energy level has been pretty low today…I think I’m still feeling yesterday’s long day of travel. 

Around 6, we got started on dinner.  It ended up pretty good!

Black Bean and Mango Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

salt and pepper

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup quinoa

1 mango, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine 1 cup quinoa with two cups water.  Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook until water is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes.

While quinoa is cooking, heat a skillet and add garlic.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, and then add red pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes, until peppers have cooked through.  Add spices and black beans, and cook for another 10 minutes or so. 

When quinoa is ready, add quinoa and mango to skillet with pepper and beans.  Stir to incorporate, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with avocado and cilantro.

We served ours over a big bed of spinach for some extra greens!  It was good…although I think it could have benefitted from a little more kick.  And maybe some tortilla chips on top! 🙂

Here are some pics of the cooking process:

Quinoa + veggies…sorry for the steamy pic! It was hot!

Final product + dinner:

 Aren’t these fleur de lis candle holders pretty?  I got them while I was home.  Gotta represent Louisiana while I’m stuck up here in cold, snowy PA, right? 

Also, check out the pretty table….the plates, napkins, and placemats were all a Christmas present from my sweet husband.  He has good taste, no?

Can’t wait to show y’all all the fun new dishes I got over the holiday!

I ended the meal with a big hunk of Theo’s dark chocolate—91%!!! Holy dark chocolate goodness!

I think I’m about to take a long bath with a magazine—I have a lot of magazine reading material to get caught up on from all the time we’ve been gone! 

See you tomorrow, lovelies!