Yes, I know, it's been awhile. What can I say, life has been rather chaotic (understatement of the year) for the last little while and I haven't felt very inspired to a) cook or b) write about anything. But combine a few days off from work with the acknowledgement of the fleeting days of summer and the inspiration provided from the beautiful and delicious vegetables available at this time of a year, and I just HAD to make something. And it felt good. And tasted even better. I shall call it "Cooking Therapy". And I shall patent it... unless someone else has beaten me to it. Which someone probably has already done. Oh well. There goes my millions and early retirement. Back to work I go. Crap.
Focus. Back to cooking. If you've read any of my other posts (no pressure, but you really should) then you know I love colour in my food, and I also love chipotle and lime. This recipe turned out even better than I had imagined it would, which I said to my husband whilst patting myself on the back for creating such a fabulous meal. Plus it's so pretty. All good things. I came across this recipe in the latest "Eating Well" magazine (August 2013) and was just itching to create it. I did change a few things up from the original recipe: I substituted poblano peppers for regular run of the mill sweet peppers (hard to get poblano peppers up here in Canada at the local Freshco), and I changed up cotija cheese with feta cheese (honestly, I don't even know what cotija cheese is, and neither does my spellcheck!) Plus I added some of my old friend chipotle to the mix, because I figured it would taste good, and everything is better with a little bit of chipotle in it, don't you think? And, well, I didn't have quite enough quinoa (not nearly as prepared as I thought I was, story of my life), so I added millet to make up for the deficiency. I'm also a bit impatient (quiet, husband) so I did not use dried beans and soak them ahead of time. I'm sorry but I do not have one and a quarter hours to simmer them. I cheated and used canned beans, rinsed well to get rid of as much of the cancer causing crap from the can as I could. And I did not use corn on the cob. Yes I know that they would have tasted better than the frozen corn that I used, but the corn husks that I had were a tad on the old side (read dried up and mouldy) and would not have made a tasty dish at all. The original recipe was meant to be served cold but the hubby doesn't like cold salads, so I easily turned it into a warm salad by sauteing the tomatoes etc. Suffice to say, the end product was gorgeous and tasty, and made me feel oh so happy. Therapeutic, nutritious and yummy....What more can you ask from your dinner!
Corn and Black Bean Quinoa Salad
(adapted from Eating Well magazine August 2013)
Makes 12 servings, about 1 cup each
Protein, fibre,vitamins and minerals: lots :-)
2 1/2 cups canned black beans, rinsed really, really well (really)
6 cloves of garlic, peeled (or a few spoonfuls of minced garlic in oil)
salt and pepper to taste (I never measure this)
4 medium peppers (poblano or sweet, whatever you can get your hands on)
2/3 cup red quinoa (or mix with millet, or even substitute with all millet)
6 1/2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil (I don't usually measure it, just throw some in)
1 large red onion, chopped (I used 2 shallots and some leeks that I had leftover in the fridge)
1 tsp whole cumin seeds, toasted and ground ( I am lazy...I used 1/2- 1 tsp ground cumin)
1 cup crumbled cotija cheese (or feta...what the hell is cojito cheese????)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice, plus some lime wedges for garnishing
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves ....mmmmmmm cilantro....
1 avocado, thinly sliced
Preheat boiler to high. Place peppers on a baking sheet and broil 3-4 inches from heat source, turning often, until blistered and charred. Usually takes 8-15 minutes in total. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and wait 10 minutes. Peel peppers and discard stem etc. Tear or cut peppers into 1 inch strips. (Honestly, if you are in a time crunch, just use jarred roasted red peppers, will do in a pinch no problem.)
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Add quinoa (and/or millet), salt and boil for 10-14 minutes (or until tender but still crunchy.) Drain and spread onto a plate to cool.
Heat oil (1 1/2 tbsps-ish ) in a medium non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots, garlic (onion/leeks) and some salt. Cook, stirring frequently until soft. Stir in cumin. Add cherry tomatoes, corn, beans, peppers, and chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce . Add 5 tbps(ish) oil, lime juice and quinoa/millet. Gently mix together. Heat until warm throughout.
Just before serving, add the chopped cilantro. Serve with sliced avocado and lime wedges.
Plate, pat yourself on the back and enjoy the flavours- Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment