Round Seven Rebuttal - Black Beans, Corn and Quinoa

I have picked up some decidedly hippie-ish characteristics since moving to Gainesville, including, but not limited to: yoga, keeping my AC set on a balmy 80 degrees, and buying bulk grains from the local hippie-mart. It is this last habit that inspired this variation on Susan's black beans and rice.


For those of you who have never cooked quinoa, I'll tell ya - it's weird stuff. It's like the secret love-child of rice and couscous. It's a variety of Chenopodium, which, if I recall correctly from grad school, was one of the first grains domesticated in Central and South America, a staple before maize (or taosinte, to be a complete nerd about it). In any case, it's crazy nutritious and you should try it.

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t ground coriander
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t paprika
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 1/2 c water
3/4 c quinoa
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 tomato
juice of half a lime
Sour cream

Saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic in a teaspoon of olive oil until veggies are tender. Add spices and cook with vegetables for a couple minutes. Add water and quinoa and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce heat to med-low and simmer for 20 minutes.

The quinoa will have absorbed the liquid and poofed up a bit - a little curlie-cue will have sprouted from each grain. Add the black beans, corn, tomato, and lime juice. Salt and pepper to taste and serve.

I hesitated before garnishing with sour cream, it seemed like it might be a weird combination. Then I remembered that sour cream is AWESOME and flung a dollop on top of the quinoa and veggies. Turned out to be a good move.

Let me know if you try this!