Tag Archives: cheese

Black Bean and Avocado Lime Quinoa

I love simplicity on a weeknight. And though the plethora of ingredients in this recipe may lead you to believe that it’s complicated, it’s not! You cook the quinoa and simply stir everything else in. I’ve made this many times, and the add-in ingredients are flexible and can be adjusted depending on the state of your pantry. So while it’s delicious just as written below, have fun playing and substituting!

This dish can function as a side, but I love it as a main dish. And my love will remain unshaken.

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
Juice and zest of 1 lime
1 tsp kosher salt
2 TBS olive oil
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 small bunch cilantro
3-4 Roma tomatoes
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can corn
2 avocados
1 sprinkle lemon juice (for the avocado)
1 hard boiled egg
1 TBS melted butter
Optional: crumbled feta cheese

First: resist the urge to be overwhelmed. Yes, there appear to be a good many ingredients in that picture, but nothing complicated is happening with or to any of them. Take a deep breath and stick with me!

Now, quinoa. I used to be intimidated by it. It was an unknown, and it always takes a little extra energy to tackle something mysterious in the kitchen. Well let me assure you: this delicious little grain is nothing to be afraid of. Its tiny couscous-like pearls are simply cooked in boiling water, and then sit for 10 minutes to steam and soften. And that’s the extent of the Quinoa Threat.

Let’s see this funky lil’ grain in action!

Boil the 2 cups of water in a large pot. When boiling, adjust the heat to medium, add the quinoa . . .

. . . and cook (uncovered) for 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed. After 15 minutes, cover the pot and turn off the heat.

Let the quinoa sit for 10 minutes and get happy. See? Nothing to fear at all.

Hard boil that egg. After 7 minutes of boiling and a couple minutes sitting in the hot water, mine was perfection.

Dice up the tomatoes and cilantro:

Bam! Bam! Toss them in a bowl.

Peel and cube the avocado, sprinkling the pieces with a little lemon juice to avoid browning.

As you can see, I left a few of the prettier slices whole, to use as a garnish.

Drain and rinse the black beans:

And drain the can of corn while you’re at it.

Chop up the hardboiled egg too–and now all the chunky ingredients are ready to be added once the quinoa is done:

Beautiful! Colorful. Healthy.

Zest and juice the lime into a bowl:

Add the salt, sugar, and pepper . . .

. . . and whisk in the olive oil and butter to form the dressing.

As you can see, I couldn’t be bothered with melting the butter, knowing it would simply melt in the hot quinoa.

Once the quinoa is done, mix everything together in the pot:

This dish can be eaten hot or cold, but I like it at least warm, so if you do too, heat everything for a couple minutes over low heat.

Serve it up! You can sprinkle a little feta on top too, if you’re in the mood for some dairy bliss.

I, surprisingly, wasn’t. I also didn’t have any feta on hand, so maybe that was part of it.

It’s so good. I love, love, love this dinner–there’s no rolling away from the table with a rock in your stomach after a bowl of this veggie-licious combo. I hope you guys like it too!

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Creamy Cauliflower Cheddar Soup

I’ve been delaying my post on this fabulous soup because my pictures are butt ugly and I was ashamed to share them with you. Butt. Ugly. Something about the pasty color, the lack of light in my kitchen, the glare of the flash–it was a depressing food shoot. But I’m swallowing my feelings about the pictures because this soup is worth it. With potatoes and cheese and cauliflower and a dash of mustard, it’s comforting and wonderful, and it would be a crime if a little picture trouble prevented me from putting it out there.

I didn’t realize how wonderful this soup was at first because I consumed most of my bowl while the soup was still hot as blazes. As the taste buds were nearly burned out of my mouth, I pondered “this soup is okay–yeah, I guess it’s pretty good.” But once the soup had cooled down, my taste buds had recovered from the shock and I actually started tasting the thing, my enthusiasm grew. It was really good, and I regretted not waiting for it to cool down to a tasteable temperature from the get-go.

So after that heart-warming story, let’s make it! From this recipe on Amy’s amazing blog (Very Culinary), let’s welcome our guest of honor, Creamy Cauliflower Cheddar Soupdiddly-oup-diddly-oup.

Ingredients

(Serves 5)

2 TBS butter
2 shallots
1 yellow onion
Kosher salt, to taste
1 medium potato
2 cloves garlic
3 ½ cups vegetable broth
½ head of cauliflower
2/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 tsp Dijon mustard

There are the ingredients . . . but have I forgotten something?

Yes! The potato.

Okay, we are now complete.

Sorry, I can’t say the word “complete” without thinking of the Emperor. “Your journey towards the dark side will be complete.” Seriously, say “complete” like the Emperor does. It’s addicting.

Chop the potato into smallish cubes (peel only if desired–I didn’t desire).

Chop up the shallots and onion.

Mince the garlic too! But you’ve seen enough pictures of me mincing garlic. Right? No? Okay, fine.

But just because you asked.

The mincing of the garlic will be complete.

Chop the cauliflower into small florets–but no need to be pretty here. A rough chop will do, because it will all be pureed anyway.

Shred the cheese–and shred extra so that there’s plenty for garnish.

And by “garnish” I mean that gooey, wonderful mess on top of the soup that will make your mouth water and your eyes leak tears of gratitude for the human being who first created this thing called “cheese.”

Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the shallots and onion and cook for 3 minutes, until softened.

And one more time . . . the softening of the onions will be complete.

Okay, okay. I won’t do it again . . . in writing.

But I’ll be doing it in my mind.

Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add a sprinkling of salt, the cubed potato, and the vegetable broth.

 Bring to a boil, then cover the pot . . .

. . . lower the heat, and simmer for 8 minutes (until the potatoes are tender).

Add the cauliflower . . .

. . . cover the pot again, and cook for another 10 minutes.

Puree the soup to your desired consistency with an immersion blender:

I like mine with a little chunk still left in it.

Now, stir in the cheese and mustard. I had it prepped in a pile–doesn’t it look attractive? Altogether yummy?

Or not.

Thankfully it will all disappear into the creamy bowels of the soup. One might even say that the disappearing of the cheese and mustard into the soup will be . . .

*resisting* *resisting*

Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt and black pepper if needed.

Serve with extra cheese sprinkled on top!

Not the most photogenic of soups–but delicious! The subtle tang of mustard is just perfect.

Thank you Amy for another great recipe!

Click here for printer-friendly version: Creamy Cauliflower Cheddar Soup