One Pan Mexican Quinoa

Last week I posted a picture on my Instagram page of a new recipe I had tried.  I saw this recipe over on Ambers Blog and knew I had to try it. 

I have a love hate relationship with quinoa…on one hand I know it is sooooo healthy for me and so I want to love it, but on the other hand I have tried it several times and just can’t get myself to like the dang stuff.   When I saw this recipe I figured…why not?!?! I pretty much love all things Mexican food, so maybe that would mask the quinoa.  I was sort of right.

We didn’t have all of the spices she recommends, but even without that it ended up being pretty good. Even my husband said he would eat it again.  For sure put the avocado on there…that really made it for us, and we used a crap ton of cilantro. I really enjoyed the plain Greek yogurt on mine, but Joe doesn’t care for it..so either way we both like it. I wouldn’t say it was our favorite meal, like probably not gonna ask for this as my special birthday meal any time soon, but it was a great, easy and healthy dinner. 

Here you have it:

One pan Mexican quinoa:

Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium sweet onion, diced

1 jalapeno, minced, seeds and ribs removed (I didn’t add this so Ellie could eat it too)

1 cup dry quinoa

1 cup vegetable or chicken broth

1 (15-oz) can low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (14.5oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (Joe later said he would prefer these pureed rather than chunks)

1 cup frozen corn

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (we didn’t have)

1 teaspoon cumin (we didn’t have)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Juice of 1 medium lime

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 whole avocado, cubed

Light sour cream or 0% plain Greek yogurt

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add in garlic, onion, and jalapeño, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are golden and the garlic is fragrant.

Stir in quinoa, broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, and seasonings.  Bring to boil; cover and reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked through (soft to the bite, but not mushy) - 22-26 minutes.  Stir in the lime juice and cilantro.  Serve with 1/4 of the avocado (or more!) and a dollop of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt on top! 

some of the ingredients…and my glass of wine, obvi!!!

The first few ingredients cooking up and smelling amazing!!

Almost finished…makes sure you continue to stir a few times while you let it simmer, just to make sure the bottom doesn’t burn…not that that almost happened to me or anything…

and wa-la!

Give it a try…and if you want to see pictures of cute little two year old twins enjoying this meal then pop on over to Ambers blog.  She also has tons of other recipes that are family friendly and easy. 

Happy Monday!!!