Linking up at Beth Anne's Best for Lenten Meal Plan Monday (er Wednesday)!
Me and the fam are vegan. I know, I think we're annoying and obnoxious too. And because we are I have LOTSA stuff we make without meat and dairy!
This is a new recipe we tried a couple days ago and it is a WINNER. It is pretty easy, so could be made for lunch dinner.
Vegan Quinoa & Sweet Potato Chili
(recipe found here.)
You will need:
-One 29oz (or two 15 oz cans) or black beans, drained and rinsed
-One 6oz can tomato paste
-32oz vegetable stock
-One onion, chopped (the recipe didn't specify, but we used red)
-5 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tablespoon chili powder
-1 tablespoon cumin powder
-1 teaspoon oregano
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks
-1 cup dry quinoa
-Salt & pepper to taste
-Avocado & cilantro for garnish (we did have avocado, but went sans cilantro)
-If you are wanting to, you could add cheese or sour cream as a topping as well
We had pretty much everything on hand to make this (score!). But if you're new to using quinoa, check your local Costco. That's where we buy ours and it's much, much cheaper than buying it at a grocery store. If you don't have a Costco nearby, try a store that sells food in bulk for another cheaper option. We also buy bulk canned black beans at Costco. And even if you don't, I think this meal is very inexpensive. Sweet potatoes can be pricey, but you're only using one to make 6 servings.
Now for the making!
Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium/high heat. Add onions and cook until soft (about 10 minutes). Add garlic, cook for 2 minutes. Then add tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add beans, stock, and potatoes, season with salt & pepper. Cook 5 minutes. Add the quinoa! In the original recipe it says it will take 15-30 minutes for the quinoa to cook. We make quinoa a lot and it usually take at least 30 minutes on it's own, so if you're not familiar with how cooked quinoa looks, go the 30 minutes. Ours ended up taking almost 40 minutes, but I had turned down the heat a bit. Stir frequently. Taste-test the potatoes to make sure they're at your softness preference. When satisfied, spoon into bowels, top with garnish and enjoy!!!
Our girls even loved this. Gwen can be pretty picky and is very sensitive to spice, but she ate plenty. I did add about 1/2-1 tablespoon of water to the girls bowls to make it less thick and to cool it quickly.
Ben and I loved it as well. I am not a sweet potato fan, but this is darn good. The avocado complimented perfectly. We ate it with crackers, but corn bread as a side would be delish!
Happy eating!!
Thanks for linking up! What a great way to use quinoa!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteOkay, I have to ask- is there a cheap way to buy quinoa? Because a tiny bag at the grocery store was priced at TWELVE DOLLARS and I was all "oh, ain't nobody got money fo' dat!".
ReplyDeleteDweej! You went ahead and gave yourself away and must not have read my whole post, cuz I talked about us buying quinoa at our local Costco. Amazon also has a 4lb bag for about $15. Buying it from from a bulk section at a store is also an option. But Costco has been the cheapest in our area. If you do buy it, read and see if you need to pre-wash it, bc that is sometimes the case. Ours from Costco is pre-washed.
DeleteI know it can be expensive and different, BUT quinoa has some amazing properties, including being high in protein, a good source of fiber and phosphorous, is high in iron and magnesium. Plus it's a good source of calcium. All in one little guy!
I hope you do try it, it's awesome!
Also, a 4lb bag would yield about 32 cups of cooked quinoa.
DeleteWe really, really, really need a Costco!
DeleteAnd you're so right- I did give myself away! I was still nursing my injury from the $12 quinoa that as soon as I saw it as an ingredient my tiny brain totally shut down. Mea culpa!
DeleteNo Costco! The horror is too much for me to bear!
DeleteIs there maybe a co-op or something you could look into to see if they have bulk quinoa?
It is more expensive then say, rice. But it's more of the main dish than a side dish. If you email me your address I will literally mail you some to try. It's that good and good for you!! I really will!!!
Emily, I am so thrilled to get this recipe you've been raving about! Just two questions: did you use sweet potatoes (yellow flesh) or yams (orange flesh)? And #2: You are so hilarious because of the mispelling; how did you "add about 1/2-1 tablespoon of water to the girls bowels to make it less thick"??! ;-) Just couldn't resist! :-)
ReplyDeleteWe used a sweet potato.
DeleteYou're new to our area, so you might not know about Azure Standard.Go here http://www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/1086/ to find quinoa 25 lbs for $55.80 I'll go halves with you! And they are such a better place to patronize than Amazon. Their CEO, Jeff Bezos, gave $2.5 million to support the same-sex marriage law that passed in WA State because they out-funded us with Bezos' giant contribution and a ton of out-of-state funding. No more Amazon for us!
ReplyDeleteWe don't buy our quinoa on Amazon, we buy it at Costco! It's less than $9 for a 4 lbs bag! Not sure we have space for 12 lbs of quinoa. ; )
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