Quinoa and Black Beans

Curt is always on the lookout for new, healthy foods.  He has been watching a fusion grain cooking show on BYUtv and learned about Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa).  It's a grain I would compare to brown rice, but much more nutritious.  He found it at Whole Foods.  

I was surprised how delicious this recipe was and my kids gobbled it up.  This recipe is great as a vegan meal or as a side dish.  It's a perfect replacement for beans and rice.  Next time, I'm going to serve it in a tortilla with chicken and salsa...yum!

 Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup green pepper
• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
2. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
3. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

Betty Crocker's Potatoe Salad

I love potato salad, but when I buy it, it's always either too pickley or vinegary. The potatoes are always undercooked and too chunky. Here is the recipe I use, which is out of my good old Betty Crocker cook book from 25 years ago!

First I'll share the basic recipe then tell you the way I do it.

Ingredients:

2 pounds potatoes (about 6 medium)

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1 Tbsp. vinegar

1 Tbsp. prepared mustard

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 medium stalks celery, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

4 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

Prepare and boil potatoes for about 35 minutes. Cool slightly. Mix mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Mix in celery and onion and set aside. In large mixing bowl, cube the potatoes and eggs. Toss together. Pour the dressing on and stir. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours. 10 servings (about 3/4 cup each); 260 calories per serving.

I pretty much stick to this recipe with a few variations.

The first thing I do differently is to boil the potatoes longer than directed. I boil them until they start to fall apart on the outside. I also double the eggs. Doing these two things is what makes the salad so much creamier. Note: Because the potatoes are more crumbly, it's ideal to cool them in the refrigerator overnight so they don't fall apart when cutting up.

I cut the celery and onion into pretty small pieces.

I always make a double batch. Here I have catered to my whiny children and added the celery and onion to only half of the salad. They don't care for the crunch. This double batch was made to travel, as my mother-in-law always asks me to bring it to family BBQ's. Make it pretty by putting whole slices of egg on top and sprinkling with paprika.

With warmer weather coming, it's the perfect time to try this salad. It travels well and is even better the second day!

Emily's Wet Burrito Meal

My sister Emily loved mexican food. She was a server at a mexican restaurant for several years and was always very picky about her mexican food; she considered herself an expert (we loved to tease her about that!). This is the recipe for her famous wet burrito meal. Don't make the mistake of calling these enchiladas, Emily would have corrected you! And you MUST make this as a meal, the burritos are only good in COMBINATION with the beans and corn. This is a great vegetarian dish also, and I just love it with homemade guacamole and chips on the side!

Wet Burritos
16oz. sour cream
1/4 c. chopped green onion
8 + oz. Monterrey Pepper Jack cheese, shredded
12 + oz. Colby, shredded
2 t. cumin
1 pkg. Enchilada powder
8 oz. tomato sauce
1 c. water
1 pkg. burrito size tortillas

Mix 1st five ingredients (set aside additional cheese for topping). Spoon in tortilla, roll up, place seam side down in greased pan. Set aside. For sauce, bring last three ingredients to boil, let simmer for 10 min. Taste, and add Tobasco, more tomato sauce, salt, etc. Pour over burritos. Bake 20 min @ 350. Top with more cheese and bake an additional 5 min, till cheese melts. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve with sour cream if desired.

Black Beans

2 cans black beans
1/2 large red onion
1 green bell pepper
1 T minced garlic
1 T red wine vinegar
1 T Tobasco
1 T cumin
(topping: chopped sweet Vidalia onions)

Blend all but the beans in a blender until very smooth, add to beans and cook 8 hours on low in crockpot. Top with chopped sweet Vidalia onions.

Fiesta Corn

Fresh corn
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
salt, pepper, butter, and Tobasco to taste