Quinoa and Black Bean Casserole

Quinoa is a staple in my house. I was initially introduced to quinoa  in a salad and I didn't think much of it. It gave a little texture to the dish but didn't add too much in terms of taste. So that was that for me. I put the little  bag of Quinoa at the back of my pantry and forgot all about it.

A few months later, I went to my cousin's house for Golu :). And dinner. Arvind and I had a lovely time catching up with them and eventually the conversation turned (as it so often does these days) to healthy food. They told us, to my utter shock and surprise, that they had replaced their daily rice consumption with Quinoa. As in Quinoa+Sambar, Quinoa+Rasam etc. I had a little taste at their house and I liked it. I came home, fished out the little baggy from the back of my pantry and set forth making Sambar and Quinoa for lunch the next day. Thus began my intense love affair with this beautiful grain.

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is grown primarily in Peru so we had some lovely local quinoa dishes when we were there. This is us looking proud as hell at Machu Pichu :) :)

Now, on to the dish. This is actually the first dish I ever made with my own recipe. I did this in an attempt to make something different with quinoa which seems to have so many possibilities. This has become such a staple in my house that it didn't ever occur to me to post it until recently :)

It basically needs some quinoa, cooked black beans, onions and some veggies to get it started. Saute the Onions, Veggies and cooked beans with some spices. Add the quinoa.

Assemble this mixture in a baking pan and top with some cheese.

Bake for about 15 minutes at 350F and serve topped with Greek yogurt.

Delicious! :D

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 cup cooked black beans

1 onion - chopped

1/2 red pepper - seeded and chopped

1/2 green pepper - seeded and chopped

1 jalapeno - seeded and chopped

1/2 cup frozen corn
2 tsp cumin
4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
4 tsp oregano
1.5 tbsp lime juice
2.5 tbsp red chili sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

This recipe serves 2

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and saute the onion with some salt and pepper for about 2 minutes, until transparent. Add the chopped peppers, corn and jalapeno and saute for another 5 minutes, until slightly cooked.
2. Mash the cooked black beans with a little water and add to the veggies. Add the cumin, red pepper flakes, oregano lime juice and red chilli sauce. Adjust all the spices as needed according to your taste. Saute for about 3-5 minutes until the mixture combines,
3. Add the quinoa to the pan. Sprinkle a little water if this looks too dry. Mix well and taste to adjust the salt as needed. Add the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and mix until well combined
4. Assemble the mixture in a baking pan. Top with shredded cheese and bake for about 15 minutes at 350F until the cheese melts
5. Top with a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream and enjoy!

Quinoa stuffed Peppers with Basil Yogurt Sauce

Being a hard-core South-Indian, rice is a part of my everyday diet. I mean, despite all my culinary adventures, nothing would make me happier than a plate of steaming hot Onion Sambar Rice with Cabbage. But, the husband and I are trying to eat healthy and cut down on our daily carb intake, which means, rice is more of a weekend luxury for us. This, of course, includes dosas and idlis as well. What a tragedy!! But on the flip side, this has truly inspired me to cook some really fun, delicious healthy meals without which this blog wouldn't exist so yay!

I have always been into Food Network but since I started cooking I have begun to look at the shows in a different light - specially if the show features a vegetarian dish. A few days back I was watching a show called 'Giada at Home' in which Chef Giada de Laurentiis made a dish called 'Couscous-Stuffed Peppers with Basil Sauce'.. they looked SO delicious. This is Giada's dish here below.

As always there were several things in this dish that I couldn't use or didn't quite agree with so I attempted this recipe with a few modifications of my own. I have posted the original recipe below if you would like to try that out.

Quinoa stuffed Peppers with Basil Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:


4 peppers : Red Yellow or Orange

Stuffing:
1/2 cup uncooked Quinoa or 1 Cup Cooked Quinoa (Subs: brown rice or Cous Cous)
1/2 cup canned garbanzo beans (chana), rinsed and drained
1/4 cup frozen corn
1/2 medium size onion - Chopped
3 pods garlic - chopped
1/4 cup dried raisins / cranberries
1 packed cup chopped baby spinach leaves - Chopped
1/4 cup Pecans or Walnuts (optional) (Toasted in the oven for 10 mins at 350F and roughly chopped)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling and sauteing
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

Sauce:
1/2 packed cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup non-fat Greek Yogurt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon water
1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus extra, as needed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra, as needed

This recipe serves 2

1. Add some olive oil to a pan. When it is hot, saute the onions, garlic and corn with salt till the onions are transparent. Shut off the heat and toss in the spinach. Saute in residual heat till the spinach is wilted.
2. Cook the Quinoa in a pressure cooker using 1:1.5 quinoa : water ratio for 2 whistles. Alternatively, you can also just put 1/2 cup quinoa into a pan with 1 cup boiling water and stir occasionally till all the water is gone and the quinoa is fully cooked. Fluff it up with a fork. 
3. Pour this into a large bowl and combine with the garbanzo beans, sauteed veggies, feta cheese, raisins, chopped pecans, some olive oil, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and fresh ground black pepper.
4. Cut off the tops of the peppers. Remove the stem and seeds. Make sure the peppers can stand upright without falling over. Stuff the peppers with the mixture from the bowl and place them upright in a baking dish with just 1/4 inch of water at the bottom of the dish so that the peppers can steam in the oven. Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sauce:
In a blender, combine the basil, greek yogurt, olive oil, water, garlic, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth.

Pour the sauce over the peppers and serve hot!

Shout out to chef Giada with many thanks: Click here for original recipe