Quinoa with Black Beans and Corn

Recently, my dad and uncle were visiting for the weekend, and I made a variation of this for dinner, which they both loved.  I decided to try something new for a side dish, based simply on ingredients I had laying around in my cabinets and freezer. I had picked up a box of quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH) when a local supermarket was going out of business and it was on sale for 50% off. I’d come across several recipes that incorporated quinoa, but I’d never tasted it before and had no idea what to expect.  This recipe called for a lot of flavors that I loved, so I thought it would be a safe bet.

Quinoa with Black Beans and Corn

What You’ll Need:

• ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 ½ cups vegetable broth (see Note)
• 1 tsp cumin
• ¼ tsp cayenne or chili pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

**Note: It can be difficult to find low-sodium or sodium-free vegetable broth.  If, like my dad, you limit your sodium intake, you can easily halve the vegetable broth and use water instead.  I made this recipe that way and it did not suffer at all in terms of flavor.

What To Do:

As with any recipe, start out by preparing your vegetables – chop the onion and mince the garlic.  These will then get sauteed in the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat until they both begin to soften and turn golden brown.

Next, measure out the quinoa – even though it looks like a small amount it expands like rice as it cooks and makes way more than you think it will!

Add the quinoa and the vegetable broth to the skillet, followed by the cumin, cayenne/chili pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer covered for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, the quinoa will have absorbed nearly all of the vegetable broth and will be fluffy, round little balls. Add the frozen corn and black beans to the pan and simmer for an additional 5 minutes, or until the corn is heated all the way through.  Transfer immediately to a serving dish, then cover with the cilantro for garnish.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of flavor this dish had on its own.  It was a perfect counterpart to the casserole entree, but it certainly stands up as a main dish on its own.  The quinoa has a mild, nutty flavor that reminds me of brown rice, but with a shape/texture more similar to tapioca.  I’m a sucker for anything with a black beans/cumin/pepper combination (I’m sure you can see the theme in my recipe choices), but this was a crowd pleaser, so I know it’s not just that I was an easy sell.  While this was good hot, I actually liked it even more as a cold salad the next day for lunch.  Besides the minimal amount of oil used to initially cook the onion and garlic, this dish is essentially fat free, has a ton of fiber, and is very cheap and quick to make. Quinoa is an extremely versatile grain, and I’m looking forward to incorporating it into more of my meals in the future!