Food Friday: Quinoa and Black Beans

Justyn hates quinoa. Which is saying a lot. I mean, this is a man who will eat practically anything. He ordered a seafood platter in Cannes once on a business trip, and the whole thing came out totally raw. Now, if that had been me, I would have been like, "Can you take this back and cook it, s'il vous plait? But noooo. He ate it. All of it. To this day, there are only 3 foods he will not eat: beets, eggplant, and quinoa. So, like I mentioned last Food Friday, one of my goals is to find ways to cook foods I don't like so that I DO like them. This includes foods Justyn doesn't like, and I thought quinoa was a perfect place to start.

Dried, uncooked quinoa

You see, quinoa (pronounced "KEEN-wah") has a lot going for it. It originates from South America, where the Incas called it "the mother of all grains". It's one of the few non-animal products that actually constitutes a complete protein. Protein intake is something we flexitarians and vegetarians have to be careful about. I don't want to get too academic here, but basically protein is made up of smaller units called amino acids. Most animal products contain a good balance of all eight of the "essential" amino acids (those our body can't produce on its own) while most vegetables are lacking in at least one of the essential amino acids. For example, grains tend to be low in lysine while legumes are low in methionine. This means in order to get all the essential amino acids in your diet, you need to eat a wide variety of vegetables so the amino acid deficiency of one protein source is made up by another. This is one reason that eating beans and rice together is so popular, and why people refer to beans and rice as a complete protein.

Anyway, quinoa contains an almost perfect balance of all eight essential amino acids necessary for human tissue development. Some other types of wheat are high in protein, but common grains like barley, corn, and rice have less than half the amount of protein as quinoa. Only half a cup of quinoa will provide all the protein content necessary in a child's diet for a whole day. It also contains albumin, a protein found in egg whites and many animal tissues. In addition, quinoa is completely gluten-free and easy to digest, which is great because so many people now have a gluten allergy or sensitivity. It's a good source of fiber and phosphorus, and is high in magnesium and iron. For all these reasons, quinoa is quickly regaining its status as a superfood, and is actually being considered by NASA as a crop for their CELSS (Controlled Ecological Life Support System) program for long-duration manned spaceflights.

Whew! Okay, done with the technical details. So, Justyn and I eat beans and rice a lot. Honestly, at one point we were having it at least once a week, sometimes more. It's easy, it's cheap, it's fast... what more can you ask for? Well, I'll tell you. I could ask for a little more variety! Justyn's mom bought some quinoa when she was here for Thanksgiving and when she mentioned cooking it, Justyn's face got all twisted up and he was like, "Quinoa?? Ehhh... gross." So I still had it sitting in my pantry and I figured I would try to find a good way to cook it, to change his mind. (Insert evil laugh here.)

One of my favorite resources for recipes is All Recipes. Their ingredient search is so great to find last-minute recipes or recipes for specific ingredients you need to use up. So I came across this recipe for quinoa and black beans, and I thought it would be perfect (with just a couple of changes). Familiar, but different.

One special note, though: soak the quinoa and rinse it before you cook. Some websites will tell you to soak overnight, or for a couple of hours. I only soak mine for about 10 or 15 minutes and it's fine. You see, quinoa has sort of a bitter coating on the outside called saponin (it acts as a deterrent so birds don't eat the crops). In fact, you'll notice when you soak and rinse your quinoa that the water is sort of sudsy. It's so bitter that some people believe the rinsed water was once used for cleaning. Yuck! Anyway, some people have an aversion to eating quinoa because of this bitter taste, but just a little soak and rinse will do (until the water is fairly clear, not cloudy). Plus, soaking will cut down on your cooking time later, making it even faster than cooking rice! Some boxed quinoa will say "pre-rinsed" but I think it's still a good idea to just give it a little swish under the water in case there's any residue.

There are lots of other ways to use quinoa, and I'm sure you'll be seeing some from me soon. You can substitute it for pasta or rice in soups, or add it to salads. It has a fairly mild, nutty flavor and will generally soak up the flavor of whatever it's cooked in (like rice). Don't be afraid to season it up! It can come out sort of bland if you go too easy on the spice.

I served this with sliced avocado and some diced tomatoes on top. It's also great with salad greens stuffed in a pita pocket or tortilla with some salsa, and served warm or cold. It's easy to pack for a lunch, and keeps well in the fridge. Enjoy!

Quinoa and Black Beans
adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon vegetable oil (you can saute onion in water too, very easily if you want to cut fat)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, soaked and rinsed
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced
1 ripe avocado, sliced

1. Heat the oil/water 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 15-20 minutes,
3. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and simmer until warm. Top with cilantro (if using) and diced tomatoes. Serve with sliced avocado for color.