A lady I worked with in Tulsa made this great southwest style soup for a work function, and I fell in love. I have been able to modify it in every country we have lived in, which is to say the recipe is quite flexible. Usually I would serve it with cornbread, but we did not have any in the house, nor the ingredients to make some, so I thought quinoa would add some nice heft to the recipe. You could also serve it over corn chips or something similar by draining more of the juices off of the ingredients or not adding tomato juice.
The Players
1 cup rinsed quinoa
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup black beans
1 cup ranch style beans
1 cup corn
2 cans Rotel
1 quart tomato juice
1 package taco seasoning
1 package powdered ranch dressing mix
The Fun
1. Boil water. Add quinoa. Cover and reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes. Once done, remove from heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork.
2. While the quinoa is cooking, dump the rest of the ingredients in to a large sauce pan and cover. Allow to heat on medium, stirring occasionally. I try not to bring it to a boil, as I am impatient in waiting for it to cool. 
3. Spoon some quinoa in to a bowl and then ladle the soup over the top.
I tend to mix mine up, while others in the family prefer to scoop to the bottom to get the quinoa. You can top with cheese, sour cream, avacado, etc, but we were low on groceries, so we ate it plain this last time.
I threw this together when I forgot to buy some spinach to make the Quinoa Pie that was on the meal plan. I was pleasantly surprised and absolutely tickled that it tasted so good. It will definitely be a favorite in our family’s meals!
The Ingredients
- ½ cup quinoa
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups onion, large, diced
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 cups pepper (green, red, and/or orange), diced
- 1 cup water
- 1 cube bouillon
The Directions
1. Place quinoa in small saucepan with 1 cup water and 1 bouillon cube. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to large bowl.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and peppers and saute 10 minutes or until browned. Add onions and peppers to quinoa mixture. Stir in eggs; season with salt and pepper, if desired.
3. Pour 1 tablespoon oil in to 9 inch pie pan, and place in oven. Heat 5 minutes, or until oil is hot. Swirl oil to coat bottom of pan, then spread quinoa mixture in pan with spatula. If desired, drizzle top with oil as well. Bake 40-50 minutes or until golden brown and firm.
4. Allow the quiche to sit a few minutes before cutting and serving.
I am submitting this post to the Make It From Scratch carnival! If you want to participate hop on over and link up!
I posted this picture on A Piece of My Mind for Made It Monday, and I thought what better recipe to share today than this one? The inspiration for this meal came from the Vegetarian Times‘ Greens and Quinoa Pie. You can find the original recipe here. I modified it a bit to fit the ingredients I did have. I think the quinoa and egg portion makes a great base for a variety of meals, so you might see that showing up again.
Ingredients
1/2 cup Quinoa, rinsed and drained
1 pound (or so) rapini, chopped
1 pound or so pak choi, chopped
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 medium onions (2 cups), thinly sliced
2 green onions (1/4 cup), thinly sliced
1 ounce (1/4 cup) feta cheese, crumbled
3 eggs, lightly beaten
The Fun Part
1. Place quinoa in small saucepan, and toast over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes, or until almost dry. Add 1 cup water, and season with salt, if desired. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and transfer to large bowl.
2. Heat large pot over medium heat. Add rapini, and cook 3 to 5 minutes, or until wilted, stirring frequently or tossing with tongs. Add pak choi, and wilt 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer greens to strainer, and squeeze out excess moisture. Stir greens into quinoa.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat 1 Tbs. oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, and sauté 10 minutes, or until browned. Add cooked onions, green onions, feta cheese, and goat cheese to quinoa mixture. Stir in eggs; season with salt and pepper, if desired.
4. Pour 1 Tbs. oil into 9-inch pie pan, and place in oven. Heat 5 minutes, or until oil is hot. Swirl oil to coat bottom of pan, then spread quinoa mixture in pan with spatula. Bake 20 minutes. Drizzle pie with remaining 1 Tbs. oil, and bake 20 to 30 minutes more, or until golden brown.
We ate this for dinner with a sweet potato on the side. It was DE-LISH!
This is one of my favorite meals using the vegetables that are in season. I alternate the vegetables based on what is available and the season, but here is the base of the recipe. Ignore that salad on the right with the ranch “incident.” (Seriously– got a little more than anticipated.)
The players– I’m not very good at measuring, but that is the beauty of this meal!
- 2 small summer squashes (I used one yellow, one green)
- A bunch of asparagus
- Couple of handfuls of carrots
- Any other veggies you might want to add
- A couple tablespoons or so of soy sauce
- a tablespoon or so of olive oil
- 1 cup Quinoa (available at health food stores)
- One and a half cups of water
- Followed this recipe for how to cook the Quinoa. It’s super duper easy. When I want a little extra flavor, I toss in a little bouillon. I almost never use salt.
- While the quinoa is cooking, saute the veggies with the olive oil. I started with carrots and went on to the softer veggies.
- After I added the last of the veggies, I added a couple tablespoons of soy sauce. I didn’t measure. Use as much or little as you like.
- Spoon some quinoa on a plate and top with veggies. Mmm…mmm…good.
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