I don't like quinoa either Quinoa Black Bean Stew

All right, let's be honest about quinoa: it's that weird, grainy thing that only weirdos who skulk around Whole Foods like to eat. It smells weird when you rinse it, like a pissed-off ladybug. It probably writes  emo poetry when you're not looking. I drop my voice on the T when I talk about cooking quinoa because I don't want strangers in Cambridge to think I'm that guy.

That's right: quinoa is weird enough that I don't want citizens of the People's Republic of Cambridge to know I eat it sometimes.

I'm therefore appropriately embarrassed to post my take on this recipe, but damn everything to Dorchester it's tasty and needs to be shared. It needs to be shared. It can be made vegan but that's another word I don't use except with great derision, so just swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth and, uh, probably don't serve it with a side of steak. Which is a thing. That we did.

And it was delicious.

EDIT: Top this with a sunny-side up fried egg or poached egg, and you've got a real treat!


I don't like quinoa either Quinoa Black Bean Stew
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 smallish yellow onion, coarse-chopped
1 heaping tsp minced garlic (or maybe like 2 cloves garlic? idek)
1 carrot or small sweet potato, coarse-chopped (small pieces, y'all)

1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper (totally guessing on this one, what)
1 shake cayenne red pepper
1 small tomato, coarse-diced

1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 15.5-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (I rinse lazily, just sayin')
2/3 cup dry quinoa, rinsed
1/2 bag raw spinach (this was one gratuitously healthy handful of spinach, if that helps)


Instructions
1. Chop up onion, carrot/sweet potato, and tomato. Oh, and your garlic if you do that yourself.
2. Heat oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat.
3. Once the oil's hot, toss in the garlic and onion.
4. Cook the garlic and onion for about 2 minutes, until the onion starts to caramelize.
5. Add the carrot or sweet potato. Cook 3-4 minutes.
6. Add paprika, black pepper, and cayenne pepper, stirring until everything's playing nice together.
7. Add the tomato and stir it around until it stops acting like it's special.
8. Add the chicken broth, black beans, and quinoa.
9. Increase heat to medium high until the whole mess is boiling happily.
10. Reduce heat to low, so that it's just simmering.
11. Simmer 20-25 minutes, or until the quinoa's gotten over itself (no I don't know how one knows when this has occurred).
12. Remove from heat and stir in the spinach. It's wimpy so it'll give up and wilt almost immediately.
13. Serve warm. I'm thinking it's probably nice to serve with a side of fish or tofu or steak if you're a true American and manly like me or something, but by itself it'd make a nice lunch.

Enjoy!