Quinoa with black beans, corn, and avocado.

Say it with me.  KEEN-wah.  Not Ca-no-a like I pronounce it in my head.

This recipe is vegan AND gluten free, so safe for the cleanse!  I feel this might be come a regular recipe regardless.  Gluten is what given stuff the "chewy" feel, like bagels.  This has not gluten, but a nice texture to it.

This is rather easy to make.  Check your quinoa before you start cooking.  Some need to be rinsed before you cook it.  It is rather small so make sure you have a strainer with TINY openings or you will loose it all.  Or, you can go the quick route like me.  Mine was organic AND prewashed.  Just read the bag to find out.  I think a few cents more is well worth the hassle.

This would be lovely with fresh corn, but I forgot to get some at the farmers market this past weekend.  If you forgot as well, go with frozen.  When you use canned vegetables there is always a bunch of salt thrown in there.  With frozen vegetables, the vegetables are picked and frozen right away so the nutrients stay in.  Some frozen vegetables could even be fresher than your fresh vegetables!

If you notice in the picture the quinoa starts out like LITTLE dots, but when you cook it, it has weird squiggly threads coming out of it.  Perfectly normal.  :)



Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 cup frozen, or fresh corn cut from the cob
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup lime juice (about 3 limes for me)
• a handful of chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 or 2 avocados (I am an avocado junky.  I used two)

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package and set aside.
2. Saute the corn and black beans.  If you have green peppers that would be lovely.  I did not.
3. Once softened, add the lime juice and the cilantro.
4. Add quinoa to this and toss.
5. Top with the avocado and enjoy!  

This is yummy warm as is, or chilled in the fridge.