Category: Dinner

Easy White Bean Soup

Now that school is starting back up and everything is still virtual (and thus I’m still at home a lot), having easy lunches has become super important. This soup is so easy, so delicious, and makes excellent meal prep!

I found this recipe on Budget Bytes a few years ago, and it’s definitely one of my favorites. Beth starts by blending up one of the cans of beans which makes the soup thick and creamy (without any dairy!). The recipe itself is super simple, but it’s super easy to add whatever else you may have in your fridge to bulk it up. The first time I added zucchini and spinach, and this time around I just added the zucchini. You could also add other greens like kale, or other veg like broccoli, bell peppers, carrots, The possibilities are endless! If you are adding more veg, just add it to the oil with the garlic to cook down before you add the beans. If you’re adding greens, add them towards the end since they’re easier to cook down and wilt.

I loved having this on the menu for lunch last week, and it was super filling with a half a sandwich or cheese quesadilla on the side. And it couldn’t be easier! So try this White Bean soup for you lunch meal prep next week!

Easy White Bean Soup

From Budget Bytes

Serves: 4

Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 2 small zucchinis, chopped (or other vegetable)
  • 3 (15 oz) cans cannelini beans
  • 2 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth
  • 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1/4 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 pinch crushed red pepper
  • black pepper and salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Pour one of the cans of cannelini beans with the liquid in a food processor (or blender) and blend until smooth. Drain the other two cans of beans.
  2. Mince the garlic and add it to a soup pot with the olive oil and zucchini. Sauté until garlic is fragrant and zucchini is beginning to soften.
  3. Add the pureed beans, the other two cans of beans, the broth, and the spices. Stir to combine.
  4. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium low, remove the lid, and allow it to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  5. Smash the beans slightly to thicken the soup even more. Taste and add salt as needed (depends on the broth you use). Serve hot with crusty bread and shredded parm!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

All credit for this recipe goes to my bff Angela ❤ When I moved into my first apartment and was cooking entirely on my own, I had my go to list of easy and tasty recipes. But after awhile I started getting a bit bored of making the same things all the time, and thus Angela to the rescue.

I actually have this recipe saved as a screenshot of a text message on my phone because that’s how easy it is. Just cook the chicken, mix the filling, fill your tortillas, and bake!

Some thoughts: there are a couple different ways you could make the chicken. Angela first suggested just boiling the chicken breasts, which is definitely easy (just boil until cooked through, an internal temp of at least 165°F). But I’ve actually started just throwing the chicken breasts in the crockpot with a jar of salsa. Cook on low for 6 hours and you’ve got super flavorful shredded chicken! That’s honestly so versatile, toss it in tacos or burritos or quesadillas or a burrito bowl.

You can also put pretty much anything in these enchiladas. I always add a can of beans and a jalapeño or two, but you could also add peppers and onions, more beans, corn, a different meat, no meat at all. The possibilities are endless.

Whenever I make these with my roommates, we pair it with some Mexican rice and a vegetable of some kind, like sliced cucumbers or bell peppers.

So enjoy this easy, simple enchilada recipe! That makes great leftovers for the whole week 🙂

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (see above)
  • 1 jar salsa
  • 1 (8 oz) block cream cheese (or equivalent amount of plain yogurt)
  • 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1-2 jalapeños
  • 10-12 small tortillas
  • 2 small cans enchilada sauce of choice (I prefer green!)
  • Shredded cheese of choice, for sprinkling on top

Instructions

  1. In a large sauté pan, combine the chicken, salsa, beans, jalapeños, and any other vegetable you want to add. Cook over medium-high heat and stir until warm and well combined.
  2. Add the cream cheese (or yogurt) and stir until creamy and well combined.
  3. Place a few spoonfuls of enchilada mixture in each tortilla, and roll up. Place tortillas in large casserole dish, seam side down.
  4. Pour enchilada sauce over the top and sprinkle with cheese.
  5. Bake at 400°F until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted and golden.

Easy Chicken Parm

For New Year’s Eve, my boyfriend and I obviously decided to stay home, and to make the evening a bit more fun and festive, we made ourselves a “fancy” dinner. I made homemade tomato sauce with peppers and onions and then used that for some homemade chicken parm, and then he made balsamic glazed Brussels sprouts, and we went for some pasta on the side and sparkling white grape juice.

It was so much fun to spend the evening cooking together, and it turned out delicious. And while this was a “fancy” dinner, chicken parm is actually not hard to make at all. Deciding to make homemade sauce definitely adds more work, but it’s just as delicious with your favorite store-bought sauce (my mom has always gone for Prego).

As long as you have your sauce ready to go, this is as easy as coating and pan-frying your chicken, and then baking it to let all that sauce and cheese do its thing! Make some pasta to mix with that extra saucy, cheesy goodness, and some vegetable or salad on the side, and you’re good to go. It’s like an Italian restaurant in your own home! And the leftovers are just as delicious.

Easy Chicken Parm

Ingredients

  • 2 large or 4 small/medium boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • About 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 eggs
  • About 1/2 cup seasoned Italian breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • Olive oil
  • 1/2 – 1 cup tomato sauce of your choice
  • 1/2-1 cup mozzarella cheese
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • More parm for topping

Instructions

  1. Using a meat mallet/tenderizer, beat the chicken until it is uniform in thickness and about 1/2-1/4 inch thick. Salt and pepper both sides.
    • If you don’t have a meat mallet, you can cut the chicken in half to make thinner pieces. If using 2 large chicken breasts, cut them in half.
  2. Set up your dredging station: fill one medium plate with flour, beat the 2 eggs in a bowl, and fill a second plate with the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese
  3. Dredge your chicken: completely coat each chicken piece in flour, then in beaten egg, then in breadcrumbs+cheese. Set on a clean plate.
  4. In a large pan/skillet, heat the olive oil to medium high heat. Place each piece of chicken down and cook, without moving, until golden brown and crispy on the bottom, about 5-7 minutes. Flip and cook the other side.
  5. While the chicken is cooking, lightly coat the bottom of a casserole dish with tomato sauce (to prevent sticking and burning of the chicken).
  6. Once the chicken is done, lay it on top of the sauce and cover with mozzarella cheese.
  7. Pour your desired amount of sauce over the chicken, top with more mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and bake in a 400°F oven until sauce is hot and cheese is melted and golden, 15-20 minutes.
  8. Serve with pasta and more parmesan cheese!

Baked Cilantro Lime Chicken

I love cilantro lime, so when I saw this recipe on Budget Bytes I knew I had to try it. Since I was home for Christmas, I told my mom I would handle dinner one night and ended up making this delicious chicken along with black beans, corn, and some homemade Mexican rice (which I’ll share the recipe for soon!).

The whole spread!

This chicken couldn’t be easier. Just toss it in a ziploc bag with the marinade, leave for anywhere between 30 minutes and 8 hours (I went for the latter), and then bake!

The recipe is for chicken thighs, but you could definitely use breasts, or a mix of drumsticks and wings. Cook times will vary though, so just make sure it’s totally cooked before serving. Plus, this chicken makes for great leftovers: on its own, shredded in a quesadilla, chopped up in a Chipotle style bowl. The possibilities are endless!

So try out this super easy baked chicken for a hands off weeknight meal!

I actually tripled the recipe with breasts and thighs to feed my whole fam, just adjust the amount of marinade accordingly!

Baked Cilantro Lime Chicken

Ingredients

  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • freshly cracked pepper
  • 2 limes, divided
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro
  • 6 chicken thighs (1.5-1.75 lbs total)

Instructions

  1. Combine the olive oil, minced garlic, cumin, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 10 cranks of a pepper mill) in a small bowl
  2. Zest one of the limes and then squeeze the juice. You’ll need 2-3 tbs juice, so if needed juice half of the second lime. Cut the remaining lime into wedges to garnish the chicken once cooked. Roughly chop the cilantro.
  3. Add 1 tsp of the lime zest, 2-3 tbs of the lime juice, and half the chopped cilantro to the marinade. Stir to combine. (The remaining cilantro will be added fresh after cooking the chicken.)
  4. Place the chicken thighs in a shallow dish or a large zip top bag. Add the marinade and toss the chicken to coat. Allow the chicken to marinate for 30 minutes or up to 8 hours (refrigerated), turning it once or twice as it marinates.
  5. Pre-heat the oven to 400°F and transfer the chicken to a casserole dish. Pour the marinade over the top. Add a pinch more salt and pepper.
  6. Bake the chicken for 40-50 minutes, basting once or twice throughout. Cooking time may vary based on size of meat; cook to an internal temperature of 160°F.
  7. For a crispy skin, broil for a few minutes once the meat is cooked through.
  8. Garnish the chicken with fresh slices of lime and more chopped cilantro leaves.

Pasta with Cauliflower, Sausage, and Big Bread Crumbs

Home for Christmas now, but bringing you another pasta recipe from Carla Lalli Music’s book Where Cooking Begins. Like I said on Tuesday, this cookbook is great for building confidence and creativity in the kitchen with so many options for adjustments based on what you have lying around.

This pasta recipe was pretty easy, and turned out super yummy. The sauce is light but cheesy, the breadcrumbs add a great crunch, and the meat makes it a bit more hearty and filling.

Pasta with sausage is one of my favorite things in the world, but I unfortunately couldn’t find any at the Italian grocery store I go to. I used bacon instead and it was super yummy, so I can only imagine how much better it would be with sausage. I also bought a zucchini and decided to add it into the butter and garlic when I added the cauliflower. This bulked the dish up a bit more, and I’m always a fan of adding more vegetables to my dinners.

I’m listing out below the suggestions Carla gives for adjustments and replacements, as well as what I did. So try out this pasta recipe for an easy weeknight dinner!

Carla’s suggestions:

  • 1/2 pound bacon can replace the sausage
  • If using sausage links, remove casings before cooking
  • Broccoli, Romanesco, or halved Brussels sprouts for the cauliflower
  • Panko can be used instead of fresh break crumbs; toast in same way

What I did:

  • Used bacon instead of sausage
  • Added chopped zucchini in with the broccoli
  • Used red wine vinegar instead of lemon juice (I forgot to buy a lemon oops)

Pasta with Cauliflower, Sausage, and Big Bread Crumbs

Ingredients

  • Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
  • 4 tablespoons (2 oz) unsalted butter
  • 2 cups coarse torn bread crumbs (1/4 inch pieces)
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound hot and/or sweet Italian sausage meat
  • 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 pound cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 pound rigatoni or orecchiete
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano, plus more for serving
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta
  2. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat until foaming. Add torn bread, season with salt and pepper, and cook, tossing until golden brown and toasted, 4-5 minutes. Transfer bread crumbs to a medium bowl or plate, add lemon zest and parsley, and toss to combine.
  3. Wipe out skillet and return to medium-high heat. Add olive oil and when shimmering, add sausage. Use a wooden spoon to break into 1- to 2-inch pieces, and cook until dark golden brown on underside, 5-7 minutes. Use the spoon to scrape up sausage, then toss quickly to get a little heat on all sides. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate.
  4. Add garlic to drippings in the pan, remove from heat, and stir to coat (there should be enough residual heat to soften the garlic almost immediately). Set skillet aside.
  5. Add cauliflower to boiling water and cook until tender all the way through but not mushy, 4 to 6 minutes. Use a slotted spoon or mesh spider to transfer to skillet with garlic and stir to coat with oil.
  6. Add pasta to same pot of boiling water, and cook for 2-3 minutes less than package instructions (it should be very al dente and will finish cooking in the sauce).
  7. Use a slotted spoon or spider to transfer pasta to skillet with cauliflower. Add browned sausage and return skillet to medium heat. Cook, tossing and adding spoonfuls of pasta water into mixture until pan sauce starts to cling to noodles.
  8. Add parm and continue to cook, tossing and moistening with pasta water as needed, until cheese is melted and pan sauce is glossy and abundant.
  9. Add lemon juice and half of reserved bread crumbs and toss to combine. Serve with remaining bread crumbs on top and more parm on the side

Pasta e Fagiole

With a two week break here in Pittsburgh, I decided I wanted to try and cook some recipes from the 57 cookbooks I have sitting around. So I pulled out Carla Lalli Music’s cookbook Where Cooking Begins. You may know Carla from Bon Appetit, but she’s freelance now and absolutely killing the Instagram/Patreon game. Her book is incredible: it really focuses on how to improvise and cook for yourself, utilizing whatever you have in the kitchen. Every recipe has an ingredient list, but Carla also lists alternatives for everything in case you don’t have or can’t find something. It’s a great way to flex your creative muscles in the kitchen and get more comfortable cooking without following a recipe word for word.

I decided to make some homemade Pasta e Fagiole, aka “Fazool”. This is an Italian-American favorite, a soup chock full of beans and pasta and vegetables. You’ve probably seen this canned at the store, or in restaurants, but the homemade version is 1000 times better.

This recipe is definitely a time commitment, but it’s the perfect dish to start on a Sunday afternoon and keep simmering until dinner. The smell will perfume the whole house and you’ll be salivating all day, I swear.

The version I made actually ended up a bit different than the recipe below, but like I said, Carla gives you space to use whatever you can find!

Carla’s suggestions:

  • 1 fennel bulb or 2 celery stalks can supplement or replace the carrots
  • 1 large yellow onion can replace the leek
  • 4 oz bacon ends, pancetta, or sausage meat in place of the ham hock
  • A sprig or two of thyme or rosemary can be added
  • A few chopped Swiss chard stems can be added to the veg mix (sofrito)
  • Escarole can be used instead of kale
  • Lentils, chickpeas, lima beans, or giganta beans instead of white beans
  • 1 teaspoon ground fennel added to the sofrito
  • Canned crushed tomatoes or an equivalent amount of pureed fresh tomatoes
  • 4-finger pinch of fresh thyme leaves or rosemary instead of bay leaves
  • Orzo, small shells, or any other small dried pasta

What I did:

  • 1 large white onion instead of the fennel
  • 4 oz bacon instead of the ham hock
  • A head of cabbage, leaves torn into small pieces, instead of kale
  • A dried “heirloom bean mix” from the grocery store
  • Dried thyme instead of bay leaves

This soup turned out delicious, 10/10 recommend for a warm and cozy Sunday dinner.

Pasta e Fagiole

Ingredients

  • 8 oz dried medium white beans, such as cannelini, soaked overnight if possible
  • Kosher salt
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 4 carrots, scrubbed, roughly chopped
  • 1 leek (white and pale-green parts only), halved, rinsed, and roughly chopped
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1 smoked ham hock
  • 1 (15 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes
  • 1 bunch kale, leaves stripped off stems
  • 1 or 2 Parmigiano rinds (optional)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 8 oz small pasta, such as ditalini
  • Parmigiano, crusty bread, and crushed red pepper, for serving

Instructions

  1. If you haven’t soaked the beans overnight, do a power soak: Put the beans in a large pot, cover with water by 1 inch, and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, stir in a palmful of salt, cover pot, and let beans sit for 1 hour.
  2. In a food processor, combine garlic, carrots, and leeks and pulse until vegetables are finely chopped (if you don’t have a food processor, just chop as small as you can)
  3. In a soup pot or Dutch oven, heat 1/3 cup olive oil over medium, and add chopped vegetables. Season generously with salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until vegetables (called sofrito) start to sweat out some of the liquid, 3-5 minutes. The goal at this stage is to slow-cook the sofrito until vegetables are very soft but do not take on any color. This gives the dish depth.
  4. Cover pot and cook over medium-low heat, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until sofrito is softened and juicy, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat if mixture starts to brown.
  5. Add ham hock and cook uncovered, stirring and scraping surface of pot every 5 minutes, until sofrito has started to brown in places and has lost at least half its volume, about 10 minutes more.
  6. Add beans and their soaking liquid, tomatoes, and kale and season again with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then add Parm rinds (if using) and bay leaves and reduce heat to a very gentle simmer.
  7. Cook soup with lid askew until beans are very tender, 1-3 hours depending on the size and age of the beans. Add water (or stock, if you have it) as necessary to keep the beans submerged by at least 1 inch.
  8. In a pot of well-salted boiling water, add pasta and cook for 2-3 minutes less than package instructions (pasta should be very al dente).
  9. Drain pasta and add to soup, then taste and adjust seasoning. (Do not try to skip a step by cooking the pasta in the soup. The noodles will absorb all the available liquid and the soup will be thick and gummy).
  10. Serve with grated parm, bread, and crushed red pepper

Turkey and Stuffing Meatballs

Beth from Budget Bytes shared this recipe on Instagram a few weeks ago and I immediately sent it to my roommates. We love turkey, we love meatballs, and it seemed like the perfect thing to make for our little roommates-giving before the end of the semester.

We made these meatballs on Sunday night along with mashed potatoes, green beans, and cranberry sauce and it was the best evening (gravy would’ve made a great addition too). We even watched the Kacey Musgraves Christmas Special while we ate to feel extra festive 🙂

We doubled the recipe so we’d have leftovers and we have a TON, but it was still an incredibly easy dish. And honestly perfect for a smaller scale Thanksgiving this year since COVID-19 is raging. I also imagine these would freeze pretty well if you had leftovers and wanted to save them for a rainy day!

Definitely recommend making these turkey and stuffing meatballs to get in the Thanksgiving spirit without buying an entire turkey! And as always, check out Budget Bytes for all my favorite low cost, easy recipes.

Turkey and Stuffing Meatballs

Makes: about 25 meatballs

Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 6 oz box of stuffing (we used cornbread and it was amazing)
  • 1 cup hot water (although if your stuffing box says to use chicken broth, use that instead)
  • 19 oz ground turkey (93% lean)
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the dry stuffing mix in a large bowl, add the hot water, and stir until no more water pools in the bottom of the bowl. Let the stuffing sit for another 5 minutes to soften (less water is added to the stuffing than the box calls for to account for the moisture from the turkey and egg).
  2. Add the ground turkey and beaten egg to the partially hydrated stuffing mix. Combine by hand until evenly mixed. Form the mixture into meatballs about the size of a ping pong ball.
  3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with nonstick spray and place the meatballs on the pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
  4. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add half the meatballs and allow them to cook until browned on most sides (about 5 minutes). Transfer the meatballs to a serving dish and repeat with the other half of the butter/meatballs.
  5. Serve warm with your favorite Thanksgiving sides!

Easy Turkey Chili

Making chili runs in my blood; every Halloween my family hosts a pumpkin carving party where we invite everyone we know and my mom makes 30 pounds of mac and cheese, and my dad makes 40 pounds of chili. We all carve pumpkins outside and eat food and drink apple cider and it’s my favorite day of the entire year. I think this year would’ve been almost year 30? But covid meant having it on a much smaller scale back home in MD, and I decided to host my own for my roommates and our significant others.

Naturally, I had to make chili and mac and cheese. This is the chili I made, and I kid you not it’s the best chili I’ve ever made in my entire life. I’ve truly never been more proud. The picture below doesn’t quite do it justice, but that’s just my college house lighting haha. I love the flavor of ground turkey, and the heavy spices really bring it to the next level.

We served this with mac and cheese and some tater tots, and it was delightful fuel for carving pumpkins and watching scary movies. So try out this super easy turkey chili!

This pic is terrible. The chili is perfect.

Turkey Chili

  • Cook time: 45 minutes
  • Serves: 8

Ingredients

  • 19 oz ground turkey
  • 1 tablespoon olive/vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
  • ~1 tablespoon salt
  • 1/2 tablespoon pepper
  • 2 onions, diced
  • 2 bell peppers, diced
  • 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1-2 jalapeños, diced
  • 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
  • 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
  • ~1 cup water with chicken bouillon (or broth)

Instructions

  1. In a large pot over medium heat, in about a tablespoon of olive oil, cook the turkey until cooked through. Add about half of the seasonings
  2. Add the diced onion and bell pepper, season with more salt, and cook until starting to soften.
  3. Add the beans, jalapeños, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and broth, as well as the rest of the seasonings. Bring pot to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Let simmer for at least 25 minutes to let those flavors meld
  4. Serve with your fave toppings: cheese, chips, sour cream, avocado, mac and cheese, rice. Endless possibilities!

Stewed Tikka Masala Lentils

Okay so bear with me, this recipe was a complete improvisation that ended up absolutely delicious. My roommate really wanted to make a lentil curry, but we couldn’t find any curry at Aldi so we ended up picking up some tikka masala simmer sauce. What we ended up with later that week was the most delicious, super easy, stewed lentils for dinner. The whole recipe is actually vegan if you use vegetable broth instead of chicken, and made a delicious full dinner over rice with some warm (store bought) naan. And what’s easier than throwing everything in one pot?

I also consider myself the queen of doctoring leftovers, and ate this for lunch with an over easy egg on top a couple days later and it was absolutely delicious.

Definitely try out some stewed lentils next time you need a super easy, cozy dinner. Especially as the weather starts to cool down!

Stewed Tikka Masala Lentils

Ingredients

Cook time: 40 minutes

Serves: 8

  • Olive oil
  • 4 large carrots, chopped
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 bell pepper, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 2 cups lentils
  • 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1 jar tikka masala simmer sauce (I got the Aldi brand)
  • Rice, naan, sliced green onions for serving

Instructions

  1. In a large pot over medium heat, cook the carrots, onion, bell pepper, garlic, and a pinch of salt in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil until soft and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Add the lentils and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover, cooking until lentils are almost soft and most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.
  3. Add the entire jar of tikka masala simmer sauce, stir, and bring back up to a simmer. Cook until most liquid has been absorbed and the lentils have a soft, stewed texture.
  4. Serve over rice with naan, top with sliced green onions

One Pan Mexican Quinoa

My bff Angela sent me this recipe a few days ago, and the roomies and I decided to try it for dinner last night. I added a few extras to the original recipe (dicing pepper and onion) to bulk it up a little bit so we’d have some leftovers for tomorrow. And it was delish!! And so so easy. The recipe itself is actually vegan! Although we served it with cheese because… why the heck not. And while we ate it as a main for dinner, you could super easily cook some meat and serve this as a side. I think this would be great with pulled pork sandwiches, sausages, or some baked chicken!

Try out this easy recipe when you need a super yummy, quick veg forward dish!

One Pan Mexican Quinoa

  • Serves: 6
  • Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 jalapeño, minced
  • 2 bell peppers, diced
  • 2 onions, diced
  • 1.5 cups quinoa
  • 1.5 cups vegetable broth (I didn’t have any so actually used water and chicken bouillon)
  • 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (14.5) oz can diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned, or roasted
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, jalapeño, onion, and bell pepper, and cook until soft and fragrant.
  2. Stir in quinoa, broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, and spices. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer until quinoa is cooked, about 20-25 minutes.
  3. Stir in avocado, lime juice, and cilantro.
  4. Serve! We added shredded pepper jack cheese just for fun 🙂
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