mexican quinoa dish {vegan, gluten free}

Not to brag or anything, but I am a master at this dish. This dish incorporates lots of yummy flavours and mouthwatering spices with lots of different textures to become an awesome, and even better yet healthy dish.

Fine, I'll admit - this is about one of the easiest dishes I have come across. But that only makes it better! It's perfect to use up vegetables in the fridge, and all the ingredients are usually right there in the cupboard. I makes a great weekday dinner, and you can store it for a couple of days in the fridge to bring to work/school for lunch. You can also alter it to make it non-vegan (here it is shown with a sprinkling of cheese) or non-vegetarian as it is super flexible.

Most of all, though, it tastes pretty darn great!

Mexican Quinoa Dish
Adapted from Damn Delicious
Serves 4

Ingredients:
enough olive oil to coat the bottom of your pan
2 cloves garlic
1 onion, red or brown
1 red capsicum
1 cup quinoa
1 cup vegetable broth
1 can beans - I like kidney beans, but whatever option suits you is fine
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 can super sweet corn kernels
chilli powder, 1 tsp or to taste
ground cumin, 1/2 tsp or to taste
paprika, 1 tsp or to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
1 avocado
1/2 lemon or lime

Method:
Coat your pan with olive oil, and set to a medium-high heat. Cook the garlic, onion, and capsicum until softened before adding the quinoa, broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, and spices. Bring to the boil before simmering at a low heat until quinoa has absorbed most of the liquid, around 10-15 minutes. Serve with sliced avocado and a squeeze of lemon or lime.

I like to serve mine with a dollop of sour cream or a sprinkling of mozzarella, which makes it non-vegan, but it still tastes great without. Even as a meat eater, I can tell you that this vegan dish is just plain awesome.

Let me know if you try it out for yourselves! Maybe post your pics on Twitter and I'll be sure to check them out. :)

Love always, xx.