Quinoa with Asparagus & Black Beans - Quinoa Fridge Clean Out #1

I love Quinoa. It's far under utilized. This needs to change! It's so good and HEALTHY to BOOT!! We like things spicy around this house, so feel free to reduce the chilies (fresh and dried) if you desire.

I was inspired by this recipe over at Food52.

This is version #1 for March is Coffers Clean Out Month. I'd say you could substitute blanches peas, pea pods, green beans and many other vegetables for the asparagus if it's not what you have left in your fridge.

Printable version of Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quinoa

1 cup water

juice of one line

zest from 1 lime

5-7 spears cooked asparagus, chopped (I'd have added more but it's what was left in the fridge!)

Kosher salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

2 dried birds eye chilies, chopped

2 fresh thai chilies, chopped

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 scallions, white and green part chopped

1/4 cup roasted red peppers, chopped (it's what I had left in the fridge)

1/2 cup fresh yellow bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup black beans (you can use more if you like, this is what I had left after making the Beany Egg Tortillas)

Put quinoa and water into a small pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and turn heat down to simmer for about 15 minutes until most all water has been absorbed. Fluff up with a fork and spread into a bowl to cool. (You can put it into the fridge to help cool down.)

In a large bowl, mix the spices, chilies, lime zest and lime juice. Mix in the olive oil until well blended.

Stir in the asparagus, beans, cilantro and scallions.

I served it on top of mixed salad greens aside the Sour Cream Chicken Quiche. Perfect!

Printable version of Recipe

March is Coffers Clean Out Month

I am a lucky lucky gal.

I have a full (too full?) freezer. A full pantry and time on my hands while I continue to look for a job. I've deemed March as Clean out my Coffers Month. The bulbs are begining to bloom, the local CSA will start in a few months as will the farmers markets. Time to eat through what we've got!

I've been aiming to use as many ingredients from my fridge/freezer/pantry as possible in each meal. I am allowing the purchase of fresh veg/dairy when I absolutely need them. I had a good amount of veg in the fridge from social events I'd cooked for, so this has meant very little.

What's on the clean-out list:

Beany Egg Tortilla (my version of Huevos Rancheros)

Tomato-Onion Masala with Shrimp (Indian)

Potato-Bell Pepper Vegetable (Indian)

Three Cup Chicken (Taiwanese)

Quinoa with Asparagus & Black Bean Salad

Quinoa Tossed Salad

Sausage Minestrone

Strawberry Butter

Grammy's Date Bars

Asparagus (...is Easy and I used it in many dishes!)

Sour Cream Chicken Quiche

Spicy Parchment Hake with Mixed Vegetables

more to come...

I'll continue to add links to the above recipes as they are made.

I'm also lining up some teaching cooking classes over the next weeks, so keep an eye out for those reports!

March will continue to be YUMMY! Can't you just taste it?

Asparagus is Easy

People are often scared to cook asparagus. Perhaps it's because over cooked asparagus is lousy.

Have no fear. It is one of the easiest vegetables to cook. I often make up more than I'll use at that meal and add it to salads later.

Printable version of Recipe

Ingredients:

asparagus

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

olive oil

A grill pan, frying pan or grill

Prepare your asparagus using either the snapping or anti-snapping method discussed below.

in a bowl, place asparagus and a drizzle of olive oil. Less is more and you can always add more oil as needed. Rub the olive oil all over the spears. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place spears in a single layer on your grill pan (that's what I used in the photo above), frying pan or onto your grill. Asparagus cooks in 2-3 minutes per side depending on how thick your spears are.

Serve.

ASPARAGUS TIPS:

*When selecting asparagus, thinner is better. Check the bottoms of your asparagus for dry ends. You want less dry end than more. It's best if your market has the bundles standing up in a little water. You should put them standing up in a little water in your own fridge at home. This will extend their life in your fridge.

* There are two schools of thought about how best to prepare the asparagus to be cooked. The anti-snapping side suggest you cut the woody end off your asparagus and then peel the tough outer skin off the lower portion of each spear. (See an example of this discussion at Food52 along with an wonderful recipe for Thai-Inspired Asparagus Salad with Fried Meyer Lemon.) I think this is the suggested method if you have quite fresh thick stemmed spears.

The snapping camp is also represented in my home. Taking the spear between your thumb and forefinger, snap the spear. It snaps where the woody part stops and the yummy part starts! This is especially helpful on skinny spears or on spears that my have been in your fridge longer than you'd like to admit. For a more in depth tutorial see the kitchen's post here.

*Grilling asparagus can be a little precarious. For thin spears, I use a grill pan (flat pan with smaller holes so I don't lose the asparagus into the grill.) For thicker spears, I thread them onto two skewers, one near the top of the spear, one near the bottom, until they look like an asparagus placemat. Then I can flip the entire set at once in the grill. I also have used the fish grilling basket that closes around the spears, holding them in place.

Printable version of Recipe