Recipe: Quinoa, Black Bean, and Kale Bowl. Vegan

I love “bowls.” I get a lot of satisfaction from starting with a base of rice, beans, or in this case, quinoa, and getting creative with whatever is in the fridge. I have, I don’t think it’s a talent, more likely it’s just luck, but whatever you call it, my experiments usually come out tasting pretty good. Until recently, these creations were a one time occurrence. I didn’t write anything down, so I wouldn’t remember the combination of ingredients that added up to deliciousness.

These days I write the ingredients down as soon as possible, especially for a dish like this one which came out particularly well. It is tasty, simple and fast, a great one-dish meal, perfect for after work.

Quinoa, Black Bean and Kale Bowl

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 cup black beans, cooked
1/2 cup zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 cup kale, torn into medium pieces

Method
Preheat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic. Cook and stir for a minute, then add the mushrooms. Cook for about two more minutes. You can reduce the heat a little,you don’t want the garlic and mushrooms to brown. Stir in nutritional yeast, salt and pepper, then add the quinoa. Stir, then add the water. Add the beans. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes, zucchini, and kale, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes, until the quinoa is cooked. Stir with a fork and serve.

Truly a quick and delicious meal.