Meatless Monday: Quinoa and Black Bean Tacos

Haven't tried Quinoa? 

What are you waiting for?!

There are so many benefits of eating this  

"supergrain" 

It's affordable, extremely healthy 

can be served hot or cold, 

and is darn tasty too!

 

Quick and easy
 Meatless Monday recipe
with Quinoa:

Ingredients:

Onion

Garlic

Olive Oil

Vegetable Broth, Black Beans, 

Diced Green Chiles, Diced Tomatoes

Quinoa

Cumin, Cayenne Pepper, Black Pepper, 

Frozen Corn, Fresh Cilantro

Directions:

Step one: In a large sauce pan

saute onion and garlic in olive oil.

Step two: Add quinoa and vegetable broth, 

diced tomatoes/green chiles, and seasoning.

Step three: Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover, 

simmer for 20 minutes.

Step four: Add frozen corn and 

simmer 5 more minutes.

Step five: Stir in black beans and cilantro

Serve with tortillas, 

cheese and sour cream if desired.

Enjoy! 

Greek Pasta Salad

This salad is super easy and super SUPER tasty! 

Here's what you'll need:

1/2 Box Bowtie pasta (cooked)

 1 Cucumber (chopped)

2 Roma tomatoes (chopped)

1/8 cup Banana peppers (chopped)

 1/4 cup Kalamata olives

1 Cup of Italian dressing 

Here's how easy it is: 

Mix everything,

and you're done. 

Enjoy! 

Adapted from Chef in Training

Kung Pao Chicken Made at Home

宫保雞丁

 So this kind of goes against the theme

but I LOVE Chinese take-out! 

However, 

we live outside of city-limits 

and there's certainly no food-delivery out here.

Hence, Kung Pao Chicken Made at Home!

This is one of those easy weeknight recipes

that I LOVE!

Honestly it's only semi-homemade

because it calls for store-bought sauce,

which makes it super quick and easy!

It's also cooked in the slow-cooker 

but only takes 4 hours,

which makes it the perfect go-to meal 

for those incredibly busy days when 

you haven't given a single thought to dinner

until sometime in the late afternoon.

Here's how easy it is:

Step One: Chicken Goes into the Crock Pot 

Q: Do you say "crock pot" or "slow cooker"?

Tips: Use non-stick spray for easy clean up.

I always, always season my chicken breasts prior to cooking, 

even if the recipe doesn't call for it, because nobody likes bland chicken. 

This time I seasoned with a Garlic Herb blend. 

Cook on High 3.5 Hours 

until cooked through but not completely fall-apart

Step Two: Chicken comes out of the Crock pot

Cut into Cubes

Back into the crock pot it goes.

Step Three: Chop Veggies

Step Four: Prepare Sauce

I mixed Panda Express Kung Pao Sauce

and half a jar of 

apricot/pineapple preserves

Step Five: Add chopped veggies 

and sauce to Crock Pot.

Stir!

Cook for 30 more minutes on High.

Step Six: Cook up some rice 

while Kung Pao is finishing up.

I love this Basmati Rice

which cooks up in 20 minutes.

Last step: Serve over rice.

*Garnish with Green Onions

and Peanuts*

Enjoy!

Adapted from The Frugal Girls

Meatless Monday: Veggie Burritos

No animals were harmed in the making of these burritos.

Today for "Meatless Monday" I grilled up some veggies, cooked basmati rice with lime, heated a can of organic black beans, topped it all off with a little cheese, homemade guacamole & salsa we had leftover from the weekend, then wrapped it all up in a tasty tortilla. MMmmmmmm......



I was so excited to try out my new grill/griddle and let me tell ya, that thing works like a champ! I foresee a lot of grilled veggies in our future. It was so easy! Just brush on a little garlic olive oil, lightly season, and rotate the veggies every few minutes then after 10 minutes, when you start seeing those beautiful grill lines you know it's grilled to perfection.

So I cheated and used the raw flour tortillas. You can find these at the grocery story in the refrigerated section. They're almost as good as homemade and WAY better than the pre-cooked kind.Top it all off with cheese, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, olives, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pretty much whatever you want--Just NO meat, it's Meatless Monday!

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman LOVE HER!