Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango

A yummy meal with food I had on hand. This weekend I had brewed up a big pot of lazy man's black beans and I decided to use some to make this recipe I found in Veganomicon. I recipe called for cilantro...a spice i promptly removed and simply used the spices in my garden.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 super large mango diced small
1 red pepper diced really small
1 cup chopped scallions
1 cup fresh mix of mostly basil with mint and parsley
2 TB Japanese vinegar (she called for red wine vinegar )
2 Tb oil
dash of herbamare
2 cups cooked quinoa
2 cups of cooked black beans (or on 15 oz can)
lettuce leaves

Combine  mango, pepper, scallions, spices with vinegar and oil. Add quinoa and beans. It's best room temperature...let it sit awhile to absorb flavors.

If you don't have quinoa ready just combine 2 cups water and 1 cup rinsed quinoa. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer. I like to cook it with the lid on. Cooks in about 15 minutes. Wait till water is absorbed.

Fall Harvest Buddha Bowl

Fall Harvest Buddha Bowl with Creamy Cashew Apple Cider Dressing

I bought some big beautiful "buddha bowls" from my friend Thien this winter.  This purchase has inspired me to try all kinds of combinations of food in the bowls. (Check out Thien's site: https://tnpottery.wordpress.com/ ) And then I stumbled upon this recipe in Kara Lydon's blog- "the foodie dietitian." Yum!!!!

Thien's bowl

Ingredients

For the Buddha Bowl:
• 3 cups chopped butternut squash (about 1/2 large butternut squash)
• 3 cups chopped apples (about 2 large apples)
• 1 15.5 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 2 cups quinoa
• 1 small bunch kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

For the Cashew Apple Cider Dressing:
• 1 cup cashews, soaked for at least one hour
• 1 small shallot, minced (about 1 tablespoon minced)
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

For the Buddha Bowl:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, toss butternut squash, apples and chickpeas with 1 tablespoon olive oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
3. Transfer to a large parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 30-35 minutes, or until squash and apples are tender and chickpeas are crispy, tossing halfway through.
4. Cook 2 cups quinoa according to package instructions.
5. Add kale to the large mixing bowl and toss with remaining olive oil and salt. Transfer to a baking sheet and spread kale out in a single layer. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges of the leaves are slightly browned but still mostly green.
6. Divide quinoa evenly between bowls. Add chickpeas, squash, apples and kale. Drizzle cashew apple cider dressing over top and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds.
For the Cashew Apple Cider Dressing:
7. In a high-speed blender or food processor, blend or pulse all ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Drizzle over fall harvest buddha bowls.

I almost forgot to take a photo! It was so yummy there is hardly anything left!