One-Pan Spicy Quinoa and Black Beans

Quick, easy, simple, packed with nutrients and with a spicy kick.

I am actually not a fan of super spicy food, but Brent is! He gave this dish a double thumbs up in terms of flavor and spice. You can also very easily omit the cayenne if spicy food isn’t your thing, and it’s still paced with flavor. I am giving it two thumbs up in terms of ease, minimal prep time, and nutrient content. The only thing you need to chop is red peppers, kale, yellow onion, and cilantro, which can be done at the beginning of the week if you want to make this super easy to throw together on a week night. The cauliflower is frozen, the beans are canned and the quinoa cooks in the dish, so there is no excessive side prep while it’s cooking.

This is my reminder to you that cooking healthy meals doesn’t have to be complicated, intense, or expensive. Slowly introducing just one plant-centered dish at a time into your repertoire is the key to lasting change in our habits, and I think this will be one (especially for all of you spice lovers) that you can go-to for a quick throw together for your family, yourself, and it will make great leftovers as a meal or a side dish for 2-3 days!

Time to prepare: 35 minutes

Serves: 4-5 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 large yellow onion, finely diced

• 2 large red bell peppers, seeded and finely diced

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

• 4 cloves garlic minced

• 2 teaspoons cayenne

• 2 teaspoons cumin

• 2 teaspoons black pepper

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup tri-colored raw quinoa, rinsed

• 2 cups no-salt added vegetable broth

• 1 bunch kale, finely chopped

• 1 small bunch cilantro, finely chopped

• 1 bag frozen cauliflower

• 1 14.5 ounce can no-salt added black beans, rinsed and drained

Recipe:

• Chop all ingredients a couple of days before for easy prep, or at least all before you start cooking so it’s a super quick process of cooking! Get all spices and ingredients ready to go; set up is EVERYTHING and makes the process so much quicker, I promise!

• In a deep dish sauté pan, sauté the red pepper and onion in tablespoon of olive oil for 5 minutes on medium-high.

• Add in minced garlic cloves and sauté 2 more minutes.

• Add in cayenne, cumin, pepper, salt, and vegetable broth into the pan and stir. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cover with the lid for 20 minutes.

• After the quinoa is cooked in the dish, add in the cauliflower, kale, cilantro, and black beans. Stir, cover again and let cook for 5 more minutes.

• Enjoy warm or use as leftovers for a few days!

A bit of nutrition you can find in this dish:

• Quinoa: Technically, quinoa is not a grain, but a psuedograin, which means it acts and looks like a grain but it’s really not (but makes a good substitute for them!) Quinoa is simply the seeds that come off of a flowering plant, and it’s technically a part of the spinach, chard, and beet family.. This psuedograin is fluffy, light, can be spiced up very easily, and doesn’t take much time to prepare. I get the tri-colored quinoa since it includes white, red, and black but the most nutritious quinoa is the black colored quinoa, which has the highest Vitamin E content of all of the other colors. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that acts as an antioxidant by inhibiting inflammatory pathways, protecting red blood cells against oxidative stress, and has been shown to slow the progression of macular degeneration (1). Be sure to rinse your quinoa before you add it into the dish, as this rids the quinoa of any dirt from harvesting and rids it of its saponins, a plant compound can cause upset stomach if consumed in high amounts (you’ll easily get rid of them if you rinse for 30 seconds).

• Black Beans: Studies have shown that beans that are canned have the same health benefits as boiled beans, except for the excess sodium (2). Salt isn’t inherently bad in moderation, but I like to add in what I want, not have it already added in for me. Try to grab canned beans that are low in salt or salt free in order to control what you are consuming. Black beans in particular are high in manganese, which is important for carbohydrate metabolism, and folate, which is important for cell division and growth (3) (so incorporate black beans into yours and your children’s diets!). In addition, beans have been shown to be a great source of plant protein, ½ cup of cooked beans providing up to 25 grams of protein (5). Beans by themselves exemplify culinary medicine by being extremely high other nutrients such as calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and copper. Beans are also a source of niacin, an important coenzyme that promotes the facilitation of numerous metabolic processes in the body.

• Cauliflower: Jo Robinson, author of Eating on the Wild Side, talks about cauliflower “basically being cabbage with more antioxidants and greater cancer-fighting ability”. White cauliflower, the most common variety, is rich in glucosinolates, the famous bioactive component in cruciferous vegetables known for its health benefits, including being anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and chemo-protective. The study linked above talks about glucosinolate content in cruciferous vegetables being highest in the spring when temperatures are intermediate with high light intensity, longer days, and dry conditions. It also discusses how freezing vegetables quickly after harvest has been shown to result in higher retention of glucosinolates compared to refrigeration, which is why I use frozen cauliflower in this dishes (plus, we all know cutting cauliflower can sometimes be a pain). It is important to note, however, that frozen cauliflower is blanched before it is frozen, which can destroy some of the glucosinolates (4). Frozen can be more convenient sometimes, but make sure to get fresh produce in, too. When cooking fresh vegetables, It’s best to steam or sauté it instead of boiling them for maximum nutrient retention.

References:

1) Perrino, K. Fat-Soluble Vitamins. [Canvas]. Tempe, AZ: SCNM Masters in Clinical Nutrition Program; 2021.

2) Greger M, Stone G. How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease. London: Pan Books; 2018.

3) Osundiji, M. NUTM 5107: Vitamin B9 Folate. [Canvas]. Tempe, AZ: SCNM Masters in Clinical Nutrition Program; 2021.

4) Robinson J. Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health. New York: Little Brown & Co; 2014.

5) Mullins AP, Arjmandi BH. Health Benefits of Plant-Based Nutrition: Focus on Beans in Cardiometabolic Diseases. Nutrients. 2021;13(2):519. Published 2021 Feb 5. doi:10.3390/nu13020519

Other studies are linked in hyperlinks.