An Alternative to Refried Beans
I like refried beans, both pintos and black beans. But, I asked an AI to give me an idea for an alternative to them and it pointed me to a "Quinoa & Black Beans" recipe which turned out to be delicious, and a great foundation for a "Mexican Themed" meal of salsa and guacamole.
My mods to the above recipe: I have reduced the amount of some ingredients including black beans & corn and switched from vegetable broth to chicken broth, and from vegetable oil to avocado oil. I reduced the amount of black beans, not because I don’t like them, but because I am thinking of the number served from the recipe, and since I am “cooking for one.”
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 cloves garlic, chopped
- ¾ cup quinoa
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
- 1 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
In case the recipe link becomes invalid someday here is my brief synopsis:
Start with very little oil, and chop half an onion and a little garlic and sautee for about 10 minutes. Then add 3/4 cup of quinoa and twice as much, 1.5 cups of broth to the onion/garlic mix. Add the cumin, cayenne, salt & pepper. Bring to a boil, then cut the heat down to a simmer for 20 minutes, covered. Don’t boil for 20 minutes or you will have burnt quinoa! The broth seems to be too much at the start, but simmering for 20 minutes, the liquid will evaporate leaving a moist, not dry, and not too wet fully cooked quinoa & onion mix. Now add the frozen corn, and let it warm up for about 5 minutes. And after this add the canned, cooked black beans (leave out the empty can, and rinse the beans before adding) and the chopped fresh cilantro. Stir to mix thoroughly and viola!