Mexican Black Beans and Quinoa
Eating a vegan diet of fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, healthy oils, beans and whole grains, along with drinking the right amount of water, is a great way to lose weight and to detox. You’ve probably heard that you need to eat organic foods to lessen the amount of toxins coming into your body, but you may not have asked why you need to detox yourself of the ones that do get in. Inflammation is one of the reasons why you want to get toxins out of your body.
Our body fights illnesses with an inflammatory response, which is a good thing, but our diets can cause the body to be in a constant state of inflammation, damaging it and leading to disease. Living in a toxic world is causing chronic inflammation. Eating foods we are allergic to that we are not aware of can keep our body in a state of inflammation. Foods high in sugar and saturated fats creates inflammation. Dairy products can also cause an inflammatory response. Having smaller amounts of quality poultry, meat and fish along with eating a mostly plant based diet has been shown to dramatically help with inflammation.
Vegetarian and vegan meals, where the protein comes from the combination of beans and whole grains, are delicious comfort foods. If you have the time to soak and then sprout the beans for 2-3 days in a sprouting jar, they are easier to digest and your body get more protein from them. Also the round grains like quinoa, sorghum, teff, millet and amaranth, have more protein than the other grains.
Mexican Black Beans and Quinoa
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup onions, diced
- 1 anaheim pepper, diced (or chili pepper of your choice, anaheims are mild)
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil, grape seed or light olive oil*
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water or chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups sprouted beans or 1 (15 oz) can black or red beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- kernels cut off 2 ears of corn
- 3/4 cup quinoa or Super Grains (a 365 Whole Foods Market product made with quinoa, buckwheat and millet)
- cilantro
- avocado
- green onions
- grated cheese (optional)
Instructions
Sauté onions and peppers in oil for 5 minutes. Add cumin and chili powder and stir for 30 seconds. Add the salt, water or broth, beans, tomatoes and corn. Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes and let stand for 5 minutes. Serve with cilantro, diced avocado, chopped green onions and grated cheese if desired.
*Trader Joe’s Trader Grotto’s Sicilian (cold pressed) Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a blend of three olives from Sicily, packaged in Italy in a beautiful bottle. It’s light and delicious. Store it in the dark and use up within a month.
