Quinoa Chili

Happy New Year 2016 to my readers!  <3

I've been trying to experiment with more quinoa dishes lately and I came across a slow cooker version of this Quinoa Chili recipe from a friend. I own a slow cooker but almost never use it because I find it makes everything mushy. Plus I have time to make meals on stovetop so that's my preferred method.

This chili came together in 10 minutes prep work and about 30 minutes total cook time. So pretty simple, healthy and you will go back for seconds and thirds.

Ingredients:

-  1 cup uncooked quinoa
-  1 can black beans
-  2 cups assorted chopped veggies- butternut squash, red pepper,  carrots, frozen corn, onion
-  1 can fire roasted tomatoes
-  1Tbsp chili powder
-  1tsp ground cumin
-  1tsp fajita seasoning from packet (optional)
-  1/4 tsp garlic paste
-  Vegetable broth



Method:

1.  In a small pot, cook one cup of quinoa in vegetable broth or water according to package directions.  Allow to cool.

2.  In a large soup pot, sautee the onion, garlic,  carrots, red peppers, butternut squash and all the seasonings for 10 minutes until the veggies are slightly soft. The butternut squash will still be raw but it's ok.

3.  Add the can tomatoes, black beans, and about 3-4 cups of water and cover and simmer on low till the butternut squash is cooked.. another 10 minutes.

4.  Add the cooked quinoa and corn and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.  Dried oregano will also be great at this point.

5.  Turn off heat and ladle the chili into a bowl. Garnish with dollop of sour cream, or greek yogurt. And some cheese :).

We ate these with avacados last night and a dash of hot sauce for extra spice.