Abrar's Amazing Quinoa Buddha Bowl!

One of my favorite meals! 😋

Ingredients (serves 2 adults and 1 child)

Quinoa:

• 1 cup of quinoa
• 1.5-2 cups of water, veggie or chicken stock
• ½-1 teaspoon of salt
• Juice from half a lemon (optional)

Toppings:

• Onion ( 1 medium)
• Mushrooms (1 tray)
• Green peppers (1/2 green pepper)
• Corn (about 3/4 cups)
• Black beans (about 1 cup)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ teaspoon of ground coriander and cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional)
• Guacamole or avocado dressing (recipe follows) This is optional as well

Start by making the quinoa. Remember quinoa amount triples when cooked so measure accordingly. The typical ratio of quinoa to liquid is 1 part quinoa to 2 parts liquid. But I prefer 1 part quinoa to 1.5 parts liquid, that gives the quinoa more of a bite which is my preferred texture. You can experiment with the two and choose your favorite. Before cooking the quinoa rinse it thoroughly, this ensures that your cooked quinoa won’t have a bitter taste. Then add your rinsed quinoa (e.g. 1 cup) into a pot and add your liquid (e.g. 1.5 or 2 cups, depending on your preference) the liquid in this case can be water, veggie stock or chicken stock. Finally add the salt/seasoning, I add about 1 teaspoon but it really varies according to your taste. Put the lid (preferably tight fitting) on the pot and bring to a boil. If you don’t have a tight fitting lid you can use aluminum foil. Once it is boiling, lower the temperature and leave it simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes take off the lid and fluff it with a fork. At this point I like to add the juice from half a lemon but this is totally optional.

For the toppings of the bowl, the sky is the limit. You can roast your favorite veggies and dress it with your preferred dressing. I make a variation with green lentils, roasted sweet potato, zucchini and eggplant and dress it with a tahini dressing. But for this recipe, I sauté onions and mushrooms in a little oil in a pan until the mushrooms are golden. Then I add the peppers, corn and black beans. I season with salt, pepper, ground cumin, ground coriander and a touch of cayenne pepper. Top the quinoa with this mixture, then if preferred, add the guacamole or avocado dressing and enjoy!!

Guacamole:

3 ripe avocados

Juice of one lime

½ a tomato finely diced

½ a small red onion finely diced

Salt to taste

Ground cumin and cayenne

Optional: jalapenos and cilantro (yuck)

Mash avocado with a potato masher with lime. Add the remaining ingredients and mix together.

Avocado dressing (this is an alternative to the Guac)

Place 2-3 ripe avocados in a blender with the juice of one lime, salt and pepper to taste. Blend until desired consistency and drizzle over bowl. If it’s too thick thin with water or more lime juice.