Southwest Quinoa Burrito Bowl...Salad

Some of my gal pals are really into the no-salad-salad, as they call it. The no-salad-salad is basically a big bowl of salady stuff that isn't leafy green and lettuce-like. They throw in a whole bunch of veggies, beans, and baby corn. 

Ugh. Can I tell you something? I hate baby corn. It totally freaks me out. When I was a little kid I loved it...until one time, at a fancy restaurant (ahem, it was the O'Callahan's restaurant at the Shilo Inn in The Dalles, OR... which I thought was like, the fanciest of fancy...it wasn't) I yoinked a baby corn off of Mel's plate when she wasn't looking, and it was pickled or something, and it tasted awful, and I threw up. I've been super anti baby corn ever since that day. PS. this is totally not food-blog friendly, but I have a lot of stories that end with "and then I threw up." 

But I digress, this post really has nothing to do with baby corn or my wimpy stomach. It's all about no-salad-salad.

So anyway, whenever I try to make the standard no-salad-salad, I feel like it doesn't come out quite as good as when my friends do it. It feels like a big, jumbled, incoherent mess. That's why I like themed no-salad-salads. Like Greek-style salads loaded with chickpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes, and olives. Or, my favorite: a no-salad-salad with southwest flair. Otherwise known as a burrito bowl. Can we just call it a Southwest Quinoa Burrito Bowl…Salad? 

This one has so much goodness in it: sweet corn fresh off the cob (not the baby variety, thankyouverymuch), avocado, green onions, tomatoes, cilantro, black beans, and cotija cheese, all doused with fresh squeezed lime juice. You could definitely eat this as is. Or you could make it even better by tossing it with quinoa and a creamy southwest sauce. I vote you do that. I vote you do that right now. 

Southwest Quinoa Burrito Bowl Salad

Serves 4

Creamy Southwest Sauce

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon of each: cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano

Splash hot sauce (I use Tapatio) 

Juice from half a lime

Salt & pepper to taste

For sauce, whisk together sour cream through hot sauce, until smooth and creamy. Save the other lime half for salad. Salt & Pepper to taste. 

Salad 

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 large tomato, diced

1 avocado, diced

Fresh corn off the cob from 1 ear

2-3 green onions, sliced

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1/3 cup crumbled cotija cheese

Juice from half a lime

Creamy Southwest Sauce

Cook quinoa: Rinse until water runs clear, drain. Add to a medium pot with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and cool before mixing with salad. 

Stir together black beans through cotija cheese, and toss with lime juice. Add cooled quinoa, and stir until just combined (gently, so you don't moosh up the avocado). Salt and pepper to taste. To eat, either mix in the sauce, or add sauce to each serving. 

Nutty Tropical Breakfast Quinoa

I'm not immune to kitchen failures. I rarely use recipes, so it’s a lot of trial and error. Like a few nights ago, when I decided to roast some rhubarb, and somehow ended up with crispy, charred, inedible little rhubarb cracklins. My five beautiful, giant stalks of ‘barb were reduced to a tiny handful of garbage.

Sometimes, though, I manage to throw together just the right flavors, and get a home run. Those are the ones I usually share here. Like this breakfast quinoa. I make fruity, breakfasty quinoa fairly often, but it’s usually nothing to write home about.

This breakfast quinoa—sort of tropical and nutty—this one is a winner, my friends. I used almond butter, because it’s what I had on hand, but I bet any nut butter would be delish… try cashew or macadamia! I used half a peach and half a mango, which leaves you with half a peach and half a mango for tomorrow’s quinoa, too! I would recommend just making a big batch of quinoa and keeping it in the fridge for this very purpose, but you can also toss it with salads, make burrito bowls with it, or even add it to cookie dough.

Nutty Tropical Breakfast Quinoa

1 tablespoon chunky unsalted almond butter

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon almond milk

1/2 cup cooked quinoa, warm

pinch salt

1/2 peach, diced

1/2 mango, diced

1 T shredded coconut
Dash of cinnamon

Whisk together almond butter, honey, salt, and almond milk until smooth. Stir into warm quinoa. Mix in peach, mango, coconut, and cinnamon. Add a splash more almond milk if desired. 

Quinoa Cookies with Coconut & Chocolate

Evan's birthday was last week, and I just realized that he didn't get a birthday cake. We went out to a fancy steak dinner on his actual birthday, and then had a night out on the the town the following night (complete with pinball, Street Fighter, a creepy warehouse, and a Seattle street dog). But, after all that, still no birthday cake. What kind of food blogging girlfriend am I!? 

In my defense, I'm convinced that Evan hates cake (trust me, he does), so it might have been my unconscious knowledge of his cake hatery that led to the lack of cake. Regardless, I love cake… so it's amazing and sad that I let a cake opportunity pass in such a way. And he's a twin, so I could have made two cakes. Twin birthday cakes would have been adorbs. What was I thinking…I even baked over the weekend! (Also, how many times did I just write cakes!?)

I suppose a late cake will have to be better than no cake. But in the meantime…quinoa cookies! You're getting older, Evan… time to start eating healthy! Or… at least pretending it's good for you, because it has quinoa in it! Chocolate chip cookies with quinoa are totally health food, right? Right?!? That's what I told myself, when I ate 7 of these yesterday. I was powering up, duh. I'm on the downhill slope to 30 myself, I need to supplement my cookie habit with a bit of nutrients now and then!

Quinoa Cookies with Coconut & Chocolate Chunks

Adapted from this recipe

The quinoa adds an awesomely nutty, chewy crunch and {healthy} boost of texture to your average cookie. I couldn't get over that chewy crunch! Be sure to plan ahead, the quinoa needs to be cooked and cooled before mixing up the dough. Also, buy yourself a bag of desiccated coconut, it's totally worth it. I use it in everything. 

1.5 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled

1/2 cup desiccated coconut (unsweetened)

1 cup dark chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 375° & Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In stand or electric mixer, cream butter, sugars, and honey until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, and almond extract, and mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 more minutes. Mix in flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir in quinoa, coconut, and chocolate. 

Plop spoon size balls of dough onto sheets an inch or so apart, and bake until golden, 12–15 minutes. Cool on wire rack. 

Update: I'm getting a lot of feedback that people assumed these cookies were gluten free. This is NOT a gluten free recipe, the quinoa is simply a delicious addition to a non-gf cookie, not a substitution. However, you could easily substitute gf flours for the whole wheat flour. If you do, please let me know how it turns out! One reader swapped the flour for GF all purpose flour and added 1.5 teaspoons xanthan gum, with great results.  

Update #2: I WON the best quinoa recipe contest at Food52 with these cookies! Go check it out!!