Salvadoran Red Beans and Lime Quinoa

This is the first recipe I cooked using quinoa, heavily influenced by the Black Quinoa With Lime and Rice Vinegar recipe on the Your Vegan Zombie blog.

For my version, I added beans and I economized by substituting regular quinoa, green bell pepper, and cider vinegar.

Salvadoran Red Beans and Lime Quinoa

1 cup dry Salvadoran red beans
Water to cover beans 1/2 inch, twice.
1 bay leaf

Salvadoran red beans

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp marjoram
1 cup quinoa
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 lime
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt

To begin, rinse the beans and inspect for pebbles.

Cover the beans with a half inch of water and either soak the beans overnight OR bring them to a boil, remove from heat and let stand for an hour.

Drain and rinse the beans. Again cover the beans with a 1/2 inch of water. Add cumin, marjoram, cayenne pepper. Bring this to a boil and then simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Prep your onions, green peppers, and garlic. Rinse the quinoa.

When beans are cooked, drain and reserve the water. Add enough water to make 1 3/4 cups total and pour back into the beans. Stir in the quinoa and paprika. Bring to boil and simmer 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet. Saute the onions. After a couple minutes, add the garlic and peppers. When the peppers begin to soften, put aside to add to beans and quinoa when done.

Squeeze the juice of a lime into a small bowl. Add the cider vinegar and salt. Shake or whisk to dissolve salt and then stir into the beans and vegetables.

If possible, let dish sit covered for 5 minutes so all flavors are infused.

Crock Pot Salvadoran Red Beans and Lime Quinoa

You can also prepare this recipe in a slow cooker.

1. Soak beans overnight or precook and soak beans for an hour to rehydrate them.
2. Place beans, 4 cups of water, rinsed quinoa, spices, garlic in slow cooker.
3. Reserve some or all of the oil, onions, and peppers to saute before serving if desired or add them now.
4. Cook on low 6 hours, high 3 hours.

Before serving:

5. If you want to add some firm onions and peppers, saute them 20 minutes before serving.
6. Combine lime, vinegar, salt.
7. Stir everything into crock, cover and allow flavors to infuse for 5 minutes.

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