Mexican flavoured Quinoa – the perfect side dish for a high protein meal and essential amino acid top up. Pair with a protein suggestion of Grilled Chicken Breast or Chargrilled Whole Chicken.

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small Jalapeno or from the jar 5 rings roughly
• 1 tablespoon light olive oil
• 1 small tin sweetcorn or 1 fresh cob
• 1 small tin kidney beans (roughly 130g drained weight)
• 1 lime (juice and zest)
• 3 tablespoons tomato puree
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock

Method

Rinse the Quinoa, and leave to drain.

In a saucepan heat your oil, and cook the onions slowly to soften and become translucent (about 5 min).

Add the pepper and cook another 2 min to soften slightly.

Add the jalapeno, spices and garlic and cook another 2 min.

Add the quinoa and mix through, toasting the quinoa for as long as you can to absorb flavour. Be careful here as it burns easily, so keep stirring.

Finally, add the stock and tomato puree and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn heat down to very low, pop a lid on, and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the beans and sweetcorn, mix through well, pop the lid back on and cook another 5 min.

Turn the heat off, lift the lid, and let the quinoa rest for 5-10 min before serving your Mexican Quinoa with choice of protein and veg.