Day One!

Well, today was the first day of my new eating plan.  I had oatmeal with part of a chopped up nectarine and some blueberries for breakfast...yum!  Then I made some iced black peach tea.  I hate to admit it, but I am a caffeine addict and get terrible headaches that usually turn in to migraines if I don't have any.  Since I'm going dairy-free, my usual lattes are no longer an option.  :(  For lunch I cooked a new recipe I'm excited to share with you!

Quinoa and Black Beans

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped (I just did 1 1/2 teaspoons of diced)
• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
2. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
3. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 76 | Total Fat: 1.5g | Cholesterol: 0mg 

I added a little bit of diced up avocado to top mine off.  I thought this was great!  I'm a bit of a baby when it comes to spicy food; this definitely had a bit of a kick to it, but wasn't too spicy.  I thought the flavors were great!  For someone who isn't going dairy-free, they'd probably enjoy some cheese and/or sour cream on top.  This was plenty for me for lunch, but if you're cooking for a bigger eater, this might be more of a side side dish!  The recipe makes about ten servings (yikes!) so I have lots of leftovers to pack for lunches and eat this week.  Here was the final result:

For dinner, I had a green salad with veggies and chicken on top with Annie's balsamic vinaigrette (yummy!) and a small fruit salad.  Not a bad first day!  If you cook the quinoa, let me know what your thoughts are!