Protein Power: Chipotle Black Beans & Red Quinoa

This is another one of those super-easy meals that comes together before you can get annoyed at yourself for not starting earlier. The portions are also ideal for 1-2 people. Not only that, but its packed with protein with the combo of quinoa and beans. Perfect for when you've been relying on beer and soy ice cream as your protein sources for the last week, like some people I know. (cough, cough.)

The red quinoa isn't prepared any differently then regular quinoa, nor does it taste any different. But hey, its cool looking!

Chipotle Black Beans*
-1 onion, diced
-1 can black beans, drained
-3/4 can chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped with sauce reserved
-Garlic powder or other spice mix

So simple. Cook the onions in some oil of your choice on med-low until softened, and sprinkle with garlic powder. Add in the beans and the chipotles and sauce, stir, raise the heat, and cover. In about 15 minutes you have the perfect accompaniment to quinoa and veggies of your choice. I thought it was particularly amazing with some slices of avacado, diced mango, tomatoes and a dollop of soy sour cream.

*I should mention that this was quite spicy, even with the cooling avacados and sour cream. So just be sure to use a little less adobo sauce if you're not a big heat-person.


And speaking of incredibly easy, which is about all I can handle at the moment, I've been making a lot of little parfaits for myself lately with the various kinds of soy yogurt and puddings out there. The best? Fresh rasberries, almonds and chocolate pudding layered in a little cup. It feels so fancy even though it takes about two seconds to put together. So yay for quick, yet distracting, meals!

Also, I wanted to thank all of you for your kind words about my recent break-up. You guys are awesome. However, if you really wanted to put your money where your mouth is, I'd appreciate your assistance in hooking me up with one of the following excellent candidates for my affection. I know someone out there must know at least one of them.
Kevin Barnes from Of Montreal sings the soundtrack to my life, so he may as well be in my life...

James McAvoy is ruggedly handsome, but more importantly, hilarious and seemingly very smart and cool...

And Dave Eggers wrote one of my favorite books (What is the What) but also has amazing taste in music, as evinced by his awesome columns in the old Spin magazine.

So guys, thanks in advance for your help! I will go ahead and clear my calendar for the weekend. :) Don't forget to mention that I can cook.