Barbacoa Sweet Potato & Black Bean Quinoa Bowl

First blog post, and it's one of my favorite fridge essentials! Picky preschooler approved and

can easily change into a well rounded post gym power bowl, by including grilled chicken in place of the sweet potato. All around a very filling, not to mention, fulfilling bowl. A couple of notes:

1. I purchased a barbacoa seasoning from Simply Spice Rubs. It is currently not available on the website, but feel free to go to their contact page and inquire about purchasing some. It is 100% worth the investment, along with all their spices and rubs.

2. You are more than welcomed to keep the vegetables raw, however, roasting the corn, bell peppers, and serrano over an open flame (or broil in oven) adds a whole different level of flavor.

3. When it comes to the corn, fresher the better. You are more than welcomed to use canned or frozen corn. Follow the instructions of defrosting the frozen corn, drain, and then you can roast it on a hot pan for added flavor. Same with the canned corn: drain, rinse, and throw onto hot pan until it browns and you hear popping.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of uncooked quinoa

• 4 cups water

Barbacoa Sweet Potato

• 6 peeled sweet potatoes

• 3 tbsp of avocado oil

• 2 tbsp of barbacoa seasoning

• 2 large pinches of preferred salt (kosher is optimal)

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

• 3 cans of black beans - drained and rinsed.

• 3 ears of corn, roasted, and kernels shaved off

• 2 roasted bell peppers, skins scraped off, deseeded, and chopped

• 1/2 red onion, chopped

• 1/2 tbsp of barbacoa seasoning

• Salt to taste

• 2 roasted serranos, chopped. Remove seeds to make less spicy, and peel off skin *optional
  

Lime Cilantro Dressing

• 1/2 cup avocado oil

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 2 limes, juiced

• 1/3 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

• 1/2 tsp chipotle powder

• 1/4 tsp cayenne powder *optional

Garnish

• Arugula

• Avocado

• Lime wedges

• Queso Fresco *optional

Recipe:

Quinoa

1. Bring 4 cups of water to bowl in sauce pan.

2. When boiling, pour 2 cups quinoa into water.

3. Bring back to boil

4. Cover and reduce heat to low and let simmer for approximately 13 minutes.

5. Check quinoa to see if there is any liquid on bottom of pan, if not, remove from heat and let stand for at least 5 minutes.

6. If there is liquid, leave on low heat for another 2 minutes.

7. Repeat step 5 when liquid is gone.

Black Bean Corn Salsa

1. In big mixing bowl, combine all ingredients

2. Salt to taste

Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

1. In small bowl, whisk all ingredients together

2. Make sure to taste it and add more lime juice to your liking

3. Salt to taste

Barbacoa Sweet Potatoes

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Cube sweet potato to about 1"

3. Place in mixing bowl and pour in oil, seasoning, and salt.

4. Place on flat baking sheet evenly, no stacking.

5. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden.

Assembly

1. Pour in Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette into cooked quinoa and fluff with fork.

2. Fill individual bowl with quinoa first

3. Place each item on top separately

4. Put sliced avocado in the center of the bowl

5. Sprinkle queso fresco on top.