Mexican Quinoa Bowls with Roasted Tomatoes

Last night after work and a good workout, I wanted something easy for dinner. I didn’t have time to rush to the grocery store, so I needed to use what was in the cabinet/fridge. I had seen a lot of recipes for quinoa bowls and I love using mix-ins while cooking quinoa in the rice cooker since it makes it so easy (like this spinach and chickpea dish).

On hand I had the makings of a good Mexican dinner: black beans, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, salsa and lime. I decided to roast out my tomatoes, and if I had had any, I would have loved to use cherry tomatoes, but mine did just fine. I added the black beans in with my quinoa and used lime to add some flavor. I loved this dish so much. It was right up my alley with flavors and simplicity while keeping it easy with ingredients on hand.

Mexican Quinoa Bowls with Roasted Tomatoes

Serves 2-3

For Roasted Tomatoes

5 small to medium-sized tomatoes (small cherry tomatoes would work well too)
1 tablespoon olive oil (or enough to just coat tomatoes)
Pinch each of salt and fresh ground pepper

For Quinoa Bowl:

1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
Juice from 1/2 of a lime
1/4 avocado, diced
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Spoonful of salsa
Pinch each of salt and freshly ground pepper
Hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

For Roasted Tomatoes:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with baking spray or olive oil.
Slice tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices and line along baking sheet. Using your fingertips, use olive oil to cover each slice of tomato lightly (don’t over do it). Sprinkle salt and pepper across the tomatoes.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until tomatoes are tender-crisp and edges are slightly brown. Remove from oven and baking sheet and set aside.

For Quinoa Bowls:

Clean your quinoa using a fine strainer by pouring the quinoa into the strainer and running water over the it until the water comes out clear.
Pour the cleaned quinoa into a rice cooker and add enough water as if you were cooking rice on the “mixed” setting (So for 1 cup quinoa I added water for 1 cup mixed rice in the cooker). Turn the cooker on and let sit.
Once the quinoa is done cooking, about 45 minutes, add black beans directly into the rice maker and squeeze lime over the top of both. Close lid for 5 minutes. This will heat up the beans and let the lime juice settle.
Scoop one cup of quinoa/black bean mixture onto each plate. Top the quinoa with roasted tomatoes, avocado, cilantro and salsa. Sprinkle salt and pepper over each and serve. Add hot sauce if you wish!