Simple dinners, simple dinners, simple dinners, has been my mantra lately. This quinoa bowl is one quick dinner that we really like. Fluffy quinoa is topped with homemade Mexican beef (sans artificial flavoring!), and topped with salsa, avocado, sour cream, shredded cheese, or whatever other toppings you’d like. You could do the same idea with rice or make a vegetarian meal using Mexican flavored black beans. During the hot summer months, you can put all of the ingredients on a bed of lettuce for a Mexican quinoa salad. There are endless variations, I’m sure.
I made a huge pot of quinoa at this meal, and then reheated or refried the leftover quinoa the rest of the week for a quick side. I love having soaked and cooked grain on hand. But sometimes when I am making quinoa just for this dish, I throw in some Mexican seasonsings, like oregano, garlic,red pepper flakes, and cumin – just to spice it up a bit.
A word about the Mexican beef recipe, this was a favorite among some of my recipe testers for my salad cookbook. It uses surprisingly few ingredients, yet is flavorful. We, as a family, really like it, and I love that it is so easy to put together.
Simple Mexican Quinoa Bowl
Serves 4
Basic Quinoa
1 recipe of Mexican Beef (from Fresh: Nourishing Salads for all Seasons, recipe below)
Toppings of choice:
Salsa
Sour cream
Avocado
Guacamale
Shredded cheese
Chopped Cilantro
Crumbled tortilla chips
Chopped romaine lettuce
Place a generous scoop of quinoa and beef in a bowl, and top with desired toppings. Enjoy.
Mexican Beef
1 pound of beef, preferably 100% grassfed
1 teaspoon each of ground cumin and dried oregano
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced or put through a garlic press
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
Unrefined salt to taste
Juice from 1 lime
1. Combine the meat, cumin, oregano, garlic, and cayenne in a large saucepan. Cook over medium high heat, stirring to cook evenly, until the meat is completely cooked through. When using grassfed beef, you shouldn’t have any grease to drain. If you do, push all of the meat to one side of the pan and tip the pan to pool the grease in one side of the pan. Remove the grease with a spoon.
2. Sprinkle the lime juice over the meat and salt to taste.
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This reminds me of a taco salad… a family favorite at my house. It seems like a perfect summer-friendly recipe because it is simple and doesn’t require heating up the house by turning on the oven!
Thanks for this – it looks delicious! I have had a bag of quinoa in my kitchen cupboard for some time now and I had no idea what to make with it… Now I do! 😀
I have also had a bag of quinoa in the cabinet. I can’t wait to try it\ soon!
Love it! I like using quinoa in place of ground beef sometimes in tacos too – just add all the seasonings to the quinoa 😉 It’s great and now that I have this reminder I haven’t made it in awhile and I think it’s going on next week’s menu!
This sounds really delicious and I LOVE how simple it is – the perfect school night dinner! I just have one question…
What cut of beef do you use? Or do you use ground beef?
Thanks!!
This sounds YUMMY!!!!! I will be adding this to next week’s menu! 😀 Thanks for sharing!
that looks so awesome! i love the avocado! yum!
I have made the Mexican beef recipe many times. I find that the flavor improves over time. So sometimes I’ll make it ahead & then reheat gently on the stove. Also, even though I do use grass-fed beef, I always have to drain – so I let it cook a little bit & then drain & then put in the seasonings & then let it cook the rest of the way. (so maybe that’s why I find the sitting process add something.)
Sounds delicious! Check out my video on cooking quinoa. I hope you like it!
Ciao
We made this over the weekend – it was fabulous! Thanks for your hard work in the kitchen, and for sharing your ideas. Each week, there are usually a number of delicious meals/treats/snacks that we eat that have come from this blog. You are greatly appreciated in our household!!
that looks so delicious! i love the avocado!
My 3 year old took one bite and said “Yummy, mommy!” Thanks for a great easy recipe!