Another action packed day at work followed by hot yoga at Crunch (with Eve, my favorite instructor!) and then a delicious dinner.
Yoga was tough tonight with a lot of back bends and challenging positions. It did help that the class size was limited so there was a little room to breathe but I have to admit that by the end of class I was really looking forward to the Savasana pose (basically where you just lie on your back and chill). I’ll take a much needed day off tomorrow.
This evening I finally decided to bust out the quinoa I purchased about a week ago. I’ve been holding off because I’ve never made it and because I had so many other options. I found this recipe today online though and had to give it a shot. I had almost all the ingredients on hand and just swung by the bodega on my way home to grab some veggie broth.
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1/4 cup green pepper chopped
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more!)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
I also added about 1/2 cup of firm tofu. I bought it fresh off the street in Chinatown over the weekend and it is amazing!
1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, garlic and tofu and saute until lightly browned then add peppers
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. At this point it looks something like this:
Then all ya gotta do is mix in the black beans and cilantro:
Yum! I scooped out my portion and there was probably enough left over to feed me for the rest of the week.
I used about double the cayenne pepper than what the recipe called for and I think I probably should have gone a little bit easier. I love spicy but I think I may be the only one eating this particular batch. 
It was delicious though, I think the sweetness of the corn really brought out the all the other flavors. It’s also a pretty cheap meal and really filling, even now 2 hours later I feel warm and sated and happy.
I also had a delicious cup of dark hot chocolate while I planned out my day tomorrow. No yoga so it looks like I may just splurge and meet a friend in the city for dinner. We shall see. Have a lovely, relaxing night!
