Spanish Quinoa and Beans

This is one of my favorite dishes. It makes a great filling for burrito's, though I usually just eat it out of a bowl as is or with a tablespoon or so of Tofutti sour cream. I always make a full batch so that I can enjoy it for lunch all week long! Mmm...

Spanish Quinoa with Beans

1 Tbs. Olive Oil

1 Cup dry Quinoa, rinsed

1 Cup Salsa

2 Cups Water

1/2 tsp. garlic (fresh or powdered)

1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

1/2 tsp. ground Cumin

2 cans Refried Beans

Put the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the rinsed quinoa and toast until golden (I prefer to use a mix of red quinoa and white/traditional quinoa - I just toast it until the lighter colored quinoa looks lightly toasted). Add all of the other ingredients, stir, and cover the skillet with a lid. Turn to medium-low heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Heat the refried beans. Stir the Spanish quinoa into the refried beans.

One of my favorite poems...

Nobody loves me,

Nobody cares,

Nobody picks me peaches and pears.

Nobody offers me candy and Cokes,

Nobody listens and laughs at my jokes.

Nobody helps when I get in a fight,

Nobody does all my homework at night.

Nobody misses me,

Nobody cries,

Nobody thinks I'm a wonderful guy.

So if you ask me who's my best friend, in a whiz,

I'll stand up and tell you that Nobody is.

But yesterday night I got quite a scare,

I woke up and Nobody just wasn't there.

I called out and reached out for Nobody's hand,

In the darkness where Nobody usually stands.

Then I poked through the house, in each cranny and nook,

But I found somebody each place that I looked.

I've searched til I'm tired, and now with the dawn,

There's no doubt about it-

Nobody's gone!

-Shel Silverstein