Quinoa, Black Bean and Tomato Salad: An Adventure in Hunger

I needed to go grocery shopping, but I was also starving. This is when I started to scavenge to see what was left that I could squish together into something yummy.

• Quinoa - since I have been buying this at CostCo now, I seem to always have some waiting in the wings. Possibility: I could just make plain quinoa... however, I could add some flavor to that if I just had some
• Chicken Broth - AWESOME! Just enough left in the fridge to make two cups of quinoa (in case my husband had some crazy idea he was going to steal some of my gluten-free goodness on this day!).

But, woe is me... while I do love my mother grain, wouldn't this be most mundane? My tastebuds cried out to me for more! I begged them to understand that I didn't think there was too much more to work with. Then I walked around the kitchen and there was a

• Tomato - well now... it seems like a nice red juicy tomato like that is just begging to join the party, but how? What to do with this red voluptuous fruit?

I went online and typed in quinoa and tomatoes in the search bar. The response that most intrigued me had one additional ingredient,

• Black Beans - these are the moments I am thankful for canned goods. However, traditionally I prepare black beans with a whole bunch of ingredients (ie. bell peppers, garlic, apple cider vinegar, etc.) that I simply did not have available. This recipe did not speak of such things, it did, however, mention a
• Lime - my husband LOVES these! I ran to the fridge - could it be? Would there be? YESSSS!! There they were - two lonely limes!!

I felt like I was on to something. My taste buds were all a-flutter. Then I read the rest of the ingredients - I had none of them. I felt betrayed, I was disenchanted by the internet recipe - How could it DO THIS to me?!What a TEASE!

I decided to compose myself and reevaluate my situation. I had a nice palette of ingredients to work with... Could these, along with some seasonings, perhaps, do the trick all on their own? And then it occurred to me: waiting in the refrigerator, holding out for its moment to shine was that little jar of

• SOFRITO! and this wasn't any old sofrito, this was homemade sofrito! Made by my Puerto Rican mother-in-law! (In case you do not have a Puerto Rician Mother-in-law, or do not know how to make sofrito yourself, I found this recipe, but there are TONS out there. You can probably tell by the pictures of my quinoa that I did not use the tomato/red sofrito for this.)

The crowd goes WILD!! The taste buds are tingling!! The stomach is grumbling!! We are ready to roll!! Here is what I did, so simple.

Quinoa, black beans, tomato, lime & sofrito.

1. I prepared the quinoa in my rice maker (I am lazy, I know). One cup of quinoa with two cups of chicken broth over it, stir, close up the top, put it on rice setting and got to the rest of my work.
2. I cut the tomatoes (I found another, so I used two) into cubes, or as close to cubes as possible.
3. I rinsed and drained the can of black beans.
4. Put the tomatoes and the black beans in a bowl together.
5. In a smaller bowl I put the juice of both limes (next time I do this I might do one or 1.5 limes instead) and two heaping tablespoons of the sofrito (I might kick this up next time!). Mixed well. 
6. When the quinoa was finished I added it to the bowl with the tomatoes and beans and mixed.
7. Finally, I added the "sauce" and mixed it in as well.

It can be served warm, room temperature, whatever you like! I don't particularly like things straight out of the fridge (and I had so much I have been keeping it in the fridge), so I throw a bunch in a mug (is this weird?) and microwave it for about 30 seconds - that has been my favorite temperature.

Want some?

As I am enjoying my last mug of this delicious quinoa salad that I have eaten as lunch, snacks and one night it was a side with dinner (yes, yes, overkill, I know! But I LIKE it, it is gluten-free, dairy-free and clean eating!!) I am wondering: Why the heck didn't I buy any more tomatoes so I could MAKE MORE?!

Comfort Food - My Ritual and Recipe

Now that Fall is here I am finding that my stash from the Saturday morning Farmer's Market runs are not making it through the week the way they used to. I, of course, did not realize this tonight it was creeping on dinner time and hunger began to strike not only my stomach, but my head as well. I had to think of something quickly before full-on brain-pain struck me down for the night. Don't let the "Rivera" in my name fool you - that is my married name, my maiden name is 100% Sicilian - there is one thing a girl raised with an Italian last name always has in her home: supplies for a marinara sauce.

My whole body released its tension - everything was going to be OK. Armed with my birthright - grandma's recipe - and all of the ingredients required, my hunger tonight would be satiated with my favorite dinner of them all. Tonight we would have pasta and marinara sauce, thank the gods!


The Ritual

It begins with the smell that I swear used to emanate from the walls of my grandmother's kitchen in Brooklyn - onions and garlic sauteing in olive oil. I think if I ever seriously take up the habit of meditating regularly, that I should do it with this smell rather than that of any candle or insence, I know of nothing in the world that has such a calming affect on my entirety.

Oh how I wish pictures could smell!

Once the onions have started to become translucent and before they brown, I grab the can of tomato paste and put it in the  pot along with one can full of water. I stir it all up and let it simmer. There's a new smell now, sweeter, too sweet for me, but I know this is progress and the color is beautiful.

One little can of paste and all my garlic and onion has become invisible!

As the paste mixture simmers, I reach for the big can (I am still on a search to find my perfect tomatoes in a jar!). These aren't any old tomatoes, you can't really negotiate here, they have to be San Marzano tomatoes. I have tried to deny it, but I can't, this truly makes a difference. When the can is opened, I pour it into the pot (keeping as close to the pot as I can to avoid splashing) and see my sauce coming together at last. There are tomatoes in there - this is what I've been waiting for!

THAT'S a beautiful thing :)

 And then things move a little bit faster...

I add my cute little basil leaf.

and the rest of my spices.

I stir it all up, put the lid on and wait.

Tonight's sauce was a one-nighter. Most of the time I will make 6 times this recipe (in a much larger pot, of course) and the wait is much longer, but for this sauce it is enough time for me to get some other things in order. Like check in on the family...

My husband gets his lesson plan together while our furry children could care less - they already had their dinner!

I also have to get the pasta ready. I know what you're thinking, "Nicole! You can't have pasta - it has GLUTEN in it!!" I thought that was true, too. I thought I would never have this comfort food again, but I found the GREATEST thing EVER in my Stop n Shop:

Thank you bionaturae! This pasta is delicious!!

So, while the sauce is still cooking, I get the pot of water.

Don't forget to add the salt!

And wait for it to boil...

First come those little bubbles (I already feel like I've been waiting forever!).

Then some bubbles start creeping up from the bottom of the pot. But you MUST STILL WAIT!

Go back and stir the sauce if you need a distraction. I get stuck here for awhile, the savory smell is simply intoxicating. I think, "I need to cook a really big batch next time so I can get the whole house to smell like this for hours."

THAT is what I've been waiting for... a full-on bubble party. It's pasta time!

Pour it in.

It never fails. The pasta party poopers have arrived. The water is still.

I HAVE to stir to keep these guys from sticking (especially with the gluten-free stuff!).

To get al dente pasta: FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE PACKAGE OF YOUR PASTA. I use a timer - no joke.

And so I keep stirring...

And when my timer rings that 10 minutes is up, I grab the strainer and

Ta-Da!

I put it back in the pot and add a spoonful of sauce, so that any pasta left over doesn't get stuck together. (If you don't want to commit your entire package of pasta to one batch of sauce, just put a small amount of olive oil in it for the same purpose.)

I call my husband. Dinner is ready, and I simply can not wait to eat it!

Yummy!!

Oh boy that was delicious. I needed that.

The Recipe

A while back I posted this recipe on what is now Food.com (it was Recipezaar at the time).  If you have a Food.com account and would like to add this recipe to one of your cookbooks, here is the link. Otherwise, here is my family recipe as it is published on that site:

"tomato" Sauce

By Nicole Dominiqué on December 01, 2008

1 Reviews

• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 2 1/2 hrs
• Servings: 4-6

About This Recipe

"A family staple. I am not sure how the ladies before me (mom, grandma, et cetera...) would feel about me making this recipe public, but the WORLD needs to enjoy this. This marina sauce runs through my blood. This marina sauce is the REASON I needed to learn how to cook for myself... I could NOT live without it simply because my ladies passed away! The "Tomatoe" spelling is from my mother's hand-written recipe card where she wrote down the recipe as my Grandma Tina taught it to her. I will post the recipe exactly as I found it and add the little changes I made to it in parentheses. Please feel free to double or triple this recipe, freeze it for later, to send to family or anyone else who needs a little food affection (this sauce = love) - excellent on pastas, ravioli, on pizzas for italian bread dipping... whatever else you would like to do with a delicious marina sauce!"

Ingredients

• 1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 1 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes 
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 dried leaf basil (if I used any tomatoes canned with basil in the can I skip this ingredient)
• 1/2 onions, diced
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar ( or less... I sometimes leave this one out)
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 -2 teaspoon olive oil ( enough to cover the bottom of the pan for sauteing)

Directions

1. Sauté garlic and onion in olive oil.
2. Add tomato paste plus one can of water and simmer for a few minutes.
3. Add strained can of whole tomatoes plus 1/2 can of the water from that can (I found this step annoying and silly and I always ended up adding more liquid in the process anyway! So I just throw the whole can in at this point - liquid and all plus a half of a can of water.).
4. Add all of the remaining ingredients and cook for 2 HOURS (stir and enjoy the aroma intermittently throughout the process).

San Marzano Tomatoes

Tomato Trauma

I started off my work-week by bringing in some pasta with my homemade sauce to eat for lunch today. As I ate, I told my coworker of my Marinara Sauce mission on Saturday morning and how, for the sake of my husband, I had to make sure there were pre-made meals ready to go in case he got sick again! I began to discuss the recipe and how many cans of tomatoes I had used, when my coworker interjected with, "I know you are concerned with food and everything, have you heard about how the canned tomatoes are bad for you?"

I was so happy and horrified at the same time. On Saturday evening I actually said to my husband, " I don't even remember how to peel tomatoes. I think it is a pain in the butt." He asked why I mentioned it and I explain that I wasn't sure how I felt about the cans, even though that was how my family had always done it. I did, however, point out to him that the fresh tomatoes would probably make for a truly delectable sauce and, for that reason alone, I would someday undertake this mission of peeling.

So, when my friend at work, Chris, laid this bombshell on me about the canned tomatoes, I simply imagined myself in a big mess of tomato juice, peels and seeds, hopelessly trying to peel some tomatoes. Even so, I needed to know what was wrong with the canned tomatoes!! He said he couldn't remember it exactly, but it was something about the cans leeching some chemical into the tomatoes - gross! I decided to Google it and impressed Chris with my Googling skills, when I began to read, out loud, the same article he read. It was a wealth of information.

The article is called The 7 Foods Experts Won't Eat and it, evidently made a lot of news when it first came out, but I must have been unwilling, or at least, not ready (it looks like it was published right around THANKSGIVING time!), to hear what it said. Well, I am more than ready now! I highly recommend that you read this article ASAP and in order to accommodate you with the appropriate time required to do so (and, in turn, share the news with your friends and family once you have finished reading), I will stop writing right now.