Southwest BBQ Quinoa Bowl

I'll take a little walk down memory lane here for the sake of recipe introduction: as I've mentioned before, it was when we started dating that Mr. Max and I learned just how much we enjoyed cooking both together and in general. Instead of going out to dinner, we would go to the grocery store without a plan and wander the aisles until we came up with something to make.

Flash forward to now.

This past weekend did not yield time to meal plan, so we took off for the grocery store in our more spontaneous vintage fashion. All I knew was that I wanted to use up the quinoa in the pantry and had a plan to revise my Mexi-Texi salad sometime in the near future. We passed by the tantalizing BBQ counter that always smells incredible every time we pass by. They had some BBQ sauce on the counter so we sauntered over to taste test it and that did us in right there! At that moment, the clouds parted and the plan for dinner was formulated. It went a little something like this...

Okay, at the risk of sounding annoying and/or mushy, I had swoon moment #11,876: mid-way through food prep my sous chef informs me that this is his favorite part of the day: when we laugh, talk and make a meal together. I die. (insert high pitched squeal and girly wiggle dance) 6 more months until I'm Mrs. Max!

For nutritional facts, click here; 1 serving is equivalent to 9 WW points.

Grocery List:
Recipe yields 5 servings

• 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded (about 2.5 cups)
• 1 cup quinoa, cooked according to package directions
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 avocado, cubed
• 2 tbsp. lime juice
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. barbecue sauce, divided (Austin's Own in medium will rock your world!)
• 2-3 tbsp. fresh cilantro, diced for garnish

To begin, cook the quinoa according to the package. If you got it from a canister rather than in a package, you cook 2 cups water to every 1 cup quinoa. Rinse, lightly toast in a pan to intensify the flavor, it will start to smell a bit like popcorn. Add the water and bring to a boil, stirring frequently until water is absorbed and the curlique of the seed has popped.

Shred the chicken into a bowl and add the 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce. Stir well to combine.

 

In a skillet, add the olive oil and heat to medium-high on the burner. Saute the red onion and bell pepper until softened, about 5 minutes. Next add the corn and the black beans, combining with other peppers and onions. Turn the heat to low and let warm until quinoa is fully ready.

 

 

Once the quinoa is cooked, set it in a bowl and stir in the lime juice. Add in the pepper, onion, corn and black bean mixture and stir well. Scoop the southwest quinoa combo into a bowl as a bed, then pile on the BBQ shredded chicken, top with the avocado and sprinkle with the cilantro. Finally, add a drizzle (roughly 1 tbsp) of BBQ sauce over the top of your creation and you are ready to dig in!

 

Tastefully yours,