Vegan Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

I have several friends who are either a week in to a 30-day vegan cleanse, or have elected to go vegan for the month of February. I tip my hat to you. Last week I was asked to bring a vegan side dish to a family dinner, and I found this great recipe online. This had a nice kick to it flavor-wise and is something that I could see making again as a side dish...perhaps to a nice steak. ;)

Vegan Quinoa and Black Bean Salad (serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa 2 cups water 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 limes, juiced 2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or more to taste 1 1/2 cups halved cherry tomatoes 1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed 1/14 cup chopped fresh cilantro salt and pepper, to taste.

Directions:

Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender and water has been absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Whisk olive oil, lime juice, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and red pepper flakes together in a bowl.

Combine quinoa, tomatoes, and black beans together in a bowl. Pour dressing over quinoa mixture; toss to coat. Stir in cilantro; season with salt and black pepper. Serve immediately or chill in refrigerator.

Southwest Beef and Bacon Roll

In part deux of my bacon-fest earlier this month, I present to you one of the more glorious ideas out there. Meat wrapped in meat. To say this meat roll was hearty would be an understatement. Needless to say, this part of the class evoked a lot of dirty jokes and inappropriate comments. My friend took a great photo of all our dishes...this roll is on the bottom right. With some brussel sprouts.

So in addition to a photo of this meat roll in all its glory, I present to you a glorified shot of me taking way too much pleasure in handling this meat. But don't worry...I wore protection!

Southwest Beef and Bacon Roll (serves 3-4 people)

Ingredients:

• 1/3 pound bacon
• 1 8 oz. skirt steak
• 3/4 tsp. cumin, divided
• 3/4 tsp. ground coriander, divided
• 3/4 tsp. epazote (Mexican oregano), divided
• 3/4 tsp. ground chipotle powder, divided
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 oz. medium bodied lager (Mexican beer is great!)
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 15 oz. can of black beans
• Fresh cilantro, to garnish
• Salt and pepper, to taste.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F and lay the strips of bacon out on sheet pans lined with parchment. Bake bacon until mostly cooked – but definitely not crispy – about 25-30 minutes. Reserve bacon as well as rendered bacon fat. Keep oven on.

Lay out the bacon strips shingling them slightly running up the length of your cutting board.

Lay out the skirt steak with the grain of the muscles running sideways on top of the bacon strips, with the fatter end closer to you. Season the steak with salt and pepper, as well as ¼ tsp each of the cumin, coriander, epazote and chipotle.

Roll up the bacon and streak, and tie off like a roast with kitchen twine. (This I found very difficult, but it doesn't need to be perfect. Just enough to keep everything in its place.Place the roll in an oven safe roasting pan.
Heat a large sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium heat, add some reserved bacon fat and then add onions and sauté until very soft – about 5-8 minutes. Add the garlic, and remaining cumin, coriander, epazote and chipotle. Cook for about 1 minute. Add the beer, and bring to a boil. Let boil for about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and beans, and bring to a boil again.

Pour the bean mixture over the top of the beef and bacon roll. Cover the pan the roll is in (either with a lid or with foil) and roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes, until the beef registers about 140° F.

Remove roll from the beans, remove kitchen twine, slice roll in about 1” slices, and serve over the top of the beans garnished with fresh cilantro.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately with extra parmesan and freshly ground black pepper at table.