Well, I’ve had my first kitchen mishap in a long while. Recently, while throwing together this dish, I ended up accidentally nicking my finger as I was cutting the peppers.   No need to get into the details but as we say in school, I certainly received a ‘logical consequence’ for failure to use proper knife skills!

This dish began as plans to make rice and beans in a creative way to keep using up the seemingly bottomless family sized pack of kielbasa in the meat drawer.  Some research led me to this recipe as well as this one.  However, after bandaging my finger and reminding myself that I was going to survive I no longer had enough time to make rice. So – it became quinoa!  

In other news, this upcoming weekend we have our 7th annual friend’s thanksgiving! WHAT!? My plan is to make some sort of potato dish and some sort of carrot dish.  Any recipe or dish inspiration you can send my way?

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic – diced
• 1 pound of kielbasa – cut into rings
• 1 green pepper
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups of stock
• 1 15oz can of red beans
• Cajun seasoning

Steps and Notes:

1. Cook the quinoa in the broth in a side pot according to the package directions
2. Saute the onion and pepper in a small bit of oil. Cook for 6-7 minutes until translucent and then add the garlic.
3. Move to one side of the pan and add the kielbasa. Cook for about 4 minutes per side to sear slightly.
4. Add 1-2 quick pours of broth to the pan for some juice then add the beans. Mix well.
5. Sprinkle with cajun seasoning to your liking
6. Finally remove from the heat and mix well with the quinoa

Thoughts for Next Time:

• Serve over some greens, perhaps arugula or sauteed spinach
• Add a heartier vegetable like broccoli
• Add the spices directly to the vegetable mixture