Quinoa with Black Beans and Corn

Saturday after the awards ceremony I took my daughter to The Bite of Seattle, I was looking forward to going as I've never been and thought that I might be able to get some inspiration for a few new dishes. Well, needless to say, I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting there to be a lot better food choices there aside from the typical street fair food and ultimately we ended up eating curly fries and a funnel cake. We did have fun walking around and looking at all of the vendors, listening to music and people watching, however I was left without ideas for my food!

I remembered the quinoa salad that was at the potluck, which did have black beans in it and thought it seemed simple enough that I could make something at home using this idea.

I cooked my quinoa in vegetable broth, so that it added a richer flavor. I also chopped some onion and garlic scapes, which were placed in a pan and sauteed until soft. To the onion I added one can of rinsed, drained black beans, fresh corn and quartered cherry tomatoes.  Once the vegetables were warmed through, I added them to the quinoa along with some chopped fresh mozzarrella, salt and pepper to taste.

It was a very simple dish and although the end result was hardly anything like the original salad (which had crushed pineapple in it) it still turned out pretty good.  Dylan was quite happy with it saying that the cherry tomatoes were a great addition.