Whole Food Wednesdays: Black Bean, Quinoa & Broccoli Salad with Blackberry Serrano Sauce

Welcome to Whole Food Wednesdays. You’re invited to come and share your real food recipes using the linky below. We’re excited to see what yummy things you’ve been creating and what great informational posts and videos you’ve got for us.

It was one of those nights where I had no idea what to eat. France headed out for Bikram Yoga at 5pm and wouldn’t be home until close to 7, which meant dinner was squarely in my court. I opened the fridge with a blank, deer-in-headlights kind of stare to see what inspired me. All that stood out to me was broccoli and the batch of black beans I’d cooked a few days before (I eat beans, eggs, and spinach for breakfast every day). So, what’s a boy to do?

Google it.

Yup. I enter black beans, broccoli, and quinoa (that’s what I wanted to eat) into Google, and lo and behold an intriguing recipe popped up from a punk rock vegan cook who runs the blog Post Punk Kitchen. I used to be a punk rocker, and I had lots of vegan friends so this brought back fond memories. But nostalgia aside, this recipe is a WINNER. We are definitely making this one again.

Black beans, broccoli, and quinoa

Black Bean, Quinoa & Broccoli Salad with Blackberry Serrano Sauce

1 cup quinoa
2 cups of water
6 tbsp of butter
4 1/2 cups chopped broccoli crowns
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups black beans, cooked
salt & pepper

In a small pot, place 1 cup quinoa with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes, or according to package instructions. Once cooked, mix 3 tbsps butter in quinoa and add salt & pepper to flavor.

While the quinoa is cooking, prep the broccoli. Chop 1/2 an onion into small pieces. Chop the broccoli crowns into bit size pieces until you have about 4-4 1/2 cups. Add 2-3 tbsps of butter to a frying pan. Add onions and broccoli to the pan and cook for 7-10 minutes, or until broccoli reaches the desired doneness. Do not overcook the broccoli. Add the black beans 2 minutes before the broccoli is finished cooking to allow them to warm up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Once cooked, remove from heat, and combine the broccoli, onions, and black beans with the quinoa in a large bowl and mix together.

Blackberry Serrano Sauce

1 clove of garlic
1/3 cup almonds
1/2 serrano pepper, seeded and diced
1/4 cup water
1 cup frozen blackberries, thawed
1tsp maple syrup
sprinkle of salt

Put the garlic and almonds in a food processor and blend until it is flour like (my food processor wasn’t good enough to make it like this, so don’t fret if it’s still rough). Add the remaining ingredients and blend until desired consistency is reached.

To serve, place the black bean, broccoli & quinoa salad on a plate and top with blackberry serrano sauce. The sauce is fantastic so don’t hold back. Enjoy!

Whole Food Wednesday’s Round-Up Rules

To come and play, use the linky tool below to add your link. Add up to 3 links and tell us what you’ve been up to all week. Only link to the specific post and not your home page or else we won’t be able to find all that juicy information you’ve left us with.

The Rules:

• 1. Follow Beyond The Peel on Facebook or Twitter.  It’s very easy to do and there’s also buttons at the bottom of this page to do so.
• 2. Introduce yourself, your blog, and what you’re about in the comment section and a small blurb about what you’re sharing. This way people can get to know you a little bit right off the hop and hopefully follow you as well.
• 3. Be sure to add a link in your post back to this post. Simple linky etiquette. This allows your readers to find other posts that may help them on their journey.
• 4. If you’re sharing recipes, the only requirement is that the ingredient list be comprised of real food only, that means non-processed food items. That being said, we are all in different places on our real food journey, some more advanced than others. I invite all of you to share, no matter where you are on your journey, but I ask you to stay mindful when sharing your recipes that this is a whole (real) food blog. This means, no ingredient lists that include edible oil products (velveeta, frozen whip topping), unfermented tofu, protein powders, ketchup, white flour or white and brown sugar.
• 5. Less of a rule but more a suggestion: Retweet or stumble this post so EVERYONE gets more exposure and traffic. It’s win-win for everyone.
• 6. Don’t have a blog? That’s ok, we’d still love to hear from you. Write your recipes or tips in the comment section so we can get to know you too!
• 7. Please visit some of the links below. After all, that’s how we’ll get to know each other!

Now it’s your turn to share your whole food recipes and ideas!

I’m sharing this with My Meatless Mondays, This Chick Cooks, Cast Party Wednesday, Allergy Free Wednesday’s, The Tasty Alternative, What’s Cooking Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Freaky Friday, Friday Food Flicks, The Local Cook., and This Week’s Cravings.

By Joshua Sprague