SWEET POTATO BLACK BEAN QUINOA BOWLS

SWEET POTATO BLACK BEAN QUINOA BOWLS

Easy SWEET POTATO BLACK BEAN QUINOA BOWLS topped with a zesty Cilantro Dressing you’ll want to pour all over. A fresh vegetarian meal that will satisfy even those meat lovers!

MURDER is in the air.

Or at least it was on Saturday night! Muuuuhahahahahahahaaaaaa!

Mike and I got all dressed up in our characters and headed over to an All Hallows Eve Party Murder Mystery Dinner Party set in the 1950’s.

We’ve never attended a Murder Mystery Dinner before, so we weren’t sure what to expect. We read over our character bios, our secrets, and the goals/objectives we needed to meet before the night was finished.

I was freaking out a little because I wasn’t sure if I was gonna be able to pull it off. I’m a horrible liar, you’ll know right away by the look on my face if I’m lying or not.

My character for the evening was Ms. Shelly Silverstein. A ditzy southern belle from south Texas who grew up on a cattle ranch. She is a seductive dance hall girl who recently won a target sharp shooting competition and has an affinity for poker. She’s not one to be reckoned with. 🙂

Mike was, Rusty Naylor, a Scottish grounds keeper for the owner of the Black Mansion, the millionaire whose home we were attending the party at. He had been working for Mr. Black for years, but recently Mr. Blacks father was murdered. (da da daaaan) Rusty knows many of the secrets of the home, but is loyal to Mr. Black.

What people didn’t know is that I was actually a secret agent and I was there undercover investigating a man named Reverend Green, who matched the description of an international jewel thief. My goal was to get close to the Reverend and get him to fall in love with me.

What I didn’t know is that Reverend Greens card told him to avoid me at all costs.

Now here’s the funny part. Reverend was actually played by our real life pastor. So I was literally chasing him around the house all night. He continued to evade me, but I didn’t understand why. At one point I decided to pin him in the library with my arm in front of the door so he couldn’t get out and just said in my best southern belle voice, “I find you very attractive.” He didn’t know what to do and I felt my face getting flushed as I said it, but I was trying to do something rash to trick him into staying longer. It worked for about 3 minutes and then he escaped. UGhhh…

Luckily, I WAS able to confirm through multiple other sources during the night that he was indeed a jewel thief. And at one point he tried to bribe me to stay away.

Once dessert was served we were allowed to “murder” people, but only if we had weapons. Luckily, I was a sharp shooter so I had two six shooters on me. And believe me I used them, especially when someone tried to blackmail me. Hahahaaha!

To say we had a blast that night was an understatement. It was kill or be killed and luckily I ended the evening alive, having murdered one person (almost two) and secrets intact. I’d call that a success! 🙂

I seriously can’t wait till the next one! Pretty sure we need to do one of those once a quarter!!!

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups of water
• 1 cup dry quinoa
• 1 cup low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cupf no salt sweet corn, drained and rinsed
• 2 roasted red peppers, thinly sliced
• ⅓ cup red onion, thinly sliced
• {optional} jalapeno, sliced
• 2 avocado, sliced

Cilantro Dressing:

• ½ cup fresh cilantro
• ⅓ cup plain greek yogurt
• 3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 garlic clovesalt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. In a small bowl, add olive oil, 1 teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt. Mix together.
3. In a large bowl, add sweet potatoes and the olive oil seasoning. Toss to coat the potatoes with the mixture.
4. Spread the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet in a single layer.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove and set aside.
6. In the meantime add water to a small saucepan. Bring water to a boil. Add quinoa to the pot. Cover and return to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 10-12 minutes or until liquid is evaporated. Then fluff quinoa with a fork.
7. In a small food processor or blender add fresh cilantro, greek yogurt, red wine vinegar, olive oil, honey, dijon mustard, red pepper flakes, ground cumin, smoked paprika, garlic clove, salt and a pepper to taste. Blend until smooth and cilantro is finely chopped.
8. Assemble the burrito bowls. Quinoa, sweet potatoes, black beans, roasted red pepper, red onion, avocado, corn, and then drizzle with dressing. (optional sliced jalapenos)

Source: https://www.joyfulhealthyeats.com/sweet-potato-black-bean-quinoa-bowls