Quinoa & Black Bean Stuffed Avocados

Me thinks I've officially reached hermit status today. The errands I had scheduled for yesterday got cancelled because of icy road closures outside of my town, and it's a gloomy cold wet mess outside. I'm sure all the Northerners would laugh at us, but in Austin, everything starts shutting down when temps reach freezing. They even delayed school in our neighborhood yesterday for kiddos...um, because it's cold I think? ha! Thank God for HGTV, Food network, and Sex in the City.

Speaking of Food network, has anyone seen the show Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives with Guy Fieri? That show is going to be the absolute death of me! About 80% of the food comes with a complimentary heart attack, but man does it ever look good! It's amazing I haven't eaten myself into a food coma as much as I've been laying around and salivating over cooking shows.

However, I did whip up something totally by accident today that blew my taste buds away. I've been craving quinoa and avocados like craaazy and was trying to whip something up without having to leave the house for any ingredients. Here's the result....

Quinoa & Black Bean Stuffed Avocados

Tadah! Holy smokes, these are tiny little avocado bowls of heaven. Doesn't hurt that they are ridiculously healthy too. Unsaturated fats like those found in nuts, olive oils, cold water fish, and avocados are great foods to reduce inflammation, and a recent study also found that eating avocados more than triples IVF pregnancy rates.

Now, obviously I don't think that eating avocados is a key determinant in IVF success. Chances are if someone is eating avocados and all these other healthy sources of fat, they probably have a healthier lifestyle overall. Furthermore, I'm not even sure being healthy overall results in any real advantages for IVF at this point, because I know a whole lotta people who eat like crap, pound the coffee daily, smoke cigarettes, and have babies or are expecting.

However, avocados are healthy enough to earn super food status in my opinion, and even if they can only possibly help IVF by indirect means of decreasing inflammation, it can't hurt to include them right? Heck, I'm going to be eating this recipe all the time from now on no matter what, because they're just that good!

Here's the recipe for anyone who's interested in making it. It's gluten-free, dairy free, soy free, vegan and packed with protein, fiber, healthy fats and essential amino acids. Plus, in Chinese medicine the quinoa salad would be considered a "warming food," nourishing Yang energy to assist with implantation.

Quinoa & Black Bean Stuffed Avocados

1 cup (uncooked) quinoa
2 cups broth (or water)
1 can black beans (rinsed & drained)
1 heaping cup frozen corn
1 Tbsp. evoo
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/2 cup diced tomato
chipotle chili pepper
cumin
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
juice of 1 lemon
parsley
Haas avocado

Cook the quinoa in large pot according to package directions (use broth instead of water for extra flavor). Set aside.

Cook corn and drain. Then, in a skillet add evoo, red onion, cooked corn, tomato, black beans, chipotle chili pepper, cumin, salt & pepper.  (Just eyeball the spices and add to taste). Stir together and cook about 3 minutes.

Add all ingredients from the skillet to pot of cooked quinoa. Add juice of one lemon and parsley, mix well. Cover and let sit a few minutes to allow the flavors to marry.

Halve avocado and remove seed. Transfer heaping spoonfuls onto each avocado halve and serve with spoon.

Easy peasy! This makes a big ole pot of yummy warm quinoa salad, and you'll have a ton of leftovers for more avocados later. It would also be a good side dish to grilled seafood or eaten plain by itself. However, the smokiness & spiciness of the quinoa salad pairs perfectly with the coolness of the avocado.

I've got 4 more avocados just waiting to be eaten like this, and I already want another one. This could be dangerous!