Guilty pleasure chili

Mostly, I don't consider chili to be a junk food. I use beans, fresh produce and spices and slow-cooked in my Crock Pot.

The chili below was no different... But then I added Daiya shredded cheddar cheese.

Quinoa Black Bean Salad

Cold grain and bean salads work really well with warm summer days. Additions of spices are limitless, really. Yesterday I chose quinoa, black beans, green onions, cilantro and corn.

According to me (and this Wikipedia entry) Quinoa is a really special "grain" (in quotes because it isn't technically a grain, I learned) because of its intense nutritional value. It's a complete protein with lots of dietary fiber and, when cooked,  it looks like each piece has a cute little tail!

16 Bean Soup, what?!

I used a dry bean mix of 16 kinds of beans (plus barley) found at the store. The brand was Fiesta, which is accurate, because these beans totally looked like a party: colorful, in all shapes and sizes.

I agree that the colors of the cooked beans don't look so great, but I assure you the taste is off the chain! I'm pretty sure I owe it all to the chicken bouillon cube (vegan) I used for the broth. Also, the salty tortilla chips were great and reminded me of Tortilla Soup. I can imagine making tortilla chip strips for Tortillas soup in the future.