Black-Bean and Tomato Quinoa Recipe

Hi guys! I promised Kim I'd start posting recipes, so this is one that I love! My friend makes it all the time and I asked her for the recipe. For those of you that don't know what quinoa is (I didn't until I moved here and started eating all these weird foods), it's a type of grain. It looks a lot like big couscous. I'm not sure if you can buy it in the regular grocery store, I buy it at a Trader Joe's here, but it'll be kind of with the rice. Anyway here goes:

2 teaspoons grated lime zest (I didn't put this in, just put in a little more lime juice to taste)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (doesn't really have to be fresh, I use the bottled stuff all the time)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled (I substituted more olive oil here, better for you and just as good, you probably don't need this much anyway)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup quinoa , uncooked
1 (14- to 15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 medium tomatoes, diced (I used canned, not quite as good, but sometimes you go with what you got)
4 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Whisk together lime zest and juice, butter, oil, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4teaspoon pepper in a large bowl.

Cook quinoa according to directions. It's pretty much the same as rice, 2 C water to 1 C. quinoa, salt the water if you want. Bring to a boil together and then simmer until all the water's gone. Let the quinoa stand for about 5 min. Add quinoa to dressing and toss until dressing is absorbed, then stir in remaining ingredients and salt and pepper (and lime juice) to taste. Bon Appetit!

Weekend Visit

Jason and Laura stayed with me last weekend when Jason came out to do training and we went to Muir Woods on Saturday and took a little hike around the redwoods. Amazingly, it was warm in San Francisco, so they must have come on a good weekend. Afterwards we went to Baker Beach down the street from my apartment and just hung around. It was hard to drag Ethan away from the water. He loved running out to meet the waves. And then of course like any kid, after he was sopping wet, the first thing he wanted to do was roll around in the dry sand. We all had to rinse off with my watering pot on my front porch, since we city folk don't have hoses. All in all, we had a blast! Those of you who haven't visited me in San Francisco yet don't know what you're missing!

Aren't I stunning? What you see behind me is the beautiful waters of the Cayman Islands. I know, now you're even more jealous of me. It's ok, not everyone's life can be so amazing. Our whole family went on a week long cruise in May to the Caribbean (yes, I do realize that most of the people reading this are my family). It was pretty much awesome all the way around. We spent time in the sun, and then we spent time rubbing aloe vera over our lobster-colored bodies. I put sunscreen on twice in the 4 hrs we were at Grand Cayman (55 spf!) and I still got fried. Such is the life of the porcelain-skinned :) That must be why I chose to live in San Francisco, the sun is a dangerous thing. We don't really get any of that here, so I'm a lot safer. No skin cancer for me! (p.s. that's not really why i live here, i don't really enjoy freezing all the time)