Early this year I went through a diet overhaul. I had to find out what was giving me stomachaches and adjust what I eat accordingly. After a 90-day elimination diet which eliminated just about everything that gives a person a reason for living, my loose conclusion is: gluten and dairy.

I KNOW.

During the diet the only grain I could eat was quinoa, so quinoa and I got to be very good friends (here is my Pinterest board devoted to it). I found this wonderful recipe on Food Network and I tried it, omitting the ingredients that were on my suspected food allergy list at the time: garlic, cayenne pepper, and cheese. I found it wonderfully filling, which was the best part about it because I was having trouble satisfying my hunger on such a strict diet. I would make a pot of this dish and it would last me several days.

Once the diet was done, I added back the omitted ingredients without incident (except the cheese), and then I started changing up what I put into it, and now I have my tried and true method. The only problem is that my husband likes it too, so sometimes the one big pot shrinks far faster than I would like!

Quinoa and Red Bean One Pot Lunch:

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 tbsp chopped onion (any kind)
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
pinch cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
2 cups water
2 cans dark red kidney beans, rinsed
4 large kale leaves, chopped or torn into bite-sized pieces
1 cup chopped cooked chicken

Instructions
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers, onions and celery and saute until vegetables soften. Add the mushrooms, garlic, tomato paste, cayenne and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until the tomato paste is evenly distributed and garlic and mushrooms cook a little bit. Stir in the quinoa, water and beans. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered but with the lid open a little tiny bit, stirring often, until the quinoa is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in kale. Cover and let sit for a few minutes until kale is wilted. Stir in chicken for more protein.

A note about tomato paste: I buy the tiny can, use 2 tbsp for one pot of this recipe, then measure out 1 tbsp of the leftover tomato paste into ice cube trays, one cube at a time until it’s gone. Then I freeze it, and pop the cubes of frozen paste out into a ziptop bag and keep it in the freezer. When I am ready to make another batch, I take out two cubes and let them defrost while I chop the vegetables. It takes a little longer to cook into the veggies when it’s cold like that but it still works just fine. This way I don’t waste a whole can of tomato paste for one meal.

You can eat this hot or cold, as a side dish or as your meal. When I have big containers of this dish in the fridge, I am more likely to eat healthy and skip the 3pm snack attack!

I use kale because I have a lot of it.

I have a lot of it because look at my garden! (This was in the summer. It looks different now but the kale is still growing!)