Happy New Year! (Lucky Quinoa with Black-Eyed Peas and Sausage)

How's 2014 treating you so far? Have you made any new year's resolutions? I have decided to eat lots of chocolate and watch more Doctor Who marathons. Oh wait. Those are almost exactly the same resolutions as I made last year! This blog is evidence that I kept last year's resolution to eat more chocolate. Never say I don't stick to my decisions.

So I guess we should eat some black-eyed peas for good luck and whatnot? This Lucky Quinoa with Black-Eyed Peas is my lunch, and later for dinner we are going to have some sort of black-eyed pea soup so I'd better get some flippin' good luck this year!


This is hardly a recipe. There were things in the fridge that I needed to use up and that's how this dish was born. The most involved step is the chopping of an onion, which you can even omit if you're not in the mood for that. Just add some onion powder to the pot before you add the broth and you're set. This dish doesn't have any spices other than a little bit of black pepper because my sausage was pretty spicy already, but if you're skipping the sausage feel free to add whatever seasonings float your boat so it's not too bland.

Lucky Quinoa with Black-Eyed Peas and Sausage (Serves two) 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 onion, coarsely chopped about 1 cup of frozen spinach 3/4 cup canned diced tomatoes (I had a leftover half can in the fridge) 1/2 cup of quinoa, rinsed 1 cup vegetable broth 3/4 cup frozen or canned black-eyed peas 2 tbsp your favorite vegan parmesan or 1 tbsp nutritional yeast 1/4 teaspoon of salt or to taste ground black pepper to taste Optional: a splash of olive oil 2 vegan sausages, sliced (I used an Italian sausage) 1. Preheat a medium sized pot or a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and slightly browned. It will take at least ten minutes. If your onion wants to stick to the bottom of the pot you can add a tiny bit of broth to show it who's boss. 2. Throw in the frozen spinach and cook for a few minutes until the spinach is soft. Keep cooking and stirring for a couple more minutes. 3. Add the tomatoes, quinoa, broth, black-eyed peas, parmesan, salt, and pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 10-20 minutes or until all the broth has been absorbed. 4. Keep your quinoa covered and move on to the sausages, if you're using any. Preheat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, pour a little splash of olive oil evenly over the bottom and cook your sliced sausage for a couple of minutes on each side. We just want to get it nice and toasty. 5. Mix the sausage into the quinoa, give it a taste and add more salt, pepper or parmesan as needed.