Meatless Monday: Quinoa with Black Beans and Cilantro

Last month I promised to make Quinoa with Black Beans and Cilantro, and I finally got around to doing it.  Minus the chopping, which always takes me ages (even with the help of a Slap Chop and food processor), the recipe isn't too difficult and took about 50 minutes.  I substituted olive oil for the vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon of ground red pepper for the 2 teaspoons of chili powder and used a sweet yellow onion instead of a white onion.  The dish was still delicious, even when I reheated it today for lunch.  Definitely a great healthy recipe.  

Ingredients Prior to the Olive Oil Swap

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final product

The Best Homemade Cupcake Ever

Way back in January, my friends and I made the best homemade cupcakes I have ever had. I was not alone in thinking this - I took them to work, and my coworkers raved. 

A friend got the recipe from a friend, but after an exhaustive search, no one could identify where it was from...but it is too good not to share, so I've included it in this post. If it looks familiar, please let me know the source so I can give credit where it is due (whoever dreamed this recipe up is genius).

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH PB ICING:

Chocolate Cupcake Ingredients:
Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
 
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour the cupcake pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a use wooden spoon) and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, use just less than one cup of regular milk and add one tablespoon white vinegar.  Wait 5 minutes.  You can use that instead of buttermilk!), oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. It will be very liquid-y. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. (if you are making a cake, it's 35 - 40 minutes) Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.  The cupcakes will have flat tops. I filled mine almost up to the top of the cupcake liners.  It made 24 large cupcakes AND 12 mini cupcakes.  The mini cupcakes were a great size actually because they are so rich!

Peanut Butter Icing Ingredients: 
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 jar of smooth peanut butter

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (I used a regular one since I have a hand mixer w/out a paddle). Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. (I mixed until creamy and then whipped until fluffy by hand.) Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.  You will have a little frosting left over after icing all the cupcakes, but this way someone can lick the bowl! :) Plus, the frosting is so good, you want to put a lot of it on the cupcakes! 

End Result
(Snowman decoration courtesy of my mom.)