Texmex Burrito Bowl

Hello family and friends! I'm back and I come bearing gifts :). It's really difficult for me to document recipes because I'm always switching the ingredients with whatever I have in the house (#zerowaste). But as of late, I have been getting same major inspo and motivation from my friends and family so HERE GOES. This is one of my staple lunches that I always fall back on when I can't think of anything to take to work the next day. The only hard part is cutting all the veggies (read: its the easiest recipe e v e r)!

Here is a photoshoot of the ingredients:

In a wok (make sure it is bigger than the one pictured below), heat 2 tbsp EVOO on medium heat and add the bell peppers, onions, and jalapeno. Sautee until the veggies are a bit soft and sprinkle some salt and pepper on top. It should look like this:

Now add the tomatoes, the tomato puree, the spices, beans, corn, garlic, and ginger:

Give it a good mix with the cooked quinoa:

This is the best part, sprinkle it with some cheese. I call for 1/4 cup in my "recipe" but go wild, I won't judge:

Let the spices simmer with all the juices for about 5-7 minutes, then transfer over to a casserole dish. You should be getting real hungry right about now from the delicious aroma.

In your dish, sprinkle with more cheese and tortilla chips (I used crushed taco shells):

Now, cover your dish with foil and put it in the oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, take off the foil and let all juices flow for another 5 minutes. It should be smelling REAL delicious at this time - that means its ready! This dish is best served hot with a side of cool, spicy, guacamole.

Serves: 6 people

Time: 25 minutes (plus time to cook quinoa)

Level: easy

Ingredients

Texmex spices:

2 tbsp chilli powder

.5 tsp sea salt

1.5 tsp ground cumin

.5 tsp ground corriander

0.5 tsp paprika

0.5 tsp cayanne pepper

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Bowl:

1 cup uncooked quinoa (3 cups cooked)

1 can beans (this time I used a can of assorted beans but usually I use black beans)

250 g of corn (fresh, canned, frozen - your choice)

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 orange bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeno, sliced thinly

2 tomatoes, cubed (I like to throw in a few cherry tomatoes for aesthetics)

1/2 cup tomato paste/puree/sauce

1/2 cup grated cheese

3 cloves grated garlic

1 tsp grated ginger

1.5 tbsp EVOO

Handful of cilantro

Handful of tortilla chips or crushed taco shells

1 cup chopped kale or baby spinach (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Sprinkle your baking dish with some EVOO

2. In a wok, warm EVOO on medium heat

3. Add bell peppers, onions, and jalapenos and sautee until the veggies are soft. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top.

4. Add beans, tomatoes, tomato puree, corn, and spices. Mix well.

5. Add in the quinoa. Mix well and let everything simmer in the tomato juice for 5-7 minutes.

6. Add in 1/4 cup of grated cheese. Mix again.

7. Pour mixture into baking dish and level it out. 

8. Add the tortilla chips and cheese on top. Cover with tin foil.

9. Put in oven for 15 minutes. Take off tinfoil and leave in for an addition 5-7 minutes.

Serve with some guacamole!

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Terroni

Yayy, I am SO excited to finally start this blog! Maybe my first post should be introducing myself and the inspiration behind the fruition of this blog. However, being a true foodie I'm going to do a restaurant review of an Italian joint in downtown Toronto.

Terroni is a restaurant located on Queen St W. It was where my husband and I had one of our first dates and so it holds a special place in my heart but I promise this review (or any other) will not be biased. The ambiance is casual and romantic with dim lighting and heavy use of candles and lanterns. The decor and architecture definitely attribute to the charm of this restaurant. If you tune out the English chatter in the background you could easily think you were in a restaurant somewhere in Italy.

I've been to Terroni a couple of times on weekday nights before and it's usually a 10 minute wait to get seated. This time, we went on a Saturday night and the place was packed like I've never seen before! We had to wait 45 minutes for our table which we didn't mind. If you haven't made reservations, there is a beautiful park just a few blocks south of the restaurant (Trinity Bellwoods Park) where you can easily spend 45 minutes to an hour. Despite the rush at the restaurant this weekend, the service was still quick and hospitable. Our server was happy to share the origins of the recipes used by the chef and explained any questions we had about the menu. He always kept an eye on our water, and checked on us once or twice during our dinner. 

I did not enjoy the bread at Terroni this time. It wasn't warm or fresh. However, if I remember correctly, I've had no complaints on my prior visits. I ordered the Tagliolini in Canne a Mare. If you're a seafood fan - this is the dish for you! It was delicious! The pasta al dente was done on point. The flavours of the sauce, clams, mussles, and calamari blended very nicely in my opinion. I was a little disappointed that there was only one jumbo shrimp in my pasta but I just ate it in smaller bites and it worked out for me.

My husband ordered the Da Dó a Dá pizza. I loved it! That may be due to the fact that I love goat cheese, eggplants, and roasted red peppers which were the ingredients for this pizza. So I love the combination of the ingredients, naturally I would love the taste of all of my favourite things together. But it wasn't just that...It just felt so real and fresh biting into this pizza. My husband has been to Italy and he said the pizza although not the same, is very reminiscent of the pizza he's had in Italy. I would definitely recommend this is as a dish to try if you're at this restaurant!

The pizzas and pastas are largely portioned so I believe you get what you pay for. 

Before meeting my husband I was always down for sharing desserts. However, after meeting him and going out with him a few times it was clear that I would not be sharing desserts with this individual. He always insisted that I get my own dessert. At first, we didn't share the separate desserts we got, but now he is open to sharing so that we can enjoy two different desserts with hopefully the same amount of calories as one single dessert.

For dessert, I ordered the warm dark chocolate flourless cake with white chocolate sauce ganache. The bitterness of the dark chocolate and sweetness of the white ganache complimented each other splendidly. It was like a lava cake but not really. I think I will attempt to make this at home. My husband and I gobbled this up pretty quickly. We barely took breaths in between our bites. I'm a firm believer in taking time to eat and enjoy your food but I don't know what came over me. This dessert really hit the spot. 

Another dessert we ordered was a butterscotch pudding. The butterscotch pudding was just OK. The taste of butterscotch was overpowering the taste of caramel. Not much else to say about this dessert. Don't order it in my opinion.

The food is always good but nothing spectacular. Terroni is an authentic restaurant with family recipes from the west and south of Italy. It's not cheap but not overly expensive either.  The energy and atmosphere at this restaurant is always great and I'm happy and excited to eat here whenever we're in the area and craving Italian.

Its been a while since I've made this blog but I'm really excited to finally start posting. I have a lot of reviews that I've been saving and a lot of recipes that I've been trying to perfect for my friends and family :)

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