Hot and Zesty Quinoa

Late August humidity. The kind that makes you reconsider every life choice. Anatomy lab three days this week. The cadaver work is what they say it is. I am holding up.

Drove to Baker Saturday morning. MawMaw Shirley was at the stove already. We made gumbo. Thirty-five minutes of roux. The lesson keeps unfolding. Tanya called Sunday. We talked recipes. She asked about my schedule. We do not talk about DeAndre directly. We never do. We talk around it.

Fried catfish Friday. Cornmeal coated. Cast iron. Hot grease.

Darius stirred the pot for me Sunday. Thirty-five minutes. He has learned.

Tanya brought a casserole over Wednesday. The Tanya casserole. Half went into the freezer. The other half fed me Wednesday and Thursday. Mama's casseroles are the silent backup of my entire adult life.

Friday night Darius and I watched a movie I have already forgotten. We fell asleep on the couch by ten. The dog (we got a dog last year, did I mention) slept between us. Standard.

I sent MawMaw a photo of my gumbo Tuesday. She replied, "too light, baby, keep stirring." She has not changed the critique in twelve years. The critique is the love.

I sat on the porch Saturday afternoon with iced tea. The neighbor's kids were playing kickball. The Louisiana evening is its own kind of Sabbath. The cicadas were starting up. The light was the gold-going-blue light of the southern dusk.

Sunday service at Bethany. The choir sang. The pastor preached on Hannah and Samuel. I sat with Tanya and Marcus. The hymn at the end was the one Mama used to hum. I cried into the bulletin. Standard.

Daddy called Sunday afternoon. He is sixty-something and his knees are still bad and he still has not gotten the second one replaced. I am working on him. He is working on me to stop working on him. We are at an impasse. The impasse is the love.

I went to the gym Tuesday and Thursday this week. Twenty minutes on the treadmill. Standard. The body is the only equipment I have for the rest of my life and I am trying to maintain it.

The apartment kitchen is small but it cooks. Two burners. One pot. A cutting board balanced on the counter because the counter is too small for both the cutting board and the toaster.

Anatomy lab three days this week. The cadaver work is what they say it is — not gross, not romantic, just human. I went home after Friday lab and made gumbo because the only thing that quiets the body after a day in the lab is the slow stir of a roux.

MawMaw Shirley's recipe cards in the wooden box on the kitchen counter. I copied another one Saturday morning at her kitchen table. The collection is growing. She watched me copy. She corrected my Cs. She has always corrected my Cs.

Tanya's tomatoes were in this week. She brought a sack. I made a sandwich for lunch every day for four days. Heirloom tomato, white bread, mayo, salt. The summer lunch. The simplest pleasure of summer.

Crawfish boil at a friend's place Saturday. Twenty-five pounds. The shells filled three trash bags. Standard Louisiana spring. We sat at the picnic table for four hours. The corn was the best of the boil. The corn always is.

Driving past the Scotlandville house Sunday afternoon, the one Daddy rebuilt after the flood. The house is solid. The house is the house. I see the watermark from the flood every time I look at the foundation. We do not paint over it. We let it tell the story.

The fried catfish and the gumbo roux are the weekend meals — the ones that take time, the ones MawMaw taught me, the ones that require the cast iron and the patience and the Saturday morning light. But most nights I need something that cooks fast and still has enough going on to make the apartment smell like someone lives there. This Hot and Zesty Quinoa is that meal. After a week of anatomy lab and roux-stirring and Tanya’s casserole running out, I keep coming back to it — spicy enough to feel intentional, simple enough to pull off on two burners with a cutting board balanced on the counter.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
1 can (15 oz) diced fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
Salt and black pepper to taste
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Optional: sliced avocado or a fried egg for serving

Instructions

Toast the quinoa. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the rinsed quinoa and toast, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes until lightly golden and fragrant.
Build the base. Add the diced onion to the pan and cook for 3–4 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic and jalapeño and cook another minute until fragrant.
Add spices and tomatoes. Stir in the chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, and cayenne. Add the drained fire-roasted tomatoes and stir to combine, letting everything cook together for 1–2 minutes.
Simmer. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes until the quinoa is tender and the liquid is absorbed.
Finish and serve. Remove from heat. Fluff with a fork, squeeze lime juice over the top, and fold in the fresh cilantro. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve as-is or topped with avocado or a fried egg.

Nutrition (per serving)

Hot and Zesty Quinoa — The Weeknight Anchor When Everything Else Is Heavy