{Recipe Recap} Enchilada Quinoa and Black Beans with Shrimp

I did make something sweet this weekend, but those bars haven’t been reviewed yet so I’m going to wait to see how they turned out before I write about them.  For now, though, let’s just say I have very high hopes.

I was pretty excited about this quinoa, um, skillet for lack of a better word.  Enchilada flavor?  Taco seasoning?  Shrimp?  What’d not to love?

I was a little disappointed in the flavor of the quinoa after I added the can of enchilada sauce.  Luckily, the shrimp only used about two tablespoons of a packet of taco seasoning so I just added the rest of that packet to the quinoa and stirred it in.  Bingo!  That was exactly what the dish needed.

If you like things spicy like we do, I’d think about adding some chopped jalapenos with the onion or maybe even a can of diced chopped jalapenos.  I didn’t do that this time, but if – when – I make this again, I’d try one of those things.  Also, I’d think about using the enchilada sauce (and maybe two cans of it) in the place of the same amount of the chicken broth so that the sauce’s flavor would be stronger.

I just took the one picture because, let’s face it, something like this is going to be hard to photograph under the best conditions and since I was taking my picture after dark under artificial light… 

If you want to see a much more appetizing look at this, check out Deborah’s pictures.

I didn’t do the math on the nutrition, but I think this is a fairly healthy meal.  Quinoa can be a little calorie dense so you do need to watch how much you pile into your bowl, but if you leave out the cheese like I did, and use shrimp instead of beef or chicken, there’s a little more room for quinoa.

Don’t let my bad picture dissuade you from making this.  It was delicious!  Also, it was very easy to make.  I don’t spend nearly as much time on my Sunday dinners as I used to and often rely on my crockpot so there isn’t much to do between putting Connor to bed and us eating.  This skillet meal is simple enough for a weeknight dinner, or for a tired busy mom on the weekend, especially when you see what kind of leftovers you’ll have for at least a couple days.

{Recipe adapted from here}