Last weekend before the school starts and like many of you super mom I want to be as prepared as can be for my first kid starting Kindergarten. Its a milestone for once a girl in my arm is going to be on her own for the most part of the day. And as her mom I am super confident she will do great in school and will find lot of like minded friends. One thing I share common with lot of my other vegetarian friends when their kids start to go to full time school is packing their lunchboxes. Making sure kids get their healthy snack and power packed nutritional lunches which are portable, flavorful and quick to eat.

Did I mentioned about second and third things I worry about, riding school bus, staying hydrated…these are some of the many which I will get over soon. I know we both will be all right after the first week.

Going back to kids lunchbox, I had multiple talks with my daughter in last one month, as part of getting ready for school. She has clear idea of what is acceptable, desirable and absolute No No for her lunch box. This is just one of many exercises we did together to make my week-day mornings hassle free as possible. We had trial meals to see what will work and she has given green signal for this particular recipe among few others. So here I am sharing with you my first recipe as part of kids lunch box series.

Quinoa southwest style. It can be made as wrap or salad. It taste equally great in lettuce wrap. Almost prepared like rice, quinoa provides more complete plant based protein. Higher contents of iron, potassium & calcium makes this a great addition in vegetarian diet. Quinoa’s versatility makes convenient for active lifestyle. It is also very good prepared ahead-assemble later kind of dish for those snooze morning rush. I have prepared quinoa with different variation, here I am sharing southwestern style with black beans, sweet corn, zucchini &  avocado.

This wrap stays well till lunch time, I will still wrap it with parchment paper to make it easy for kids to work thru without filling falling out ( Call me extra cautious mom). Greek yogurt  for dipping works wonder if your kids are like mine, they love plain yogurt and greek style or strain yogurt travels well in kids lunch box.

Salad accompanied with roasted tomato-jalapeno salsa, couple multigrain chips with dash of original cholula hot sauce is my favorite way of enjoying this dish.

 

Southwest Quinoa Wrap

Quinoa with black beans, sweet corn, zucchini & avocado

Prep      |     Cook      |   Total Time

20min         20min          40min

Recipe type: Lunch/Easy weeknight Dinner

Yield: salad-4, wrap 8-10 depending upon the size of the wrap

Level: Easy

Ingredients

Quinoa

1 cup raw Quinoa (2 cup when cooked)

2 cup water to cook quinoa

1/4  tsp salt

1/2  tsp taco seasoning

Southwest Beans

1/2 cup finally chopped red onion

1/2 cup chopped tomato

2 clove of garlic, minced

1/4 chopped green and red pepper

1/2 cup chopped zucchini

1 cup frozen sweet corn

1 can black beans

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp taco seasoning

Garnish

8-10 Medium to large multigrain tortilla

1 whole hass avocado

1/2 cup shredded cheese, mexican blend

1/4 cup finely chopped scallions or green onions

1 cup shredded butter lettuce or any field greens of your choice.

1 cup your favorite salsa ( I have paired with roasted tomato-jalapeno salsa from costco)

1/4 cup greek yogurt or plain strained yogurt optional

1 tsp Olive oil for grilled wrap

Mexican style hot sauce (Preferred Cholula)

Directions

Boil 2 cups of water, place quinoa, salt and taco seasoning in the pot and cook for 20 minutes covered on low heat. while that is cooking chop and prepare all the other ingredients. Saute onion & tomato, add garlic now zucchini and peppers. Add salt and seasoning and cook until vegetable are cooked and become translucent. finally add sweet corn and black beans. Drain and rinse canned beans before using. Set aside. Chop avocado and sprinkle with sea salt and lime for flavor and prevent avocado from turning brown. Chop scallions and set aside.

For wrap spread your favorite mexican style sauce or hot sauce and layer handful of shredded lettuce or field green of your choice, 1/4 cup quinoa, 1/4 cup southwest beans, chopped avocado, shredded cheese and scallion fold both sides and flip the bottom over and turn in to wrap. Enjoy as is or grill for more toasty flavor. Serve with multigrain chips & salsa on side.

Build the salad with all the same ingredients except double all the quantity for serving. It will yield fewer salad if you are using that as single main dish.

Make it as lettuce wrap for a gluten free recipe.

Avoid cheese and yogurt for vegan recipe.