Bison Quinoa Dish

I have been using Bison a lot lately and I LOVE it. It's the ground version, easy to work with, takes on any spice well. It's not gamey or weird or wacky. Promise. And it's leaner than ground beef, so it's cleaner. Try this recipe if you like taco salads, burritos, tacos, green chili anything...it's Mexican style and this is REALLY basic, so throw in some corn, black beans, whatever you want!

1 medium yellow onion, chopped fine
2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1Tbl EVOO
1 lb Ground Bison
1 can of El Pato, the yellow can
1 small (or medium) can of chopped green chilies
Sea Salt
Black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1- 12oz box of pre-rinsed quinoa (I use Ancient Harvest)
Approx 4 Cups of water or Chicken broth

Cook the onion in the EVOO until it's soft, then add the Bison and garlic and brown but don't let the garlic burn. Season your meat to taste with the sea salt and black pepper (mindfully with the salt). Add in the ground cumin and let it heat up and become fragrant. Pour in your quinoa and stir it around with the bison. Add the El Pato and the cooking liquid (water or chicken broth). Stir up and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer, with the lid on and leave it alone for about 20 minutes. Then eat.

*If you don't have the pre-rinsed quinoa, use about 2 cups and rinse very well using a fine mesh strainer!!

Quinoa cooks up like rice, using the same ratio of water to quinoa. 2:1. I go a little shy of double the liquid to quinoa to make it more fluffy...just like cooking rice! If you're scared...use a rice cooker. Just cook up your bison separately with the onions and garlic until it's nice and brown. Then add it into the rice cooker with all the other ingredients, turn on your cooker and let it do it's thing. Watch your amount of salt, being careful to add it to taste, but be mindful!! Add the black pepper to taste as well. The El Pato can be a little spicy, so if you'd prefer to leave it out, just season your meat accordingly. Use whatever you think will taste nice with the green chilies. Maybe a little chili powder? It's your call!