Name: Southwest Quinoa
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons Smart Balance Original Spread; 1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced; 1/2 cup green onions; 1/3 cup diced sweet peppers; 3 cups cooked quinoa; 1 15 oz can seasoned black beans; diced tomatoes and cilantro for garnish

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In honor of American Heart Month, I created a healthy and delicious dish that the entire family will love! This Southwest Quinoa is filled with sweet peppers, poblano peppers and black beans for a hearty and delicious side dish or meatless main dish.

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Smart Balance.

Southwest Quinoa

You know how I love a recipe challenge! Today I’m putting Smart Balance Original Buttery Spread up against I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Original Spread to see which my family would prefer.

My Mom is always encouraging me to eat healthier, especially when the topic of how many pounds of butter I have cooked up on any particular day comes up, and I know she’s right. However, I have to admit the last time I bought butter spread, I was not impressed.

Before starting this test, the first thing I did was grab 2 spoons and did a little taste test. I thought Smart Balance tasted more like butter and The I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter had a bit of an after taste.

I decided to try a couple of recipes for a good test. I made two batches of each recipe using the different butter spreads. First I made the Southwest Quinoa, which is my new favorite side dish and then I made my classic Skillet Cornbread.

I used the butter spreads to fry the peppers and onions for the Southwest Quinoa. Once again I felt the Smart Balance was more similar in flavor to butter.

For the cornbread the difference was a little more stark. The cornbread made with Smart Balance tasted amazingly like my Skillet Cornbread. The cornbread made with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter was more crumbly and didn’t have quite as much flavor.

So all in all, Smart Balance was the overall favorite at our house. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was to cook with and also with the taste.

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Yield: 4 servings

Southwest Quinoa

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons Smart Balance Original Spread
1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 cup green onions
1/3 cup diced sweet peppers
3 cups cooked quinoa
1 15 oz can seasoned black beans
diced tomatoes and cilantro for garnish

Instructions

Add Smart Balance to a skillet and place over medium- high heat and add poblano, sweet peppers and onions. Cook, stirring often until vegetables soften. Add quinoa and black beans to the skillet and stir to combine. Continue to cook until heated through. Garnish with tomatoes and cilantro.

Smart Balance buttery spreads support healthy cholesterol levels already in the normal range. Clinical research has proven that the right blend of fats may improve your cholesterol ratio when:

– At least 2/3 of your fat intake comes from these products or the Smart Balance Food Plan
– You limit total fat to about 30% of calories (65g per day)
– You limit saturated fat to 10% of calories (20g per day)
– You limit dietary cholesterol to average 300mg or less per day
– You avoid trans fat
– You exercise regularly

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Smart Balance®. The opinions and text are all mine.