Quinoa'ed

Now that my allergies have turned into an awful sinus infection, I am less sleepy and more headache-y. This means that I can now write on my blog again because I am not having hallucinations of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow stroking my hair and sitting at the edge of my bed (true story, this happen circa 5am this morning).

Either way, I am going to make this short and sweet because I feel like crap.

I made some quinoa salad. And, in true Alex fashion I really badly over broiled (who knew this could happen) the mushrooms. So it tasted HORRIBLE. Little known fact: DO NOT overcook porcini mushrooms because if you do they taste like rot.

I'm sure it would have been delicious otherwise...

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup red-wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 pounds fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps halved
• 1 1/2 cups quinoa
• 1 pound baby spinach
• 8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Heat broiler; set rack 4 inches from heat. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
   
2. On a large rimmed broiler-proof baking sheet, toss mushrooms with half the dressing (reserve the rest); broil, tossing occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
   
3. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine quinoa, 3 cups water, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium. Cover, and simmer until liquid has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.
   
4. Place spinach in a large bowl; add hot mushrooms, quinoa, and reserved dressing. Toss to combine (spinach will wilt slightly). Top with crumbled feta, and serve immediately.
   

Cook's Note

Do not soak shiitakes in water because they will become spongy. Instead, wipe the caps clean with a damp paper towel after trimming away the stems.

Friday night shenanigans

I am karaoke-ing in t-minus 1-hour. Actually now in t-minus a few minutes. To power-boost for such an event, I turned to my favorite: quinoa.

This is my FAVORITE ever.

Plus, it is ACTUALLY good for you... as opposed to all those other things they tell you are good for you but really aren't. Like most things that are "high in protein."

For guidance, I turned to Martha's article on Whole Grain Products.

The article, and it's interesting tips, is at the link below:

http://www.marthastewart.com/287019/health-food-myths

Kosher quinoa

Quinoa is kosher for passover! Thank goodness, because I was running out of ideas. Plus, this gave me a way to use the dijon mustard dressing I had stored from a few nights ago.

I decided on Martha's Quinoa Salad with Toasted Almonds. Of course, I didn't have almonds so I made due with Walnuts. I added in some bell pepper and zucchini and I was good to go.

And it was miraculously yummy!

Recipe (courtesy of Marths Stewart): 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup (3 ounces) quinoa
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 yellow bell pepper ribs and seeds discarded, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 scallions thinly sliced
• 1/8 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme plus more for garnish (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 medium zucchini halved lengthwise and sliced 1/2-inch thick
• 1 large celery stalk diced
• 1 lime halved

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast almonds until crisp, lightly browned, and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Meanwhile, place quinoa in a fine sieve and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear; drain well.
   
2. In a medium saucepan, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium heat. Add yellow pepper, garlic, scallions, and red-pepper flakes; cook until the pepper is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
   
3. Stir in quinoa, thyme, 1 cup water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 7 minutes. Stir in zucchini, cover, and cook until quinoa is tender but not mushy, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Remove the saucepan from heat.
   
4. Stir in celery, almonds, and remaining 2 teaspoons oil, season with salt, and fluff with a fork. Cool to room temperature before packing into two containers and refrigerating. When ready to eat, squeeze lime over salad, if desired. Serve with additional lime wedge and thyme, if desired.
   

http://www.marthastewart.com/256026/quinoa-salad-with-toasted-almonds

Avacados are yummmm

Note: I will post details later but if I don't go to sleep now, I feel like my my body will kill me. It's just one of those weeks...

http://www.wholeliving.com/recipe/quinoa-and-corn-salad-with-pumpkin-seeds?backto=true

Recipe

Ingredients

 Serves 4

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, thoroughly rinsed and drained (about 4 Cups cooked)
• 2 ears corn, kernels cut from cob
• 1 medium red pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and diced
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• Sea salt
• 1 medium head red-leaf lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried, small inner leaves reserved for future use
• 2 ripe medium tomatoes, cored and cut in thin wedges
• 1 ripe avocado, pitted and thinly sliced
• 1 lime, cut in wedges
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted

Directions

1. Bring 2 3/4 cups water to boil in a small saucepan and stir in the quinoa and some salt. Return to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Turn off heat, place corn kernels on top of quinoa, cover pan, and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir corn into quinoa, remove from pan, and spread out on baking sheet to cool for about 20 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, cumin, chili powder, garlic, oil, and salt to taste; set aside.
3. Place cooled quinoa and corn, red pepper, cucumber, scallions, jalapeno, and cilantro in large bowl. Add 1/2 cup dressing (or more to taste) and salt to taste; mix until combined.
4. Place large lettuce leaves side by side in a circle around a large serving platter so the curly tops extend just beyond the platter rim. Mound quinoa salad in center.
5. Arrange tomato, avocado, and lime around quinoa on top of leaves. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds over salad. Serve immediately or hold briefly at room temperature. Per serving: 643 calories; 17 g protein; 34 g fat; 76 g carb; 13 g fiber.

Read more at Wholeliving.com: Quinoa and Corn Salad with Pumpkin Seeds

Sunflower seeds on a cloudy day

Happy first day of spring! If only it hadn't snowed this morning...

In honor of the big day, I decided to give my immune system a boost. Having been sick off and on all winter, I figured I should probably start off the spring with holistic way to boost immunity and stave away any oncoming colds that are no doubt coming my way.

Martha recommends sunflower seeds to do just that. According to her Whole Living material, a mere two table spoons of sunflower seeds provide more than a third of one day's requirement of vitamin E. Vitamin E is key to boosting immunity by producing T-cells, which, for you novices out there, is a type of white blood cell that helps fight infection.

To get my "dose" of sunflower seeds, I decided to pull together a simple quinoa salad, my go-to quick dinner. I cooked the quinoa on the stove until it was soft, and added in some garlic, red onion and scallions. I sauteed these ingredients on the stove with a dash of olive oil. After a few minutes, I topped it all off with some sunflower and pumpkin seeds (which also provide a boost of magnesium and copper, cholesterol-lowering phytosterols, and anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids).

The salad was crunchy and tasty, plus filling enough to make a nice light dinner at the end of an unbelievably long day.

Read more at Wholeliving.com: Winter Recipes

Quinoa - hard to spell, easy to make

It was just one of those days when I wasn't in the mood to do anything fancy or difficult. It was a long weekend, and I was in desperate need of some R&R and some healthy food.

Quinoa was the perfect anecdote for my case of the blahs. Simple to make and loaded with just the right kind of nutrients, quinoa  is a complex carbohydrate, which, as I've learned, is the good kind of carb.

I hunted for a simple quinoa recipe, and Martha came through with a salad I could make in a couple of minutes flat, Quinoa Salad with Cucumber.

I cooked up the quinoa in a sauce pan with water; this took all of 15 minutes before the grain was nice and soft. I cut up some cucumber and added that and grape tomatoes in for good measure. It was as simple as that! I topped the salad off with lemon juice and ended up with a fabulous, filling Saturday lunch.

RECIPE

Ingredients

Serves 6
2 cups water
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
Coarse salt
1 small shallot, finely chopped
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise (1 cup)
3/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

- Bring water, quinoa, and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat; cover, and simmer until tender and water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet, and let cool on a wire rack.
- Combine shallot, vinegar, and red-pepper flakes in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil until emulsified.
- Transfer quinoa to a large bowl, and stir in cucumber, parsley, and vinaigrette. Season with salt.