Salad Season Has Arrived!
May 12, 2011 - Written by DianaI arrived home from work to a hot and sweaty daughter studying at the computer. When I mentioned dinner, she replied – anything but not hot. Salad season is on folks, especially now. This is the best time for fresh salads because salad greens love early spring best. They don’t do so well in the super heat of the hazy summer end, but planting seeds outside in the end of winter will bring you perfect greens in the beginning of spring when the bugs are still on vacation. I hope to have a few more cool evenings with warm tomato soup, stew or a roast, but I’m looking ahead to more salad days.
Tonight’s dinner was both quick and easy to prepare and all the ingredients in my fridge, so I didn’t have to run out for anything. The quinoa was made up in a big batch but frozen in dinner size portions. You can set it to defrost in the fridge, or if you are like me and deciding at the last minute, you can microwave for one minute, stir it around a little and it’s ready to go. The rest of the ingredients came together into a nice salad …
Goat Meat Over Quinoa With a Side of Broccoli Raab and Prosciutto
April 29, 2011 - Written by Diana
Spring is crazy right now with this really strong winds and storms blowing through. In the middle of it all, my garden started growing. We have raised beds so our veggies don’t get over sogged and root rotted. Too early for tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, but I have broccoli rabe. I’ve never tried eating broccoli rabe before never mind growing it, but that’s the way I roll; grow it and see what we think. I was surprised at how fast it sprouted up and grew tall with little floret heads. For our roasted veggies on Easter, I threw in some rabe, tasting it with my mother in law first to try it out. It had a little bit of a sharp taste – maybe bitter, but pretty good. It was even better cooked. So tonight’s meal I decided to cook up some goat to go over quinoa, and for the side I went and picked a bunch of broccoli rabe from the garden. It’s amazing how much more there is today, just a …
Quick Quinoa Burgers
January 28, 2011 - Written by Diana
Quick Quinoa Burgers is from The 150 Healthiest 15-Minute Recipes on Earth by Jonny Bowden and Jeannette Bessinger. When Deb, Desiree and I were younger, my dad tried the meatless burger thing. He used birdseed – or rather millet, but they were dry and not very tasty. I tried this meatless burger thinking it would end on the same note, but I really was surprised at how good they were. No, they don’t taste like burgers, not at all, but they are packed with flavor. Where the recipe said to use a quality salsa – I used my canned salsa. Where it said to use canned kidney beans, I substituted pinto beans that I made up earlier in the week, and it had a little garlic flavoring in it. I also topped the burger and sauce with chopped avocado. Deb are you listening – this meal had quinoa, avocado and salsa in it, you will like it.
Ingredients:
(Burger)
- 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans
- 1/4 cup quick cooking rolled oats
- 2 oz grated or crumbled cheese (or 1/4 cup nutritional yeast for a vegan option)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup cooked heirloom …
Quinoa Berry Salad
May 31, 2010 - Written by DianaWe went to a family/friend gathering at my brother in law’s today. Though the day was a little warm, sitting under the shade trees, it was a pleasant cookout with lots of great food. My contribution was Quinoa Berry Salad. I went out and picked some parsley and mint to add a little hint of something. When I asked my husband if I should add some walnuts, the answer was a resounding yes. I’m not a big fan of syrup for the berries, I want it less sweet, so that I can taste the sweetness of the berries, so instead I added Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette. This salad went over so well, the two year old little boy from next door kept coming back for more.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- 1/2 cup strawberries sliced
- 1/2 cup blackberries
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1/2 tbs minced parsley
- 1/2 tbs minced mint
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette to taste
Put all the ingredients into the bowl (except the vinaigrette) and toss. Pour the vinaigrette over top, and toss a little more.
Black Quinoa – Red Quinoa too.
January 29, 2010 - Written by DianaYesterday I posted a picture of Black Quinoa. We’ve mentioned quinoa before, it’s one of the best grains to get on your plate. Black Quinoa was one of the main ingredients I used in my dinner the other night. I liked the contrast that the Black Quinoa added to the bowl, they’re the little speckles in with the bigger grains.
The black quinoa has a little more earthy flavor than the white quinoa, and also a little bit crunchier texture. Therefore it takes longer to get to a mushy texture than the white quinoa. You have to be a bit more careful with the white than the black, I think. I got my package of black quinoa from Alter Eco to try out, so this quinoa is fair trade as well as organic.
Quinoa is also gluten free. My daughter often uses leftover quinoa for a salad the same as she does with leftover couscous. If you desire gluten free ingredients, …
WW – Black Quinoa (or Black Gold)
January 28, 2010 - Written by Diana
Big Bowl of Whole Grainy Dinner Goodness
January 27, 2010 - Written by DianaTonight’s dinner was inspired by a store bought frozen lunch I had today. It had beans, whole grain orzo, dried cranberries, spinach and a little bit of cheese. I enjoyed it quite a bit and thought I would use it as inspiration to create my own big bowl of whole grainy goodness. Even though the barley and quinoa stuck to his braces, my son thought it was delicious. My husband also liked it a lot too. I know my daughter would have enjoyed it, and that she would have grabbed the leftovers thrown salad dressing over top and had it cold for lunch the next day. One thing I would have changed would have been to add in more chard. I dug through the snow to find what chard I could from the raised beds in the garden. I found some small leaves, only about 7 or 8, but it was enough to give it a little color and flavor. I just wish I had more. It’s so cool to go dig through the snow for chard in the middle of winter, but your fingers get awfully cold and you have to be careful that they don’t stick to the …
