Quinoa Pilaf

Hello All!  Hope the week is going well, half way there tomorrow.  Summer is coming, man I can't wait.  This is a really nice light and tasty side dish..  Healthy too!  We really enjoy it.  I hope for the same for you and yours! :D.  Have a great week.  I'll see you Thursday!

Quinoa Pilaf

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

2 cups red or white quinoa, well rinsed and drained

1 3/4 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable stock

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon est

1 small, yellow zucchini, diced (I use green zucchini)

2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, chopped

2 teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 scallions, trimmed and chopped for garnish

  Place olive oil in a large skillet, and heat over medium heat.  Add onion and cook until translucent.  Now add rinsed and drained quinoa and cook for 5 minutes.  The grains should become lightly browned.  Toasting the quinoa before further cooking develops the flavor of the grain.  Add stock, lemon zest and zucchini.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and let cook, covered, for 20 minutes until quinoa becomes translucent.  That's when you know it's done.  

Remove the pan from the heat and let stand for 10 minute.  Fluff with a fork and add cilantro, parsley and citrus juices.  Season with sea salt and pepper.  Serve immediately.  Garnish each serving with chopped green onion.

*From The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook; Tosco Reno

QUINOA!

Happy Thursday and thank you for stopping by the Asylum.  We have the weekend in sight again, amen. Lol!  So today's recipe I used because I had leftover quinoa.  Well, that and it sounded good ;-) .  We had ours along side a burger patty and it was great!  Filling but light to eat, really good.  Hope you give it a chance.  I've read some great things about Quinoa.  It was a great dinner!

Energy-Revving Quinoa

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Levi Brown

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1/3 cup canned low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 1 scallion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

In a medium bowl, gently toss all ingredients to combine.

In a medium bowl, gently toss all ingredients to combine.

Quinoa Snack

Hellllooooo Thursday!  One of my favorite days of the week these days!  Hope you're week is going well, hang on it's almost the weekend.  Oh and thanx so much for stopping by.  I'm only here for a minute.  Today is short but sweet and of course crazy lol.  My dad found today's recipe in the Extra Section of the Roanoke Times Newspaper.  There is a column by Dr. Michael Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz.  I don't buy into too much that these two "drs" have to say but this snack just really sounded good.  So I tried, and we liked it!  They are different and I think if you have an aversion to quinoa you probably won't like them. But as with all things, you should give them a try! The article just gave the recipe without a name so I have dubbed them Quinoa Snack LOL.  Not very original but I personally won't have to wonder about what recipe it is since it's new around here!  Hope all is well at your Asylum and I will see you on Saturday!

Quinoa Snack

1/2 Cup almond butter 

1/2 Cup puffed quinoa (Cooked)

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Combine all ingredients.  Refrigerate for 20 minutes, then roll into marbel-size balls.  Store in refrigerator in a container lined with parchment paper

Happy Beautiful Thursday!

Helllloooooooooo Crazy people! :D  I am super pumped to be able to have my schedule smoothing out enough that I should be able to find time to get back at the Asylum and do and eat some crazy stuff!! LOL.  I hope this finds everyone well.  So my life is totally different than it was and I find myself with different needs.  One of these is keeping mom eating.  Small food, soft food and tasty food all get her attention.  This Soup is amazing for all of those reasons.  The lemon factor to it......very different.  But in the end I think it's great.  Mom thinks it's great.  She had two great helpings :D.  So here it is.  I found it while looking around on the computer last night.  The original owners name is posted below.  I thank her for this interesting new soup!

Simple Lemony Chicken & Spring Veggie Soup with Quinoa & Fresh Basil
by Ingrid Beer



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Yield: Serves about 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 leek, quartered, white part sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced small (if you can find multi-colored carrots, those are beautiful)
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
• Salt
• Black pepper
• 1 teaspoon herbs de Provence
• 4 cups chicken stock, hot
• 1 cup fresh English peas (or frozen peas)
• 1 cup baby zucchini, small dice
• 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded or cubed (you can use rotisserie chicken for convenience)
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• ¼ cup chopped, fresh basil leaves
• 4 lemon wedges, garnish

Preparation:

-Place a medium-large soup pot over medium heat; add in the butter and olive oil, and once melted, add in the sliced leek and diced carrots, and sweat for about 3-5 minutes, or until slightly tender and the leeks are becoming translucent.

-Add in the garlic, and once that becomes aromatic, add in a pinch or two of salt and pepper, and the herbs de Provence; stir to combine.

-Next, add in the hot chicken stock, and bring to a gentle simmer; cover partially with a lid, and cook for about 15-20 minutes, or until carrots are tender.

-Turn the heat off; add in the English peas (or frozen peas), the diced baby zucchini, the shredded or cubed chicken breast, and the lemon zest and juice; stir to combine, and allow the peas/zucchini to become crisp-tender and bright green in the hot stock, about 3-4 minutes; check to see if additional salt or pepper is needed.

-To serve, add about ½ cup of the cooked quinoa to a bowl, and ladle some of the soup with the veggies and chicken over top; sprinkle over some of the fresh basil, and squeeze in some additional lemon juice from the lemon wedge garnish, if desired.


**  The pictures below are ones I took of what I made! :D!  Enjoy

And as you can see we had leftovers, so stoked lol!  And for my chicken I cooked two breasts in a frying pan while the quinoa was cooking.  You can use any chicken just like the recipe says I am sure :).  Good luck with it and I would really love to hear what you think after you make it.