Have you tried Quinoa?

Have you tried quinoa yet? Did you know it is pronounced like "keen-wah"?

My answer to both of those questions was "no" up until recently. But now I'm enlightened about the deliciousness of quinoa and the proper pronunciation....yay for education! :)

Quinoa is not only tasty, but also very healthy. According to Livestrong.com:

Quinoa is a complete protein, which means that it contains all the amino acids necessary for our nutritional needs. Complete proteins are rare in the plant world, making quinoa an excellent food for vegetarians and vegans, or for anyone looking for healthy protein source. It's also high in iron and calcium, and is a good source of manganese, magnesium and copper, as well as fiber.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/4695-need-health-benefits-quinoa/#ixzz1EeDJClRQ

That's a pretty awesome grain!

The basic way that I cook quinoa is to combine 2 cups of water or chicken broth (I prefer broth for the extra flavor) and 1 cup of quinoa in a small pot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Easy peasy!

Basic quinoa is great and can be used for many different things, such as this Parmesan Spinach Quinoa.


This is a great way to spruce up quinoa and add a healthy dose of veggies!

Parmesan & Spinach Quinoa
Source: Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1 cup Quinoa
• 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 whole Small Sweet Onion, Diced
• 2 cloves Cloves Garlic, Minced
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1 cup Sliced Mushrooms (omitted)
• ¼ cups Dry White Wine
• 1 bunch Fresh Spinach (I used a few handfuls of bagged baby spinach)
• ¼ cups Grated Parmesan Cheese, Fresh Stuff PLEASE

Preparation Instructions

Cook quinoa as directed on the box, but please use chicken broth or stock. It adds a lot more flavor than water.

In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and the salt, and sauté for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add mushrooms and sauté for an addtional 5 minutes. Add the white wine and turn the heat up to medium-high and let simmer until all the liquid has evaporated. Add spinach until wilted down. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Once the quinoa is cooked through and wine has simmered off the mushroom/onion mixture, add the quinoa to the skillet and toss with the mushroom mixture. Add the parmesan cheese on top.


Side note: This is a very hearty side dish, and could easily be made into a main dish by adding some grilled chicken or tofu!

Blogging in the Dark

I really hate that it gets dark so soon now.

When I left work tonight at 6:15, it was PITCH BLACK outside. That pretty much made working late suck 10 times more because it FELT like working til 9pm.

Then I come home and cook a delicious Mexican casserole, plate it up, and take some very mediocre photos of it due to the little issue of not having any natural light. Fudge.

Luckily, with the magic of Picasa, I was able to infuse a little bit more life into the photos, but they're still not great.

Stupid daylight saving time.

Anywho, this casserole was delish and definitely is not done justice by the photos. It also makes a great freezer meal. In fact, I divided mine up into two square pans (instead of one rectangular) and froze one for later.

Mexican Casserole

Source: Seen on Meals & Moves

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey, chicken or beef

• 1 green bell pepper, diced

• 1/2 red onion, diced

• 1 packet low sodium taco seasoning

• 2 cups cooked brown rice

• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained

• 2-3 tomatoes, diced (I used a couple of canned tomatoes)

• 1 (11 oz) can green enchilada sauce (I used red enchilada sauce)

• 1 (4.5 oz) can diced green chiles

• 1 cup 0% plain greek yogurt (can sub sour cream)

• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

• avocado or guacamole for garnish

• serve with whole wheat tortillas (We served with steamed broccoli, since the rice was enough carby goodness for us)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large, deep skillet, sauté your onion and bell pepper over medium-high heat. When the vegetables are tender, add the ground meat (turkey in our case) and cook until it's cooked through. Add taco seasoning, rice, black beans, tomatoes, enchilada sauce & green chiles and combine well. When the mixture is heated through, turn off the heat and stir in greek yogurt.

Transfer the mixture into a greased baking pan (either one 9x13 or two square pans). Top with cheese, cover with foil, and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove, let cool for a few minutes, and serve with avocado or guac.

Outta the Park Pork

What's for Dinner? 5/24/2010

-Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Orange & Red Onion Salsa
-Brown Rice & Black Beans


This dinner was A HOME RUN! There's really no other way to put it!

The pork tenderloin was juicy and flavorful, the orange salsa was fresh and tangy, and the black beans & rice were mild and a perfect compliment to the rest.

This whole dish was a perfect example of how healthy food doesn't have to be bland food. Gotta love that! The recipe hails from Cooking Light, a.k.a. my go-to recipe-finder these days. CL definitely didn't let me down this time!

I highly, highly recommend trying this recipe. If you've not tried a single recipe I've blogged about yet, start with this one. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

As a side note, can I also just say that I am now a BIG FAN of frozen steamer bag brown rice?!?! I hate, hate, hate cooking rice because it seems to always be such a hassle and it never turns out right for me. HATE IT. Well, frozen steamer bag rice is my new BFF! Sooo much easier and it turned out perfectly.



Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Orange and Red Onion Salsa
Source: Cooking Light

Preparation Time: 40 minutes minutes
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 ounces pork and about 1/4 cup salsa)

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 cup coarsely chopped orange sections (about 2 oranges)
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons minced seeded jalapeño pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Add pork to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Transfer pan to oven. Bake at 450° for 17 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand 5 minutes; cut across grain into 1/2-inch-thick slices.

3. Combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, oranges, and remaining ingredients. Serve salsa with pork.

Rice and beans: Cook 1 (10-ounce) package frozen long-grain brown rice (such as Birds Eye SteamFresh) according to package directions. Combine cooked rice, 1 cup rinsed and drained canned black beans, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin, and 1/8 teaspoon chili powder.


CALORIES 220 ; FAT 8.5g (sat 2g,mono 4.1g,poly 1.5g); CHOLESTEROL 65mg; CALCIUM 44mg; CARBOHYDRATE 13.6g; SODIUM 342mg; PROTEIN 23.6g; FIBER 4g; IRON 1.5mg

Cooking Light, APRIL 2009

What's for Dinner? 1/10/2010

Korean Roast Chicken Thighs
These were SO good! Moist, flavorful and falling off the bone. Definitely highly recommend this recipe!

Fried Rice
Made this just like you see it in hibachi restaurants. I'll try to do a quick explanation:

Heat 2 Tbsp oil on medium-high in a wok, add chopped onions and garlic. Cook about 1-2 minutes until soft. Then add 2-3 beaten eggs and cook like you would scrambled eggs. Remove eggs and onion mixture from pan completely and set aside. Heat more oil in wok (about 1 Tbsp) and then add cooked rice (I used about 3-4 cups of leftover cooked rice) and peas (about 1/2 cup). Let rice and peas cook for about 5 minutes until some of the rice starts to get crispy, stirring occasionally. Then add enough soy sauce to coat the rice lightly, along with the egg & onion mixture. Stir fry for another couple of minutes and then serve.

Stir Fried Baby Bok Choy
The only thing I added to this recipe was to add a splash of soy sauce at the end. Really yummy!



This whole meal was a huge success, although definitely more of a Sunday night meal for us because of the time involved to cook the chicken. Plus, chicken thighs are super cheap so this is a really budget friendly meal!