Quinoa salad w/ black beans, avocado and cumin-lime dressing

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Ashley See

In the summertime, my patience weens. I like rawer foods, quicker meals and fewer dishes. And with the farmers markets full of raw, colorful treats, why not dive headfirst into salads?

Bowl of quinoa salad w/ black beans, avocado and cumin-lime dressing

 

Lately I've been stockpiling salad recipes to make over the summer, and since I had some avocado to use up, I had just the recipe from Eating for England to make.

The good news is how easy and flexible this grain salad is. I'm confident you could use a variety of vegetables in place of the ones Angharad and I did, and it would still turn out nicely. Red quinoa? Chickpeas? I'm sure both would be welcomed substitutes. Aside from ingredients, this dish could easily be served as a filling side dish, or perhaps stuffed into a tortilla.

Bonus points: this is a one-pot recipe (OK, plus a citrus juicer).

Extra bonus points: this is a great dish to make for brown bag lunches, as it keeps well in the fridge.

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, Avocado & Cumin-Lime Dressing
Serves: 4-6 (really depends on what else, if anything, this is served with)
Source: Angharad over at Eating for England


Ingredients:

1 C dry quinoa, rinsed
1 Tbsp olive oil, or coconut oil
1 3/4 C water
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 avocado, chopped into chunks
Handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered (I used 1 C)
1/2 red onion, diced
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, chopped into chunks
Small handful of cilantro, diced (I used 1/2 C)
1 lime, juiced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt, to taste


Directions: 

  1. Warm the olive/coconut oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once it’s hot add the rinsed quinoa and toast for about 2-3 minutes until it starts smelling nutty and lovely. Add water, stir once, cover, and simmer with a lid on for 20 minutes.
     
  2. While the quinoa is cooking, prepare all other ingredients. Prepare the dressing by combining the lime juice, oil, cumin, and salt. Whisk it aggressively. Adjust seasoning as necessary.
    When the quinoa has finished cooking, remove it from heat and fluff with a fork. Add black beans and toss to warm them through.
     
  3. Let the quinoa cool for about five minutes and then add all the remaining ingredients, including the dressing, and mix. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

 

Nutritional Info:

nutritional info for the quinoa salad

View the full nutritional data here.
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Basil piña colada quinoa

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Ashley See

Sometimes you need a reminder that tropical places do exist, and are likely warmer than where you are. Often times, crawling out of bed when I can see frost on the windshields from my bedside is a challenge; however, having a tropical warm breakfast is incentive to get up and welcome the day. So ladies and gentlemen, I give you a pineapple-y treat.

Whole pineapple

If I would have never made pineapple and basil sundaes, I would have never known that basil and pineapple go together so well. So it might sound a bit weird to add basil to this, but I promise it's a good idea.

In the original recipe, from The 10 Cent Diet, which I recently discovered, Lori says this can be a breakfast, dessert or snack. With the level of sweetness, and how filling it is, I would say this isn't an ideal snack food -- unless you really dig substantial, meal-like snacks. 

And as for dessert, I prefer having sweet things earlier in the day so I'm more likely to burn it off throughout the day (Ross, an Austin-based personal trainer agrees, as does eat, drink and be vegan & apparently Fit for Life) instead of having it sit on top of dinner and digest while I'm sleeping.

Bowl of basil pina colada quinoa 

 

Basil Piña Colada Quinoa
Serves: 3 (2 for heartier eaters)
Adapted from: The 10 Cent Diet

Ingredients:

1 C quinoa
1 14 oz can light coconut milk
1 14 oz can crushed pineapple (soaked in water, no added sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp dried basil (thinly sliced fresh basil would be even better, if you have it)
1-2 pinches of salt, or to taste
1 tsp ground ginger (optional)
1 tbsp unsweeted shredded coconut (optional)
 

Directions:

  1. In a medium saucepan, bring the quinoa and coconut milk to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and leave standing for 6 more minutes.
  2. In the meantime, drain the pineapple, reserving a 1/2 C of the juice. Stir the pineapple juice into the cooked quinoa. Add the vanilla and mix well. Add the salt, adjusting to your taste. Stir the crushed pineapple in. If using, also stir in the basil and ground ginger.
  3. Top with any optional garnishing items, like the unsweetened coconut and serve.


Notes:

  1. Although I enjoy a nice warm breakfast, excluding VOO from Oh She Glows, Lori says this can be enjoyed either warm or cold.
  2. Lori says this keeps for 2 days in a sealed container in the fridge, so if you're cooking for one then you can either reserve the excess, or modify the recipe as you like.


Nutritional Info:

Nutritional Info for basil pina colada quinoa

View the full nutritional data here.
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Sweet quinoa porridge

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Ashley See

It's no secret that I love breakfast. Yet, over the last month I've ate light in the morning after reading two books: Skinny Bitch and An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth (Gandhi).

Both books highlight the importance of eating in moderation, especially breakfast. Gandhi went through various phases of a fruitarian diet--only eating raw fruit and sometimes nuts to exercise self-restraint. Meanwhile, Skinny Bitch points out that breakfast shouldn't be eaten like clockwork because you're used to it, but eating enough because you're hungry. They advise sipping on caffeine-free herbal tea when you first wake, and when the stomach starts growling -- and you're truly hungry -- to only eat organic fruit. You wait for the hunger pangs so you don't interrupt your body's cleaning session, aka still breaking down the dinner/dessert from the night before; otherwise, your body will store the excess food as fat.

I will admit that it does make my walk to work a bit lighter in step, but sometimes you need a hearty breakfast under your belt. Which is why I made Hungry Yogini's sweet quinoa breakfast a few days back and mmm! While I still prefer my fruity sesame porridge, this was a nice gluten-free substitute.

Steaming bowl of sweet quinoa porridge

Recipe after the jump.

Sweet Quinoa Breakfast
Yields 2 servings (it makes a bowl-full, but I could only eat half)

Ingredients:

1/2 C cooked quinoa (Ashley's note: I used red quinoa, which is why mine looks different)
1 C vanilla or plain soymilk (Ashley's note: I used almond milk)
1 tbsp ground flax
Cinnamon, to taste
Pure maple syrup, to taste
1 tbsp dried fruit (Ashley's note: I used dried bing cherries and golden raisins)
1/4 C chopped nuts

Directions:

  1. Combine cooked quinoa with soymilk in saucepan over medium-low heat.
  2. Simmer until slightly thickened and add ground flax.
  3. Add cinnamon and pure maple syrup to taste.
  4. Add dried fruit.
  5. Pour mixture into a bowl and top with chopped nuts.
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