Hot Quinoa Salad

Tags

brown rice, food, foodie, quinoa, recipe, salad, side dish, vegan, vegetarian

Pumpkin doesn’t like quinoa. I know, impossible right? I can remember as a kid, I didn’t like to eat it either. I thought it was birdseed (and amaranth too). So my trick to get him to eat it is to make it a 50%-50% blend of brown rice and quinoa. And I doctor it up and make a hot salad side dish (although I’d eat it as a main dish).

Hot Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:
2 c. cooked quinoa (hot), 2 c. cooked brown rice (hot), 2. c. garbanzo beans (hot), 1 c. sun-dried tomatoes, 1/2 c. crumbled feta, 1/2 c. kalamata olives, 1/4 c. olive oil, 3 Tbsp. lime juice, 1 Tbsp. minced garlic, 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, 1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, fresh cracked black pepper, fresh ground sea salt

Directions:
Mix together all ingredients except feta. Sprinkle feta on top of salad and serve hot.

Pumpkin’s verdict? “It’s alright, but I eat all of it first so I can wash the taste out of my mouth with the yummy food I saved.” Haha, maybe next time!

What tricks do you use to get reluctant eaters to try new things? 

Maple Ginger Salmon

Tags

amino acids, Bragg's, brown rice, cooking for two, dinner, dinner for two, edamame, fish, food, foodie, ginger, gluten-free, grilling, health, health science, healthy eating, liquid aminos, lunch, meals for two, nutrition, omega 3, omega-3 fatty acids, postaday2011, recipe, rice, salmon, seafood, seasoning, side dishes, soy beans, soy sauce, vegetable protein, vegetable protein seasoning

I usually make my salmon with a lemon marinade and creamy dill sauce over top. Last Friday, my mother mentioned salmon and I’ve craved it ever since. On Wednesday I spotted this recipe on Weelicious after I made dinner, so I planned to make it for dinner on Thursday. Then Thursday night ended up being Girl’s Night with some work friends, so I put off making it another day. Tonight, I finally got to indulge in my salmon.

Maple Ginger Salmon with Edamame & Rice

Maple Ginger Soy Salmon Ingredients:
2 salmon filets, 2 Tbsp. Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, 2 Tbsp. maple syrup, 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp. fresh grated ginger

Maple Ginger Soy Salmon Directions:
Whisk together Bragg’s, syrup, vinegar and ginger. Pour marinade over salmon and let sit for 30  minutes. Bake, broil, pan-sear or grill your salmon to completion. I like to remove the skin before serving. Serve hot.

Pan-sear about 3 minutes eat side, bake 450ºF covered for about 9 minutes, broil high for about 7 minutes, grill 3 minutes each side…

I looks like Catherine served her salmon with soy or lima beans and brown rice, the pairing was simple and sweet for her toddlers. For my consumption, I felt the need to turn it up a notch. I served my salmon over a bed brown rice drizzle with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos and edamame sprinkled with crushed red pepper flakes. Yum!

What was on your plate tonight?

Garbanzo and Sausage with Rice

Tags

brown rice, entree, garbanzo, meal, one pot meal, pepper, red bell pepper, red pepper, rice, sausage, side dish, turkey sausage, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe, vegetarian sausage

A few years ago, I inherited this recipe from a student’s parent, however it called for Chorizo. I don’t prepare red meat often, and I never eat it. Nevertheless, Hubster does enjoy it from time to time. I decided I need to revamp the recipe a little for our preferences. I’ve made this once before, using turkey sausage, today I decided to mix things up and use a vegetarian sausage (by Morning Star). The TVP sausage broke down a bit instead of holding its shape, but the flavor was still great.

Garbanzo & Sausage w/Rice

Ingredients:
4 c. garbanzo, 2 Tbs. olive oil, 1 medium onion, 1 red pepper chopped, 1 clove garlic (minced), 1/2 tsp. chili powder, 1/4 lb. sausage* (1/2 diced, 1/2 quartered), 2 Tbs. tomato sauce, 1 c. vegetable broth

Directions:
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, pepper and sausage, cook until tender and meat is no longer pink. Add remaining ingredients. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve over hot cooked brown rice.

*Once the meal was done simmering, I split the batch in half and added 1/2 tsp. to Hubster’s portion. Hubster said it didn’t look like a tasty meal, but that it was actually delicious! I guess next time I’ll stick to turkey sausage, so it’ll hold it’s shape better and not look so mushy.