quinoa – Helping you get past all the stuff that is holding you back!

Sardine and veggie bowl

April 7, 2016 cholleyhurt

You need fat. Despite all the low-fat options you find in the grocery store, your body needs fat. Fat helps keep our hormones (including insulin) well regulated, it feeds our hungry brain (60% of it is fat!), and it keeps us feeling full longer. Not to mention that fat is delicious. Of course not all fat is created equal. For example, trans fats are horrible for us, but fatty fish like the sardines shown above are full of healthy omega 3 fatty acids that help our body run.

Some good fats are grass-fed butter, avocados, ghee, unrefined coconut oil, and unrefined olive oil. Basically, I take the same approach when choosing fats as I do with choosing my food; namely, is it as close to a whole food (not processed) as it gets and was it grown/raised in an ethical and sustainable way? If the answer is yes, then I feel pretty comfortable eating it and giving it to my kid. If the answer is no, then I avoid it like the plague.

The recipe below is a great way to get in a bunch of good fat while having some veggies and a very filling meal.

Sardines and veggie bowl

Servings: 2
Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

one TBS coconut oil
one tin of skinless and boneless sardines packed in olive oil
a handful or two of chopped spinach or other green you like
one small leftover or freshly made roasted beets cut into bite sized pieces
half a cup of leftover quinoa
half a TBS olive oil
three tsp of balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Sautee the spinach in the coconut oil until bright green and wilted.
Remove the spinach and add the sardines into the pan.
Cook the sardines for a few minutes on either side. I like it to have a few nice crisp places before pulling it out of the pan.
Assemble the quinoa, spinach, and beets into the bowl and then top it with the sardines.
Mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper together in a small bowl.
Pour dressing over the bowl. Enjoy!

I was inspired to make this recipe by a dish my dear friend Leah made me. I hope this recipe inspires you to get in the kitchen and experiment with some yummy good fats!

Recipes

Delicious and filling quinoa porridge

March 1, 2016 cholleyhurt

I am going to be real with you right now: I don’t really like quinoa all that much. Don’t get me wrong, I love that it’s easy to prepare, that it’s gluten-free, and that it’s bursting with nutrients, but the flavor…meh. With this burden to bear, I have developed several recipes that give me all the punch while downplaying the flavor. Like my recipe for the quilupa (a favorite at my house) or this lovely quinoa porridge. Like all of my quinoa recipes, this one starts out with premade quinoa that I have in the fridge. I usually make 2 cups of quinoa on a Sunday night while I’m cooking my dinner so I can use the quinoa throughout the week. Two cups dried quinoa equals about 6 cups of cooked, so it’s rather a lot. If you need instructions on cooking quinoa check out The Kitchn’s how-to. Personally, when preparing my quinoa for the week, I leave out the oil and don’t use broth so I can use the quinoa in lots of different ways.

Quinoa Porridge

Servings: 2
Time: 10
Difficulty: silly easy
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Ingredients

1 to 1.5 TBS of coconut oil
1 or 2 sliced bananas
1 to 2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt
2 cups cooked quinoa
1/2 to 1 cup full-fat coconut milk or non-dairy milk of your choice (this is really dependent on how liquidy you like your porridge)
1/2 cup of fresh or frozen fruits of your choice. Today I used frozen blueberries but have also used chopped apple, strawberries, and pear. Go with what you have on hand or what you have a hankerin’ for.
a handful of nuts and seeds of your choice. I used pecans and hempseed, but add what you have.

Directions

Heat coconut oil over medium heat.
Add bananas and saute until they caramelize.
Add cinnamon and salt, and stir.
Add quinoa and stir to incorporate.
Add in coconut milk starting with 1/2 cup and increasing until you get the consistency you like.
Add in the remaining ingredients.
Dish up and enjoy!

Recipes

Quinoa pizza, chalupa, quilupa?

October 29, 2015January 26, 2017 cholleyhurt

My oldest kiddo is a super picky eater and has been since she started
solids. She is okay about trying things, but for the most part, she would rather just eat a veggie burger or a PB&J sandwich. The rest of us like to eat a more diverse diet, which leads to a great deal of experimentation to see if everyone’s taste buds can align. This is how the make-your-own Mexican pizza/chalupa or quilupa, as my husband has coined it, has come into being.

First you start with about 2 cups cooked quinoa. I’ve found this works best when it’s leftover from a previous meal and had about a day or so in the fridge. For reference, 1 cup dried quinoa makes about 3 cups cooked. Pro tip: buy your quinoa in bulk or online to save some dough.

Speaking of dough, that’s what the quinoa will become after you mix it in a food processor with garlic, chili powder, salt, and an egg.

Next, roll the dough out to make the pizza crust or chalupa/quilupa part of the dish. At this point, you have just used a superfood to create the base for a really wonderful, kid-approved dinner.

Once baked, add the topping of your choice to make it a meal. We usually have a refried bean base along with an assortment of cooked and raw vegetables, and always, ALWAYS a freshly made guacamole.

Quilupa

Equipment

Food Processor
Oven
Cookie Sheet
Rolling pin
Parchment Paper

Ingredients

Quinoa Base

2 to 3 cloves of garlic
1/2 to 1 TBS chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups pre-cooked quinoa
1 egg or 1 flax egg
1 to 2 TBS of water

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350.
Add the first five ingredients one at a time in the food processor, giving the food processor a whirl with each new ingredient to make sure everything gets incorporated.
Once all ingredients have been added, keep the machine on until a dough ball starts to form. If this doesn’t happen in the first minute, add water a tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency.
Once the mixture is sticky and forming a bit of a ball in the food processor, scrape it out and pat it into a nice ball (see picture above). Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Cover the top of the dough with another sheet of parchment and pat down until you have a nice flat surface.
With the parchment still covering the dough, use a rolling pin and roll out the dough until its about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until nicely brown and the edges start to peel away from the sheet.

Once the the quinoa base is ready to go, each person loads theirs up with whatever they like best. Tonight’s options were walnut “taco meat,” guacamole, sautéed kale, refried adzuki beans, and shredded carrots and beets. The most difficult part of this meal was figuring out what to call it. My picky eater proudly decorated hers with almost everything except the kale before devouring it. She wanted me to tell you-all that she “liked it and you should make it.” If that’s not a glowing endorsement, I’m not sure I know what is. Enjoy!