Toasted Quinoa Salad with Roasted Garbanzo Beans

So, until recently I was unaware of an amazing ‘super food’ called quinoa. First I want to spare anyone else the embarrassment of mispronouncing this goodness of nature. When you are at the grocery store and need direction please, please, please don’t asked for “Quinn-oha” say it “Keen-wa”. As someone who had only seen the word in print I made the mistake of uttering the first pronunciation. On a side note most grocery stores keep quinoa in the gluten free or grain section of their natural selections aisle. 

What is the food that I regard so highly? I would describe it as having a nutty flavor and an orzo like texture. Like rice it has such a versatile place in recipes. Sweet, spicy, and salty can be achieved in this miracle food. One thing I really like about it is it can make an endless amount of different one-bowl meals. Who doesn’t love a dinner that doesn’t require an entire load of dishes?

You probably now want to know why it is so good for you. It is a rare food that it a complete amino acid making it a complete protein that is essential to the human diet and rare in a plant based diet. As I mentioned before quinoa is found in the gluten free section of the grocery store because it is and always will be gluten free. Quinoa is also one of the most vitamin rich foods I have ever seen. As a plant food it also lacks cholesterol as long as you don’t add any animal product in the preparation (duh!). People have claimed it helps reduce risks and effects of diabetes, heart disease, migraine headaches, and cancer. 

For more info http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?dbid=142&tname=foodspice

I bet you are all waiting for a recipe now so you can cure what ails you. This one is so easy and makes plenty of left overs!

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Toasted Quinoa Salad with Roasted Garbanzo Beans

1-12 oz. Box of Quinoa 

2 cups water

1-15 oz. Can of Garbanzo Beans (aka Chick peas) drained and rinsed

2-3 Roma tomatoes seeded and diced

1-12 oz. Bag of frozen Corn kernels thawed

1 medium red onion diced

Olive Oil as needed

4 Tbs. Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper

Dressing

½ cup lemon juice

4 Tbs. Olive Oil

4 cloves of garlic finely minced

2 Tbs. Italian seasoning

1 Tbs. Fresh cracked Black Pepper

Fresh Basil for garnish (optional)

Heat about 2 tbs. Olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat for the quinoa and preheat the oven to 350° for the Garbanzo beans.

Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer to removed any debris, like you would rice. Shake the strainer to remove excess water. Place the rinsed quinoa in the warm skillet and use a spatula to make an even layer. Stir  occasionally to prevent burning for about 5 to 8 minutes or until a few are brown.

Another great use for my cast iron! See link below to get one for yourself. 

       Add 2 cups of water to the toasted quinoa in the skillet and raise the heat to high. Allow all the water to absorb or evaporate out and remove from heat. Take off stove and allow to cool.

This is what it will look like after cooking. Each grain should be swollen and a few 'squiggles'.

While the water is evaporating drain and rinse the canned Garbanzo beans. Place them on a baking sheet and coat them with 4 Tbs. Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and olive oil. Place in the preheated oven for about 10 to 15 minutes or until a nice, rich brown color. Remove for the oven and allow to cool. 

Nice and brown roasted Garbanzo beans. 

After removing the quinoa and beans from the heat dice the vegetables and make the dressing. For the dressing warm 4 Tbs. Olive oil in a shallow pan and add ½ cup lemon juice. Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, and black pepper. Saute until garlic begins to brown. 

Combine cooled quinoa, beans, and veggies in a large serving, mixing, or storage bowl (my favorite is all three! see link). I recommend using a rubber or silicone spatula to give a gentle touch. Pour the lemon dressing over the top and stir until combined. Fluff with a fork and add a little basil garnish before serving. Great served hot or cold, I actually prefer it cold. 

So easy and fast! My husband and I usually can get two dinner servings and about 3 or 4 lunch servings out of this recipe. It’s a real time and money saver. I usually make some sort of quinoa salad on Sundays to ensure we have something for lunches early in the work week.

Special thanks to Very Culinary for getting me hooked! Here is a link to the recipe that inspired me. http://veryculinary.com/2011/08/09/toasted-quinoa-salad-with-cumin-lime-dressing/

So good even Chief wanted a bite. Served in a roasted poblano pepper.

A few helpful links from Amazon:

Cleanin' out the Closet

My Food Revolution and Yours Too.

Hello Readers!,

I want to apologize for my absence. My mind has been flooded with the idea of “eating to prevent and cure”. It sounds insane but many doctors and scientists have found which foods help us and which ones hurt us. The idea is if you have something wrong with you eat certain foods and avoid certain foods. When you are healthy avoid foods that in the long term make you sick. Crazy talk!

Sounds simple? In a way it is, but when you have to sort out what some of your health goals. For myself I wanted to lessen my allergies (I was tired of prescription side affects), stop having acne breakouts (I have tried literally every product on the market!), and lose those pesky muffin top pounds (duh). Luckily, my problems all fell into some of the same food categories. I can honestly say when I stick to what I have learned my face is clear (inside and out) and my weight is much less of a beast. 

I started my food journey earlier this year and this past month I have really learned about how vast this idea spread. I started with an Anti-Inflammation “diet”. I use “diet” loosely as it conjures up terrible images. The basics are no white flour, refined sugar, or processed foods. (Many other rules that are different for everyone also came into play.) Difficult. These new rules where tough to live by, but once the ball was rolling and I could breathe, skip concealer, and sit with my pants buttoned all at the same time I became a believer. 

What you put into your body affects it and the more you are aware of the make up of your food the healthier you will be. This started my interest in what is being dubbed the “Food Revolution”. An entire movement of people have shed light on the food industry. WARNING: You cannot unlearn what you will learn if you watch and read he material I suggest. 

Food has somehow become political. People don’t want to tell you what or how your food gets to your plate (or eeek Styrofoam box). Sadly, most people don’t want to know. If you are like me and want to live without illness, prescriptions, and pesky pounds come to the revolution! If you are prepared to learn I have suggested some documentaries below. Extracurricular research is highly recommended and encouraged. I am by no means an expert, but I recommend learning for yourself and your friends and family. 

Click on any of the pictures below for more information. 

Food Inc. 

Possibly the most common of the food documentaries out there right now. PBS airs it every now and then. This one focuses on Industrial farming and where you food has been before it gets to your plate. Also, it has quite a bit of info on how the government allows companies to patent soy beans and other naturally occurring foods by simply engineering their genes. Creepy. 

Forks Over Knives

This documentary focus on a plant based diet and its health benefits. Doctors who have done long term studies on the benefits of veganism are interviewed. They compare our cultures obsession with dairy against eastern cultures lack there of. 

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

This one was so inspirational! It is the story of one man trying to cure his mysterious illness, which (shocker!) is cured by a dietary change. Along the way he meets another man with the same illness and transforms that mans life, who in turn transforms the lives of all the people in his town. In a final story twist he saves his own brother after a heart attack. Hollywood could not have written such a touching story. Tears, literally tears of joy for these people. 

Foodmatters

This is the best one if you have any illness. It is very to the point about foods that can save your life and even reverse illness. 

I highly recommend all of these. Don't worry about making all of these changes at once, it takes time to not want to murder some one over a DQ Blizzard, pepperoni pizza, or Diet Coke. Trust me. Any knowledge and changes you can make now are for the better. I hope this helped you! 

Love Alice

Current Inspiration: Elizabeth Taylor

For years I have admired Elizabeth Taylor, not only for her star power but her humanitarian work. A few years ago I read "Elizabeth" by J. Randy Taraborrelli and I fell in love. Her life was so much more than marriages and movies. She was a devoted friend, mother, and daughter. A vocal pioneer of AIDS research and addiction rehabilitation. She made rehab cool as one of the first celebrities to check into the Betty Ford Clinic. Before every celebrity had a fragrance, she had White Diamonds. Before celebrities adopted cute babies, Elizabeth did. Animal rights were close to her heart too. You name it, she did it. Even most recently Twitter.

So as you flip through the photos of her glamourous style that are on every entertainment and fashion site remember, her style was much more than skin deep. She had true style the kind that cannot be created, but is lived in kindness and generosity.


For further reading (so you can fall in love too) http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Elizabeth/J-Randy-Taraborrelli/e/9780446400367/?itm=2&USRI=elizabeth