Mexican Veggie Burgers

I've attempted to make veggie burgers in the past and they haven't turned out, but these puppies were so delicious!  They weren't dry at all, which tends to be the case with veggie burgers, and tasted amazing!  I served them on corn tortillas because I didn't have time to make buns (store bought buns are gross).  They were really good on tortillas! So much flavor.  I topped them with an avocado.  I can't wait to make these again.  This would be a really good meal to make ahead and freeze (the patties anyway).  YUM! Enjoy!

Mexican Veggie Burgers

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown rice, uncooked

One 15 oz can black beans (I cooked my own black beans, I think it was about a half cup uncooked)

1 small red bell pepper, diced

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Cook brown rice and beans (unless you're using canned) according to instructions, set aside. 

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and red pepper. Cook until onions are soft. Add garlic, stir for about 30 seconds. Add seasonings and  black beans. Stir on high heat for about a minute. Turn off heat. Add salt to taste.

Using a potato masher or fork, mash the black bean mixture. Mash roughly, so that some black bean pieces remain. Add cooked, brown rice. Using a spatula, mix everything together. Taste and adjust salt and seasoning.

When the black bean brown rice mixture is cool enough to handle, divide it into 8 equal portions. Roll mixture into 8 balls (mixture will be sticky so you may want to flour your hands first). Flatten the balls down to shape into burgers. 

(You can freeze the patties at this point in a single layer in air tight containers).

Heat about 1 tablespoon oil in a non-stick skillet.  Place 2 burger patties on the skillet. Cook for 1-2 minutes on medium-high heat on each side. Remove when a crispy golden crust forms on both sides. Add more oil to the skillet and fry up 2 more patties at a time. Repeat till all patties are cooked.

Roasted Poblano and Corn Salsa

Ingredients:

1 Poblano pepper

1 1/2 cup frozen organic corn, thawed

1 cup chopped tomatoes

zest of 1/2 a lime

2 tablespoons lime juice (juice of about 1 large lime)

1-2 tablespoon chopped cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tablespoon red chili powder

1/2 tablespoon cumin powder

Directions:

Roast the poblano pepper over an open flame either on your stove or an out door grill. Char the pepper on all sides. Then wrap it in foil and let it sit for about 5 minutes. When the pepper is cool enough to handle, open the foil and peel off the charred poblano skin. Wipe off any remaining charred skin with a paper towel. Remove the seeds inside. Dice the roasted poblano. (I totally burnt my pepper and tried to salvage it, but just added chili sauce since I ruined my pepper, Jalapeno would work too.)

Mix together the roasted poblano and all other ingredients. Refrigerate till ready to serve.

Serve on toasted buns or corn tortillas!

Mushroom & Kale Risotto

I just have to put this out there.... Gordon Ramsey is my idol.  He's good looking and a great chef!  

Kidding, but risotto always reminds me of Gordon Ramsey because he always yells at people for over/under cooking it.  If you don't know who Gordon Ramsey is, he's an amazing chef.  And  you don't ever want to mess up risotto or scallops and serve it to him. 

Anyway, the first time I tried risotto was at Dukes in Hawaii and it was pretty amazing, but I really didn't see what the big deal was.  It wasn't the absolute best thing I've ever eaten, but it was good.  So I went about my business, never really curious. Then... last month, Nick's sister, Rachel, brought us out to a restaurant and I ordered a kale and mushroom risotto and it was amazing.  I had to recreate this dish.  Since I had to buy kale for my last recipe, I decided that Valentines Day was the perfect day to try tackling risotto.  There is always Papa Murphy's heart shaped pizza in case anything goes wrong. 

It was awesome! I ate way too much because it was so delicious, but it was the perfect Valentines Day dinner.  Nick and I sat by the stove, stirring our risotto, drinking our wine, and chatting away until it was complete.  One of my favorite parts about dinner is cooking it with my husband.  We make a night of it and have so much fun.  And then he cleans up, which makes it even better.  This was a perfect Valentines Day dinner AND, we have chocolate ice cream for dessert!!!

Mushroom & Kale Risotto

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

6 cups of vegetable broth, divided

3 tbs olive oil, divided

16 oz of assorted mushrooms (I used baby bella, shitake, crimini, and oyster)

3 cups chopped kale

1 shallot, dices

6 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (I got mine from Trader Joe's)

1/2 cup dry white wine (Chardonnay)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tbs butter

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons chives, chopped

Directions:

In a sauce pot, warm the broth over medium-low heat. Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Add chopped kale and cook until green and wilted, about another minute. Remove mushrooms and kale, and set aside. 

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet, and stir in the shallot and garlic. Cook 1 minute. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil, about 2 minutes. When the rice has taken on a pale, golden color, pour in wine, stirring constantly until the wine is fully absorbed. Add 1/2 cup broth to the rice, and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove from heat, and stir in mushrooms with their liquid, butter, chives, and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Shrimp, Kale, & Goat Cheese Tostadas!

We're always looking for awesome restaurants, and a lady from work recommended a Mexican place in a very eclectic neighborhood.  So we went for our anniversary and we were very impressed.  It reminded me of a mixture of the beautiful Downtown Minneapolis and the very awesome Sir Benedict's in Duluth, MN.  In other words, it was the highlight of our 7 year anniversary.  We had a shrimp taco with goat cheese and my heart melted.  It was amazing.  I thought about those silly tacos for 4 days straight.  They were awesome and I had to recreate them.  I wanted to make tostadas, but ours ended up being regular tacos because I got too impatient trying to fry the shells.  If it takes longer than 30 seconds and everything else is ready, I'm not waiting.  These were so amazing.  I'm definitely making these again and again.  Enjoy!

Shrimp, Kale & Goat Cheese Tostadas!

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

2 pounds of raw wild caught shrimp (tails removed)

1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

1 tbs chili sauce (or a chopped chili)

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

2 tbs white wine vinegar

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbs olive oil

2 cups chopped kale

1/2 avocado, cubed

2 oz creamy goat cheese

1 tbs olive oil

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

12 white corn tortillas (we got ours from Trader Joe's, they were delicious!)

2 tbs coconut oil

Sweet Chili Sauce:

1 tbs Thai garlic chili sauce

1 tbs honey

3 tbs water

Directions:

Place the pumpkin seeds, chili sauce, cilantro, white wine vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and 2 tbs of olive oil in a blender and pulse until blended.  Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add yogurt.  Whisk until combined.  Add shrimp and toss to coat.  Marinade for 1 hour. 

After 1 hour, remove shrimp from marinade and lightly fry in a saute pan over medium heat or grill (if I had a grill, I would totally use a grill)

Meanwhile, mix goat cheese, 1 tbs olive oil, and 1/2 cup chopped cilantro in a small bowl until combined.  

In a small saute pan, lightly fry the tortillas in coconut oil until crispy, or bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until crispy.  

To assemble, spread some goat cheese mixture over the crispy tortilla, top with raw kale (I actually sauteed the kale for about a minute, just to get the nice green color), cooked shrimp and top with avocado. 

Mix ingredients for the Sweet Chili Sauce and drizzle over top of tostadas.  YUM!!!

Seafood Orecchiette with a Lemony Cream Sauce

So I'm not much of a seafood person, unless it's battered and deep fried, then I'm totally okay with it.  I don't really like the "seafoody" taste, but then I read that if it tastes "seafoody," then it's really not fresh.  That's why I could eat anything from the ocean in Hawaii, because it was always fresh.  Well, finding fresh seafood in Cincinnati is nearly impossible so I decided to go out on a whim and buy a bag of frozen mixed seafood from Trader Joe's.  It had shrimp, calamari, and scallops, pretty intimidating for a non-seafood eating person.  I gave it a shot though and it actually turned quite delicious!  I read some complaints online that the bag of frozen seafood from Trader Joe's doesn't have much flavor, but that's probably why I liked it so much.  I tasted the nice lemony flavor and the wine... mmmm... but if you're in to the seafood flavor, I'd just substitute the vegetable stock for fish stock.  Enjoy!

Seafood Orecchiette with Lemon Cream Sauce

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 package of Orecchiette Pasta (I got one from Trader Joe's)

1 package of raw Seafood blend from Trader Joe's

1 tbs butter

1 tbs rice flour (or regular flour, but I like rice flour better as a thickener)

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 shallot, chopped

1/2 cup vegetable stock

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 lemon zested and juiced

6 chives, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

cooking oil of choice

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it and add the Orecchiette pasta and boil for about 12 minutes, until almost done. 

Rinse the frozen seafood under cool water for about 2 minutes until mostly defrosted.  Pat with a paper towel to dry.  In a large saute pan over medium heat, add a drizzle of cooking oil (I used coconut oil) add the seafood and cook for about 5 minutes stirring frequently, until all the seafood is cooked.  Transfer to plate.

In the same saucepan, saute the garlic and shallot in some oil until softened, about 2 minutes add butter.  When it is melted, add rice flour and whisk until foamy, about a minute.  Gradually add white wine and vegetable stock.  Whisk continuously until slightly thickened.  Gradually add the cream and bring to a slight boil.  Turn town heat and wait until it thickens. Towards the end, add the lemon zest & juice and chives.  Salt and pepper to taste. 

Gluten Free Browned Butter Brownie Souffles!

Nick and I were really craving dessert tonight.  We don't usually crave sweets like this, but it was pretty bad.  However, we were also feeling incredibly lazy and didn't want to take the 1 block trek to the grocery store to pick something up.  So I decided to make something with ingredients that I have on hand.  I always have the essentials, sugar, cocoa powder, flour, eggs, vanilla, butter, and red wine. I also had peanuts on hand so I threw those in as well.  Holy cow these were awesome!! They are amazing warm and just melt in your mouth. It's definitely something for chocoholics.  
I want you to know that these are not souffles at all.  I just made them in cute little ramekins and wanted to call them souffles, so I did.  A souffle is way too intense for a lazy Sunday.
I halved this recipe so we wouldn't have an entire pan of brownies to eat, because we would do just that.  But I'm giving you the whole recipe, and you can bake it in a 9X9 square pan, unless you want to be awesome and cook them in ramekins.

Browned Butter Brownies

Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed

1 3/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons red wine (I used a Cabernet)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cold large eggs

1/3 cup rice flour

1 cup peanuts, chopped (you may also use walnuts, or whatever nut you like)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper and spray with a neutral oil (I rubbed with coconut oil).

2. Add the cocoa, salt, sugar, wine, and vanilla in a large glass mixing bowl. There is no need to mix the ingredients at this stage (the only rising agent, the lecithin in the egg yolks are mixed in later in the form of whole eggs).

3. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir. As the butter melts it will foam and the milk solids will separate from the fat and begin to turn reddish brown. (This took about 5 minutes over medium heat for me, keep stirring!) At this point remove the butter from the stove and quickly pour it into the mixing bowl with the cocoa. Stir it with a spatula to blend. Let it cool for 3 minutes, it will still be hot.

4. Add one egg at a time, mixing it in vigorously with the spatula until completely combined. At this point the chocolate mixture will be silky smooth.

5. Add the rice flour and again mix it into the chocolate batter vigorously until you see no more white flecks of flour. 

6. Roughly chop the peanuts and fold them into the brownie batter.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and allow spread it evenly with an offset spatula. Bake the brownie batter in the middle rack of the preheated oven. The brownies will be done after 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out almost clean from the center. The brownies can still be hot and gooey even if the toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the baking pan for 20 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack for another 20 minutes to cool. Once cool, transfer the brownies to a cutting board and cut them with a clean serrated knife into approximately 16 squares of equal size.

Avocado Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons!

So quite often I go through these phases where I just crave something every single day and have to have it.  Most recently, I went through a cheese and pickle sandwich phase.  We literally had to load up on cheese, pickles, and bread and I had one every single day.  Right now, I'm going through a Caesar salad phase.  Every time I'm hungry, I just want a Caesar salad!  So I've been eating these things non-stop for the past few weeks, but absolutely hate store bought croutons, so I make my own of course.  These are so good and really does the trick.  Tonight, I added avocado, because I can.  And it was good!

Avocado Caesar Salad

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1 bundle of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped

1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 avocado, sliced into cubes

drizzle of Caesar salad dressing (we used Newman's Own, it was delicious!)

1 cup homemade croutons (recipe below)

Directions:

Toss all ingredients in a large bowl and dig in!

Home Made Croutons

Ingredients:

5 cups cubed ciabatta bread

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tbs of oregano

2 tsp of garlic powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Place the bread cubes in a large mixing bowl. Pour spices over cubes and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss until bread is evenly coated.  Pour onto a baking sheet and spread out.  Place in preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes.  Take out and toss bread cubes.  Return to oven for 5 more minutes.  Remove and cool.  We store ours in a Ziploc bag in the pantry.  Good for at least 2 weeks (if they last that long!)

Gluten Free Egg Rolls

I love egg rolls, but they are kind of unhealthy and deep fried and all... Since we have a ton of rice papers (from a previous recipe), I decided to make baked egg rolls with rice paper instead of the deep fried unhealthy rolls. 

Gluten Free Egg Rolls
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
3 cups diced white cabbage
5 green onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbs grated ginger
1 tbs garlic chili sauce
1 tbs white wine vinegar
2 tbs gluten free soy sauce
salt & pepper as needed
1 tbs brown sugar
grapeseed oil (or cooking oil of choice)
4-6 sheets of rice paper

Directions:

Heat a pan on medium heat and add the oil and then the cabbage. Fry for about 4 minutes or until cabbage is soft, set aside. Add the garlic, ginger, chili sauce, soy sauce, and sugar to pan. Add the cabbage back in and toss.  Add vinegar and fry for about 3 more minutes.  Towards the end, add the diced green onions, toss and remove from heat.

Soak rice sheet in a plate of warm water until soft, about 30 seconds to a minute.  Add cabbage mixture to the middle of the rice paper.  Fold the top and bottom of the rice paper over, and roll up the sides.  Place rolls on an oiled parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Spray oil over the tops of the rolls. 

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until crispy. 

Vietnamese noodle salad

I've made this salad before, but it seems like it just keeps getting better and better.  It's so refreshing after a nice run or when you feel like you've been eating junk.  It's still filling enough so you don't feel like you have to eat later.  Delicious! Serve with gluten free egg rolls!

Vietnamese Noodle Salad

Ingredients:

1 pkg tofu, rinsed and pressed and baked for 30 minutes at 350 (or you can use 2 chicken breasts)

1 pkg small sized rice noodles, (boil for 3 minutes and drain immediately)

4 cups Napa cabbage, finely sliced or shredded

2 carrots, cut into matchsticks

1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks

1/2 red pepper, sliced thinly

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1/2 cup roasted peanuts, chopped

Dressing

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons fish sauce (alternatively soy sauce)*

4 tablespoons water

2 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated

1 large garlic clove, minced

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons honey

Directions: 

Cube the tofu and fry in oil until crispy.  If using chicken, grill until cooked and shred. 

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the dressing.  

Just before serving, combine shredded cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, red pepper, and herbs in a serving bowl. Pour enough dressing over, so it's well coated. Add tofu and cooked rice noodles to the salad, then sprinkle with roasted peanuts. Add more dressing to the salad if needed. Serve immediately.

Gluten Free Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta

When I'm making up a recipe, I usually add everything but the kitchen sink.  I've learned over the years that I get this from my dad.  We can't just stick to a recipe, we have to add at least 10 more things to make it perfect.  Sometimes, it doesn't go so well and we end up ordering pizza, but most of the time, it turns out amazing.  Like this creamy avocado pasta that I concocted tonight. I'm actually not including the way I made it tonight, because I don't even remember all of the millions of ingredients, but I will put the recipe up of how I'll make it next time, because it's much simpler.  Definitely high up on the recommendation list.  I can't wait to make it again!

Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 pkg rice noodles or gluten free noodles (I used spaghetti, but anything would work)

1 10oz container of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

splash of white wine

olive oil

2 ripe avocados

4 leaves of mint

4 leaves of basil

2 cups fresh baby spinach

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1/4 cup toasted almonds

1 bulb of roasted garlic

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add noodles.  Cook for about 10 minutes or whatever the package says. 

In a large saute pan, drizzle some olive oil and add the tomatoes over medium heat.  Cook for about 2 minutes until skin is softened.  Add a splash of white wine and cook until wine is reduced, about 2 more minutes. 

Meanwhile, in a food processor or blender, add spinach, basil, mint, avocados, vegetable broth, garlic, and toasted almonds.  Puree until smooth.  Add mixture to tomatoes and stir. Add cheese and stir until mixed.  Add noodles to the sauce mixture and toss. If you feel that the sauce is too thick, you can thin it out with some starchy pasta water.  Salt & pepper to taste.

Serve with fresh Parmesan cheese over top. Enjoy.

Penne with a Roasted Beet Sauce

Beets are one of those things that you either love or don't love.  I used to eat dirt as a kid, so I like beets.  They remind me of my grandpa's garden.  You know when you eat a freshly picked carrot right out of the garden, still full of dirt. It's a magical experience.  That's kind of what beets remind me of.  Okay I'm rambling.

I wanted to make something unique with beets because it seems like they are always the same ole, roast them with butter and serve as a side dish, boring...  This beet pasta sauce will jazz up your life and is perfectly pink for Valentines day!

On a side note, our grocery store always manages to be out of one thing on our list when we go.  This time it was beets.  Really? Ug... So I used canned.  I know I know, canned shouldn't even be in my vocabulary, but it was a last resort.  While this sauce was awesome and delicious, I don't advise using canned beets.  Use fresh and roast them.  The flavor will be amazing!

Penne with a Roasted Beet Sauce

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 8 oz box of organic penne noodles (avoid the gmo's, buy organic!)

3-4 medium sized beets

1 bulb of garlic

olive oil

salt and pepper

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1/2 cup of cream (I just used whole milk)

4 fresh mint leaves

4 fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Slice the beets and place them on an oiled baking sheet and roast in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes.  Slice the top of the garlic bulb off, drizzle olive oil over the top and sprinkle with salt and pepper, wrap in tinfoil and roast alongside the beets. Let cool.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add penne noodles and a handful of salt.  Boil for about 10-15 minutes, until al dente. 

Place the cooled beets and garlic in a food processor with the mint and basil leaves.  Process until smooth adding vegetable broth as needed.  Transfer to a large saute pan and add cream and Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.  Add the drained penne noodles and toss in sauce.  

Place on serving dish, garnish with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh mint leaves.  

NOTE:  While this was amazing, I think I'll make some changes next time.  I think I'll add about 2 oz of creamy goat cheese to the sauce to add a little zing.  I'll also add a couple of splashes of white wine to the pan and cook off.  YUM!  Can't wait to make this again with the changes! Enjoy!

Minty Pesto Pasta with Artichokes

I have a cat story.  Last week, I was home sick lying on the couch with my kitty Max.  We were watching an episode of Rachel Ray and she was cooking this chicken with pasta meal.  I was kind of dosing in and out, but I noticed Max was watching very intently.  He wouldn't take his eyes off the TV, even when I waved my hand in front of his face (yep, visualize).  I laughed and he watched.  Then a commercial came on and he glanced away and looked over at me.  When Rachel’s voice came back on the TV, he quickly stared up at the screen again!  It was so funny.  He watched the whole episode!  Since I didn't want to disturb his TV watching, I kept the show on and decided to recreate what I learned, in a way. 

Rachel made this to go with Chicken; I just made it as a vegetarian pasta dish.  I was kind of weary about using mint in a pesto, and I probably would have bought basil at the store anyway, but since we already had mint in the fridge, I decided to give it a try.  Man this pesto was delicious! There is a subtle hint of mint flavor, but it’s not over powering.  It reminded me of Greek flavors so I think next time I make this, I might add some kalamata olives too!  So much flavor.  Enjoy!

Minty Pesto Pasta with Artichokes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

For the pesto:

1 pkg small baby spinach

1/4 cup mint leaves

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup toasted almonds

1/4 cup olive oil

1 can of artichoke hearts (not marinated in anything)

1 red bell pepper, roasted and sliced

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 pkg linguine noodles

1 cup starchy pasta water

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add noodles.

In a large saute pan, add the artichokes and cook until liquids are released and they start to brown, about 10 minutes.  Add the roasted red pepper.  

Meanwhile, to make the pesto, combine spinach, mint, garlic, and almonds in a food processor, slowly drizzle the olive oil in.  Pour pesto into the saute pan with artichokes.  Turn heat off and let the pesto simmer for about a minute just so the garlic releases its flavors.  Transfer the noodles to the saute pan with the sauce and toss. Slowly add starchy pasta water to help coat the pasta. 

Pour pasta into serving dishes and grate Parmesan cheese over the top.

Eggnog French Toast

Well I'm a little out of season for this post.  We did make it after Christmas when organic eggnog was on sale for 25 cents a carton.  That was pretty awesome.  We didn't even need eggnog, but if you see something in the organic section of the grocery store for 25 cents, you buy it.  No matter what.  This was delicious.  It's definitely something to make the guests for a holiday breakfast.

Eggnog French Toast

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 loaf of Challah bread (we also used Ciabatta the second time we made it)

4 eggs

1 cup organic eggnog

1 pinch cinnamon

1 pinch nutmeg

Directions:

Beat the eggs, stir in the eggnog, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  Slice the loaf of bread and dip both sides into the egg mixture.  Cook on a griddle or in a fry pan over medium heat until toasty on both sides, maybe 3 minutes per side?  I never keep track, it's french toast. Enjoy!

Warm Quinoa Salad

Usually after a nice run, we eat pizza or something extremely unhealthy, which totally defeats the purpose of running in the first place.  Last week, we went for a nice run, then ate this amazing Quinoa salad afterwards and felt healthy all night! (Well at least until 9:00 when we started craving chocolate)  It's super filling and actually a great thing to bring for lunch to keep you going all day.

Warm Quinoa Salad

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

1 tsp coconut oil

2 cups vegetable broth

1 tbs grapeseed oil

20 fresh brussels sprouts, sliced (I slice them thinly so the leave separate)

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup almonds, toasted

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted

*1/2 cup cubed organic tofu, optional

Dressing:

1 tbs grapeseed oil

1 tbs lemon juice (I just used the bottled stuff because I didn't have a lemon, but next time I'll use a fresh lemon and zest!)

2 tbs pure maple syrup

* The tofu is totally optional, but I used it to make it feel more like a meal rather than a side dish.  I tried a new trick for my tofu this time. I pressed all the water out with dish towels for about 20 minutes, then baked it at 350 for about 20 minutes, then I put it in the fridge overnight with some paper towels to soak up any extra liquid.  Then take it out of the fridge and just cube up and add it.  It cuts a lot of time out of the cooking process when you prepare it ahead of time, and the texture is extra "meaty."

Directions:

Toast the quinoa with coconut oil over medium heat about 3 minutes until quinoa begins to brown and pop.  Slowly add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil.  Turn down to a simmer and cover.  Simmer for about 15-20 minutes. 

In a large saute pan, heat the grapeseed oil over medium heat and add brussles sprouts and tofu.  Saute until sprouts begin to brown, about 15-20 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute about 2 more minutes. Add the cranberries, almonds, and pumpkin seeds.  Make sure to buy your nuts/seeds raw and toast them yourself over medium heat until golden brown.  It makes a world of difference, rather than buying already toasted nuts/seeds.  It only takes about 2 minutes to toast them yourself.

Add cooked quinoa and toss until mixed.  Mix the dressing, pour over top and toss to mix.  Add salt and pepper as desired.  Enjoy!