Tag Archives: diet

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

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Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Hi everyone! Ok I’ve been a busy cooking bee- but a lazy blogger. (for real it’s embarrassing how little I’ve blogged lately- there is reason for it but I’ll save that for a later post!)Needless to say,  I can’t wait to share some of my creations with you 🙂 This particular recipe is one of my favorite recent ones! So tasty, easy, and healthy. The perfect trio for an awesome recipe. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

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Gorgeous right?!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked quinoa
  • 1 (4-ounce) can green chiles
  • 1 cup corn kernels
  • 1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves (I love cilantro so I always add more)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion or garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon smokey paprika, or more to taste
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 6 bell peppers, tops cut, stemmed and seeded

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×13 baking dish with tin foil.
  2. In a large bowl, combine quinoa, green chiles, corn, beans, tomatoes, cheeses, cilantro, cumin, garlic, onion and chili powder, paprika, salt and pepper, to taste.
  3. Spoon the filling each each bell pepper cavity. Place in prepared baking dish, cavity side up, and bake until the peppers are tender and the filling is heated through, about 25-30 minutes.
  4. Serve immediately and enjoy!  🙂
  5. PS. I only cooked 4 peppers since there fewer people I was feeding but then I put the extra quinoa mix in a baking dish, topped with a little more cheese and baked along with the peppers. This was great for lunch throughout the week 🙂 As you can see there was quite a bit of extra “stuffing” so I think you could do more than 6…but experiment! 🙂

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I just love how pretty this dish is! So colorful and fresh looking and not to mention out of this world delicious. This is a recipe you could seriously have so much fun with and experiment with different flavor combinations and ingredients. Also easily could be vegan with some small adjustments. Please stop back and share your own concoctions 🙂

As always, thanks for stopping by!

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Crunchy Asian Chicken Salad

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Crunchy Asian Chicken Salad

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INGREDIENTS

1 package (3 ounces) ramen noodle soup mix(any flavor you want)
1 bag (16 ounces) coleslaw mix
2 cups cut-up cooked chicken
1/2 cup  chopped dry-roasted peanuts
1/2-1 cup of chopped Cilantro
2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
1 Tbs sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Juice of 1 lime

DIRECTIONS

  • Open coleslaw mix into a large bowl. Break block of noodles into bite-size pieces over salad. 
  • Chop your cooked chicken, cilantro, and peanuts and add to the coleslaw mixture. 
  • In a smaller bowl combine the sesame oil, vinegar, sugar,veggie oil, pepper, and lime juice  and stir until well mixed and sugar is dissolved.
  • Pour over the coleslaw and  noodle mixture; toss until coated and enjoy! 🙂 

This was deeeelicious! I added Siracha sauce to mine because seriously I cannot get enough of that stuff!! Also if you don’t like sesame you may want to scale back a little bit, the flavor was quite strong but I enjoy it so I didn’t mind. I think this recipe also has great capability for versatility- please experiment and let me know what you create!!!!

Hope you all have an amazing week. I have had a lot of comments and new followers on my blog lately and I just want to say, I seriously appreciate each and everyone of you who spend the time to check out my blog- I appreciate and you guys make me feel so special!

xoxo

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Quinoa with Corn & Scallions

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Quinoa with Corn and Scallions

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Hello all! 🙂 Hope you’re enjoying the start to “summer”. I always think of Memorial Day as the kick-off to summer even though I know it technically isn’t until June 21st. I think this quinoa side dish is the perrrrfect compliment to a barbecue or picnic, really any where any time, but particularly those 😉 I want to make this recipe again because as you can see from my picture it turned out a little gooier than  I would like. Next time will make it a littler drier by undercooking the quinoa a little bit. I hope you guys enjoy this deeeelicious recipe and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

4 ears corn, shucked (If you want you could use frozen corn and just skip steps 1 and 2 below)
1 Tablespoon grated fresh lemon zest
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 stick (1/8 cup) unsalted butter, melted
1 Tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 cups uncooked quinoa
4 scallions, chopped

Directions:

Place the corn in a large pot and fill it with enough water to cover the corn. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil. As soon as the water comes to a boil, turn off the heat and let the pot stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

Remove the corn from the pot and let it cool on a cutting board until it’s easy to handle. Then, using a sharp knife, cut the kernels off the cob.

Prepare the dressing by whisking together the lemon zest, lemon juice, melted butter, honey, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

Rinse the uncooked quinoa in a sieve under cold water until the water runs clear.

Cook the quinoa in a pot of of boiling salted water per the package directions.

Add the quinoa, corn kernels and chopped scallions to the bowl with the dressing and toss until it’s evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper and serve.(This is my opinion but I think this dish would be awesome served cold too!)

As always, thanks for checking out my blog! Now go out there and enjoy the summer!

xoxo

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Shrimp Tacos

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Fresh Shrimp Tacos

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Seriously I want to eat this again right now.

You will need: 

  • 3 limes
  • 1 cup chopped seeded tomato
  • 1/2 cup diced peeled avocado
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 jalapeño pepper(you can omit if you don’t like spicy)
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 pound cooked, peeled medium shrimp
  • Corn tortillas (or any tortillas you want)

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Then do this:
  1. Marinate the shrimp. Make sure to choose a nonreactive bowl, such as one that is glass or ceramic; a metal or copper bowl will react with the citrus juice to give the shrimp a metallic taste.GROSS!
  2. To marinate: Finely grate rind from limes to measure 1 tablespoon; juice limes to measure 1/4 cup. Place rind and juice in a large bowl. Add tomato and remaining ingredients except tortillas; toss well to combine. Cover and chill for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Heat tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/2 cup shrimp mixture down center of each tortilla and top with more cilantro if you want; fold in half. Eat immediately.

OMG this probably has like 4 grams of fat (and It’s from the avocado(so healthy fat!) and sooooo delicious. Serve with an ice cold margarita (probably not fat free 🙂 ) and this is a fiesta in my mouth!! Also because I’m a wino i would recommend a young riesling or an Argentinian Rosé like Crios.

Enjoy!

xoxo

-G

Vegan Quinoa & Sweet Potato Chili

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Vegan Quinoa & Sweet Potato Chili

makes 6 hearty bowls of chili

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Ingredients:

one 29 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
one 6 oz can tomato paste
32 oz vegetable stock
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks
1 cup dry quinoa
salt and pepper to taste
avocado, cilantro for garnish  (optional)

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Then What To Do:

Heat oil in a large heavy soup pot over medium low heat. Add onions and cook until soft and they start to turn brown (about 10 minutes). Add the garlic, and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Then add the following: tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, and oregano and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the beans, stock, and potatoes, and season with salt and pepper . Cook for about 5 minutes and add the quinoa. Continue cooking for about 15 minutes – 30 minutes(Mine took closer to the 3o minute mark that the 15), stirring frequently, until quinoa and potatoes are cooked. The chili will have also thickened- if it has become too thick for your tastes you can add a bit of water. Your’e done! Now, top with avocado and/or chopped cilantro & try not to eat it all! 🙂

*I really like hot foods! (hot as is spicy) so I added a dried chili pepper to this as well. I just kind of crushed/chopped it up and added it the same time as the beans, stock etc…Hope you enjoy!

xoxo

-G