I like to plan my meals around my dessert, and after a dessert like cheesecake, I can’t help but crave endless amounts of veggies<—that would be my nutrition side talking. Hey, I have to be a nutritionist some how, right? Wednesday wasn’t really a family dinner night at Rose Court because the boys were all gone (well, except Hayden). That being said, I decided to do something quick, but lite, especially after that dessert.
For quite some time now, I’ve been wanting to make quinoa, but had no luck with an eye catching recipe. (Any suggestions for the future would be lovely!)
So desperate for something with protein, but not wanting MEAT, I figured eh, just wing it.
Try spontaneity cooking… you’ll surprise yourself!
I sautéed up a heaping amount of corn, spinach, peas, green beans, and of course, garlic. Then I threw a good dose of spices in there, and Parmesan cheese for salty goodness.
1 cup of uncooked quinoa made roughly 3 cups of cooked quinoa! Hayden ended up making his own concoction (Pork Teryiak Quinoa), which looked scrumptious. I was so proud that he was eating quinoa :)
Anywho, I added some pesto (about 1 tbsp) to the whole grain because it’s pretty similar to eating plain rice. It needs a little love, ya know?
Oh, did I mention that I added a little bit of chopped carrot (raw) in there for some crunch?
I had a full plate as you can tell, but I but didn’t end up finishing it (Lunch for tomorrow!). Within 5 minutes of consuming half of that plate, I felt like I had just eaten a bag of quinoa. Like I said, this stuff is amazing, or maybe, I’m just a quinoa nerd.
“It is believed that Quinoa first started to be cultivated over 5000 years ago in the mountains of Bolivia and was the staple diet of INCA warriors who would feast on this nutritious food while preparing for battle. Not only is this grain versatile in many recipes, but it’s an amazing staple to incorporate into your diet for great energy like the Incas did before battle. I don’t want to bore you with too much nutrition info, so if you’d like, read here and here to learn more in-depth about it. For now, just know that this fluffy grain packs a mean protein punch. (Wanna know how much protein you should be getting? You should be eating .8 grams of protein per kilograms of your body weight….or you could just ask me, and I can help ya out with that ;) )
So why is it when I say quinoa, people look at me like I’m speaking another language? Well first of all, if you’re like me, you probably first called it “kinowa”… it’s pronounced “keen-wa” so start practicing! Secondly, and more importantly, a large part of it has to do with America’s poor knowledge of whole grains (not to mention lack there of). However, that can all change, or at least that’s one of my dreams! And yes, you can help me in the quinoa movement!
Why not try it out sometime? My mindset tonight was to cook it similar to rice (although it is way faster: 12 minutes), and use it like rice. Or if you’re in the mood, find a recipe and prepare it that way. There’s endless ways to make a dish with quinoa: serve it hot or cold; vegetarian, or meat-lovers style.
And I gotta say, if Hayden Radke liked it, anyone will like it :)
More on quinoa in the future!
Love at First Bite 