Quinoa the super (yummy) grain!

Many have not heard of this super grain, but when you do you will be glad you did! It's uncommon to hear words like protien, animo acids, and loaded with vitamins and minerals when discussing a grain but this is the case when you are talking about Quinoa. Do not let the health factor deter you from this wonderfully healthy food, it tastes great as well. You can make it like rice and use chicken broth instead of water to complement your meal or if you are feeling adventurous try this great salad:

While at home on my mat leave I became a fan of Chef at Home on FoodTv. I took Michael Smith's advise and made this recipe my own with a few little changes.

To begin cook two cups of quinoa(I used a mix of red and white quinoa for colour) in the rice cooker with 4 cups of chicken broth. Make this ahead of time as you want it cool to put your salad together.

In a bowl combine:

cooled cooked quinoa

2 grated carrots

1/2 bunch chopped flat leaf (Italian) parsley

1 bunch chopped green onions

2 diced small red peppers

1/2 diced cucumber

zest of one lemon

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Serve and enjoy!

It's amazingly simple and delicious to boot. I like a bit of spice in my food and a little fresh chopped jalepeno pepper for some heat.

Lunch with a friend

Many people shy away from a vegetarian meal and as my mom would say, she was not completely full unless she had meat in her meal. I think this couldn't be furthest from the truth and with a little imagination you can have a wonderful healthy and meat free lunch. My friend came over to help me after my recent move and I took the opportunity to make a lovely salad. My question is always do you like this.... on your salad and it was great to have someone say sure, anyway you want to make it! I had some artisan greens I picked up at Costco and added arugula, carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, sliced almonds, and to top it off drizzled it with lemon juice and basil infused grapeseed oil. Now we can't be totally healthy, where would the fun in that be. I severed the salad with Lemon Chili Cassava chips. For those of you who haven't tasted cassava, it closely resembles potatoes and makes for great crunchy chips. You can find them at specialty food stores or Punjabi markets. Happy shopping!