Quinoa Beet Salad

I recently started training at another restaurant for yes...a THIRD serving job!  I'm crazy, I know.  Anyway, I got to try a special there of a quinoa and beet salad that was soooo delicious!!! So, I decided to make it at home alongside a pan-seared lemon-garlic-peppered cod.  The combination was delicious!!!

Here is how I made the salad:

1/2 cup dried quinoa (then cook it and let it cool)

While that is cooking, cut up 

1 peeled cucumber

handful of cherry tomatoes

2 celery stalks

1/2 container of marinated beets

let marinate in cider vinegar, olive oil, pepper and dill

Add quinoa and stir everything together and add a little beet juice to it. 

Let it chill in the fridge for about an hour

Serve chilled and top with arugula or watercress with a little balsamic vinegar drizzled over the top.

Vegan Mexican Quinoa

A few months ago, I made a Mediterranean Quinoa bowl seen here.  I wanted to change it up a bit and decided to make a Mexican Quinoa bowl.
Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

1 red bell pepper

1/4 onion

2 zucchini

2 cups kale

1 can black beans

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 tbsp olive oil

cumin

cayenne pepper

2 limes

avocado (optional)

While the quinoa is cooking, mince the garlic and let it simmer with olive oil for 2 minutes on medium low heat.  Then add diced zucchini, kale, cumin and cayenne pepper (to season) and sautee for 5 minutes.  Add in the rinsed black beans and cook for 5 more minutes.  Meanwhile, cut red bell pepper and onion to put in the food processor to make a sauce.  Squeeze limes on the veggie mix, then mix quinoa, veggies and sauce together well.  Top with avocado and ENJOY!

{Veggie} Enchiladas

Mexican food is my absolute favorite!!!  I like it if is Authentic, Tex-Mex, Americanized, I like it all.  When I'm in Orange County, I always go to El Torito with my family-it is good, consistent and the servers know us by name.  I recreated their Spinach Enchiladas at home and made it my own and it turned out sooooo good...and healthy.  I used 100% whole wheat tortillas and served it with shredded kale, pico de gallo and quinoa. Delish!!!

Everything I used

I sautéed the veggies in olive oil with cumin and cayenne pepper.
Then added the black beans  

Rolled the mix in tortillas with sauce and cheese.
Then baked for 25 min! So easy =)

Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl

I am VERY new to cooking, but I am loving it so far! I was inspired by Native Foods' Greek Gyro Bowl and decided to try making it at home for the husband and me.  I used this recipe as a start but added my own veggies of choice and of course some pita and hummus to dip with it.  It turned out super good!

I used organic quinoa from Trader Joes.
(Anthropologie measuring cup)

Grilled tofu and herbs.

I chopped cucumber, bell peppers, tomatoes, parsley
and steamed kale and broccoli for veggies.