On the menu today—Black-Bean and Tomato Quinoa

This morning I saw a tweet go by from Wil Wheaton (aka Wesley Crusher). He was commenting on a recipe that he had tried the night before. First thing I thought was hmmmm, maybe I can try that for dinner tonight, then my second thought was "hey...is he vegetarian?"



Sprouted Quinoa

 The main ingredient is quinoa. I've cooked with quinoa before but I had just purchased a bag of "sprouted quinoa" so this was the perfect opportunity to try it out.

I'm reproducing the recipe here (with a few modifications) from the Epicurious web site:







Black-Bean and Tomato Quinoa

• 1 teaspoon grated lime zest 
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled 
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3/4 teaspoon agave syrup (can use 1 tsp of sugar)
• 2 cups of vegetable broth OR water
• 1 cup quinoa 
• 1 (14- to 15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained 
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 4 green onions, chopped 
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro ( for those like me who hate cilantro, use fresh parsley or a small amount of basil)

Whisk together lime zest and juice, butter, oil, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl.

If you're not using sprouted quinoa, then you need to wash the quinoa in 3 changes of cold water in a bowl, draining in a sieve each time.

I cooked the quinoa directly in the vegetable broth, similar to cooking rice.The actual instructions require a bit more pampering: Cook quinoa in a medium pot of boiling salted water (1 tablespoon salt for 2 quarts water), uncovered, until almost tender, about 10 minutes. Drain in sieve, then set sieve in same pot with 1 inch of simmering water (water should not touch bottom of sieve). Cover quinoa with a folded kitchen towel, then cover sieve with a lid (don't worry if lid doesn't fit tightly) and steam over medium heat until tender, fluffy, and dry, about 10 minutes. Remove the pot from heat and remove lid. Let stand, still covered with towel, 5 minutes.

Add quinoa to dressing and toss until dressing is absorbed, then stir in remaining ingredients and salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 4 servings

Nutritional Information for 1 Serving (when made with water)

  379 Calories
  12g Fat
  15g Protein

  53g Carbohydrate

  11 g Dietary Fiber

  15mg Cholesterol

  439mg Sodium

I concur with WW it was amazing !! although mine turned out a bit mushy (probably because I didn't take the time to "pamper" the quinoa, like the recipe said to)!

Awkward soup moments

So...you are sitting down for dinner at a friend's house and they place a bowl of homemade soup in front of you. As a vegetarian, this can be an awkward moment! You know your friend is aware you are veg but did they make the soup with a vegetable stock?  Chances are, the soup base is probably made from meat. In my short time as a vegetarian this has happened to me several times.

What should you do?  Do you ask if the soup was made with a meat stock? If the answer comes back yes, then what?

I posed this question to a few people who I know are veg and got back differnet answers.  One said absolutlely no, they would not eat it. In order to avoid any awkwardness, they would politely decline without even asking if there was meat in it. The majority however, said that they would eat it, no questions asked. Most felt that you would be placing the host/hostess in an awkward position if you ask and it turns out that there is meat stock in it.

What would you do?

Breakfast cereal made from chia seeds

One of the first raw food recipes that I tried, was for a breakfast cereal. I generally don't eat cereal in the morning, but I was intrigued by one of the main ingredients....chia seeds!

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear chia seeds, is the infamous Chia Pet! It seems a bit weird that the same seeds used to grow funky hair on chia pets, are actually an ancient food source with a high source of Omega 3, protein, and essential minerals.  Here's the recipe if you are interested in trying something different  in your morning routine.

Chia seeds


Chia Cereal
1/8 cup chia seeds
1/8 cup pumpkin seeds
1/8 cup raisins
1/8 cup dried cranberries
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup of almond milk

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Let the cereal sit for about 10 minutes. Chia seeds can absorb more than 12 times their weight in liquid, so waiting the 10 minutes will cause the chia seeds to swell up and reduce the liquids. The chia seeds become almost gelatinous after absorbing the milk. Eating the chia cereal is almost like eating tapioca. Very tasty! Makes 1 serving.

Nutritional Information for 1 Serving
  233 Calories
  9g Fat
  7g Protein
  34g Carbohydrate
   2 g Dietary Fiber
   0mg Cholesterol
  16mg Sodium