Recently my friend, a registered dietitian, invited me to attend a cleanse presentation she was kicking off last month. I was pretty skeptical when I arrived for the presentation (as I live with a processed food junkie) but she did a great job presenting her plan and offered us samples of products I never would have tried before like almond milk protein shakes and and gluten free bread. I was really impressed!
I walked out of the meeting feeling energized and that this plan was healthy, functional and effective. After about a week of chewing on what I wanted to do, I decided that although the cleanse might still be in my future, now was not the best time for me to give it a go. Still, with the food list in hand, I decided to start myself on a modified version of the cleanse and view future shopping trips as a lifestyle change for both D and I. More veggies, lean proteins and whole grains.
I spent 2 hours wandering around Whole Foods just checking out all the foods I had never bothered to consider. I couldn't believe how many things I hadn't considered before- "ancient grains" , a large variety of veggies, healthy oils & natural options and the rich benefits they provide.
The very first meal I made post-shopping trip was baked chicken breast and Quoina. I had never eaten, let alone made, Quoina before and I wasn't sure how it was going to go for me. Luckily though, I had the recipe below to get me started. Couldn't have been a more prefect introduction!! I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did.
Note: I used about 3/4 of the garbanzo beans, olives and tomatoes listed below.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 1 can (14 oz.) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 1/2 cups quartered cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup pitted and sliced kalamata olives
Vinaigrette:
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 3/4 tsp honey
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 large mint leaves, thinly sliced (optional -- I omitted and it was still VERY tasty)!
Instructions
In a fine-mesh strainer, rinse quinoa well and drain.
In a medium pot, combine quinoa and water. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn heat to low. Cook until all the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, fluff the quinoa and transfer to a cookie sheet, spreading the quinoa in a thin layer, to cool.
In a large bowl, mix together cooled quinoa, chickpeas, tomatoes and kalamata olives. Stir well.
For the dressing, whisk together white wine vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. While whisking constantly, slow pour in olive oil until combined.
Pour the dressing over the quinoa salad, toss to coat and stir in fresh mint. Serve.
http://www.cookincanuck.com/2011/07/quinoa-salad-with-chickpeas-kalamata-olives-mint-recipe/
