Quinoa Black Bean Salad - Combined

When I was planning my menu this week, I knew I wanted to make Quinoa Black Bean Salad.  But I discovered that there were two yummy looking recipes on the blog to choose from.  So I took a little from one and a little from the other - and this is what I got!

mine didn't look exactly like this...but you get the idea

INGREDIENTS

1 cup quinoa, washed and drained
1 ¾ cups water
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 2 fresh limes
1 teaspoon cumin

1 clove garlic, minced
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half (optional - I didn't use any this time because fresh tomatoes are on "baby no like" list since I've been pregnant)
1 red bell pepper (I like it cut small)
1 avocado cut into chunks
5 green onions, finely chopped
Salt (pepper – optional) to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1 Wash and rinse quinoa. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Once hot, add the rinsed quinoa and toast for a minute or two.  Add water, stir once, cover and simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes.  Watch it though and turn it off as soon as the liquid is absorbed!

 2 In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, cumin, salt, and garlic.

3 Combine cooked quinoa, beans, red pepper, tomatoes, and green onions in a large bowl.

4 Drizzle dressing over salad.  Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.  Can also add cilantro and/or red pepper flakes.


As a note - this is great as a side dish to a meal (one of the boys declared it tasted like guacamole), but also keeps well in the fridge for a healthy, protein packed lunch or snack. 

Apple Dip

I've seen these recipes all over the internet ... had to try it.

'twas tasty.

I think I used this recipe ... but I didn't do the whole recipe ... as you can see.

The full recipe is ... 

1 (8oz) package of cream cheese, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract.  

Mix all ingredients together with an electric mixer.

Dip into it with apple slices.

mmm. mmm. good.

Greek Salad Skewers

I wish I had a better picture of these.  I snapped this one quickly as I was in a hurry plating for a luncheon where these were part of the menu.    I saw them on pinterest and thought they looked easy, tasty and healthy.   I changed the ratios a little bit.  Tomatoes are expensive and I was making these for a lot of people so I used half a cherry tomato.  I like olives so I used a whole olive.  I didn't read the recipe in it's entirety, so I didn't do the dressing!  Oops!  I don't know that I would though ... they were good just like this. 

How I did mine ... 

On each toothpick .... half a cherry tomato, a slice of lebanese cucumber, one pitted kalamata olive, one square of feta.

Sundried Tomato Hummus

We went to visit some family a few months ago and my sister in law served the most amazing hummus that I've ever eaten.  It was sundried tomato hummus and she just made it up.  I asked her to list out the ingredients to the best of her recollection and I've been playing with it since.  This last batch I made was the closest but still not as amazing as hers!  But .... I like it well enough to share and well enough that I'll make it this way from now on. 
 

Don't be alarmed by the vague measurements, just taste as you go.  Put into a food processor the following ingredients.

Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), 2 cans, drained
Garlic, 4 cloves, roughly chopped  (more or less, depending on who garlicky you like things)
Juice of one small lemon
Honey, 1 teaspoon
Sun dried tomato, I used a small jar (again, adjust to taste)

Some but not all of the oil in the jar of SD tomatoes
Soy sauce, start with 2 teaspoons and adjust to taste.  I did end up adding a bit more the other night.
Sweet paprika, 2 teaspoons (and you got it ... adjust to taste)

Whiz it up in the food processor.  I let it go for a few minutes until everything is pretty well smooth.  There were a few small chunks left in mine.  I didn't mind.  You can adjust that to your preference.  Taste it, if you think it needs salt, add a little bit more soy sauce.  Whiz a bit more. 

Serve with crackers of your choice.  I used plain and seaweed rice crackers.

Hot Sauce Popcorn

My nine year old son and I are addicted to this stuff.



I was craving buffalo boneless wings one afternoon.
I didn't have chicken defrosted, didn't really want to eat that much
but needed a snack and just couldn't get the hot sauce out of my mind !!!!!!

This is the result.
Super easy to make.

Pop some popcorn. However much you want.

Melt some butter, however much you would melt for the amount of popcorn you made.

Add hot sauce to taste. (I add about double the hot sauce to the amount of butter)

I use Franks Red Hot & I have a giant Costco bottle that we brought back with us this last trip !

I warm the hot sauce and butter in the microwave.

(or you could do it on the stove if you don't use a MW)

Pour it on top of the pop corn !

Seriously addictive !

Peanut Butter / Choc Chip Popcorn

I got this recipe from my friend Kris.
She's an extraordinary cook !
I hope that one day I can convince her
to start posting recipes here !

I did this exactly as she told me, except that I had some choc chips in the pantry that begged me to throw them into the mix ... I just couldn't resist their pleas !



This is so simple.
Not to mention yummy.

All you need is:
30g butter
45g peanut butter ~ I use one that is 100% peanuts, no sugar
1 tablespoon PURE maple syrup
choc chips ~ optional, if you can resist them
popped popcorn

I pop my popcorn in a pan. A big pan. I cover the bottom of the pan with olive oil, add the popcorn, put the lid on, turn on the heat. I use a med/high heat. I have experimented a bit and found the high heat burned my pan. Med/high doesn't. If you have a popcorn popper, use that. Just get some popped popcorn. Kris says this covers 3 cups of popcorn. I did it the other day and it was probably more like 6 or even 9 cups and it was still deliciously plenty !!

Put the butter, peanut butter and maple syrup in a bowl and microwave ... not even a minute. You just want the butter to melt. Mix thoroughly. Pour on top of popped popcorn and give it a good mix with a spoon. YUM YUM YUM. Don't forget to add the choc chips ....

The kids love this. I love it too ... and I'm not a big fan of peanut butter. Jono says it tastes like caramel.

What's for Lunch ?

A yummy snack ...

Cheese slices, tomato slices, Vita Wheats and Annie's Honey Muesli Slice.

See how perfectly these fit in the kids lunch boxes ??
And there's room for other stuff on the top !