Quinoa Beet & Blood Orange Salad

Sometimes you just get in the mood to cook.  

This Sunday was a cook-fest for us, one of those where we were jockeying for position in the kitchen because we both wanted to be in there.  It ended by feeding a small group of friends whom quickly become very full and happy, so that worked out well.

I will say that if/when I make this again, I may leave out the green onions they threw the taste off a little, in my opinion.  I also could not find Kumquats at two stores I was at so those got omitted.   Additionally I did not put avocado in, as I was a little hesitant there was too much going on.  Maybe next time I will put them in.

Green onions, chopped. 

Here we have the zest of blood orange.  You will soon see where these oranges get their names.

Quinoa, most definetly good for you.   I think next time I am going to buy nire red quinoa because it is full of iron.

Zest of a lemon

Simple Lemon Squeeze

At Trader Joe's they have some frozen herbs, here we have Cilantro.  Much easier then letting cilantro rot in your fridge because you only used half on your tacos.

Sea Salt a pantry staple.

Can we all say blood oranges together.   "Blood Oranges, oh yes."

A little labor intensive, but get to peeling.

Then to chopping.

Here we have such a beautiful mortar and pestal.   We recieved such amazing gifts for our wedding.

I must admit when I searched the spice hodge podge and found the whole coriander only I was a little dissapointed.  As if I hadn't done enough labor already.  But it felt super domestic and I was wearing my super cute domestic apron, so I got to smashing.

Add in some spices.

Now once you get all of this together you start hearing "aaaaah" sounds in your head.  It is so pretty, right?

Wow, what a masterpiece.

Here is the dressing portion of the  salad.

Last you fold in the beets, I had cooked these the day before and wow are they gorgeous.

Do you want some?

Eat Well and Play Well and have a Soulful Sunday~

Beet, Blood Orange, Kumquat, and Quinoa Salad

Photo by: Photo: Anna Williams; Styling: Pam Morris

• YIELD: 4 servings
• TOTAL:32 Minutes
• COURSE: Salads

Ingredients

• Dressing:
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
• 2 teaspoons grated blood orange rind
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 2 tablespoons blood orange juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salad:
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 cup blood orange sections, chopped (about 4 medium)
• 1 cup diced peeled avocado
• 6 whole kumquats, seeded and sliced
• 2 medium beets, cooked and cut into wedges

Preparation

1. To prepare dressing, combine first 10 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add oil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Set aside.
2. To prepare salad, place quinoa in a fine sieve, and place sieve in a large bowl. Cover quinoa with water. Using your hands, rub grains together for 30 seconds; rinse and drain. Repeat procedure twice. Drain well.
3. Combine 1 3/4 cups water, quinoa, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat; fluff with a fork. Combine quinoa, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, blood orange sections, avocado, and kumquats in a large bowl, tossing gently to combine. Add dressing; toss gently to coat salad. Spoon 1 cup salad onto each of 4 plates; top each serving with about 1/2 cup beets.

This recipe is from the MyRecipes website.

Pizza On the Grill

Have you tried pizza on the grill yet?   We tried it at our house a while back and it went pretty well despite the extra inch around the edges that probably could have been filled up with goodies.

This has got to be healthier than any take away pizza that you can find right?

Eat Well and Play Well Tonight~

Sweet Potato Coconut Soup

You say tomatoe, I say tomato.

You say potatoe, I say potato,

You say yam, I say sweet potato.

(Technically, a sweet potatoe is not a yam, but so many of us call the below a sweet potato, so I will stick to that on today's show)

What I have done here is washed the sweet potatoe, poked it with a fork a few times and placed in the oven or toaster oven if you have one for about 45 minutes. Temp can be somewhere over 425 degrees.

Now, this simple process can be done for a simple prepping of a snack or side dish for a busy moment in the week.  I often bake up 2-4 of these at a time, just so that I have them on hand for the next few days.  Let's be honest, who has time to wait for 50 minutes for one of these to cook when you actually want one.  Not me, so I do it when cooking a different meal or running a circle of other chores.    Package them up with butter and cinnamon and a perfect midday snack at the office. 

Back to the soup... once it is cooled enough to handle, peel of the skins and place in the bowl.  Now this recipe only called for one large sweet potato.   Now after tasting how yummy it was, I wished I would have doubled it.

Low Sodium Vegetable Broth helps here.

 

Coconut Milk is pretty fatty so opt for the light.

This is curry, I got it at a Vietnamese store I went to with my coworker, but I think you can find it other places as well.    (Have you tried curry in your chicken salad sandwich?)

Marsala, I just happenned to have it.

 

A little Cayenne Pepper

Watch out bowl, you are about to get mxed up.

Blender stick comes in handy here.

Here we have a very non fancy piece of toasted bread with butter and parmesan.  Actually I believe this is Romano, left over from another time.

Yummy lunch or light dinner.

This recipe comes from Jenna at Eat Live Run whom is abloggess...

Beets and Simple Beet Salad

I must tell you this is the first time I have cooked beets before peeling them. 

This is the ticket, I think I was doing it all wrong before.  

Just wash them and you'll peel them later.

The magic trio: salt, pepper and extra virgin virgin olive oil...

 

Roast for about an hour or more.  Tray filled with an inch or so of water, covered in tin foil.

Isn't this amazing!   It was a heart shaped beet!  And the color was to die for.  This was a golden beet.

Aah such a cute lil heart.

A couple more heart pictures...

Here are the beets after they came out of the oven and after they have been peeled.  
Such a striking bowl. 

Feta, more olive oil and a bowl.

Time to cut them into beautiful wedges.

This is combo of golden beets and red beets.

Look at the markings, aren't they amazing?

Just a couple more shots because they are that pretty.

Next you add some fresh lemon.

Lemon

Salt

Here I am making an extra dressing of lemon juice and olive oil.

And serve over greens.

Beets are super healthy for you, and they are full of fiber, a nice bonus.