Quinoa Two Ways

Do you watch Top Chef?  Bryan and I love it.  We don't even know what half the stuff they make is/tastes like, but it's a great show. For a while the chefs were all making ______ two ways, so it became one of those jokes between us. Well, I have recipes for "quinoa two ways" that are perfect to make on the weekend and eat for lunch during the week.  Quinoa (keen-wa) is a good source of protein and fiber so it's a great new food to add to your lineup.

Savory Mexican Quinoa

From Annie's Eats

Thanks to my coworkers I was introduced to Annie's Eats several years ago. She is a regular Midwesterner with an amazing baking and cooking talent. Her recipes range from easy to complex with a wide variety of sweet and savory.  When I saw this quinoa recipe I had two thoughts: 1. Yum, a tex-mex recipe and 2. I think quinoa looks a little nasty. So I wasn't ready to try it right away. After seeing quinoa in recipe after recipe on Pinterest I decided to give it a try, and Annie's version was my first experiment.  I like this dish hot, so when I pack it for lunch I just give it a quick reheat in the microwave. 

Sweet Chopped Salad With Quinoa, Sweet Potatoes, and Apples

From Sprouted Kitchen

With my new-found love of sweet potatoes I thought this would be an easy recipe to try from Sprouted Kitchen. This is a blog I found on my search for whole food blogs.  The author's husband takes beautiful pictures of her healthy veggie rich foods.  I want to love vegetables as much as the author seems to love vegetables (I'll get there one day). This salad is really simple and yummy. The method she uses to cook the sweet potatoes makes them so delicious they almost didn't make the salad; I couldn't stop eating them. In order to bring this salad for lunch I left the dressing off until I was ready to eat it. The sweet potatoes don't taste as delicious after being refrigerated, but they're still good in the salad. I will try a balsamic dressing next time since the apple cider is a little on the sour side.

Don't let the look or the strange name stop you from trying this healthy food; give quinoa a try. The texture is between rice and lentils, and by itself has very little flavor so it mixes well with savory and sweet foods.  It seems like quinoa is the new "it" food so there are endless recipes to fit your tastes. Happy experimenting!