Coconut Quinoa and Apple Salad

Salad is, like, my thing right now.

And I don't mean iceberg lettuce and cheese. I mean good salads. Super salads. Powerhouse salads.

My world changed a month or two ago when I suddenly realized that I could put fruit on salads. I've always made mine with things like broccoli, hard-boiled eggs, carrots, feta, etc. But then Pinterest came along, and I started collecting super salads. And then I found this recipe, with quinoa cooked in coconut milk. I was sold.

The problem is that I can't afford to buy pomegranate every week. So I adapted the recipe to my budget level. But that doesn't mean it's less awesome; I found it equally enchanting to my taste buds. :) It also fills me up without weighing me down! I love this dish.

They may not be pomegranates...but how can you not like APPLES?!

Coconut Quinoa and Apple Salad

Adapted from the Sprouted Kitchen

1/2 c coconut milk

1/4 c quinoa

1 heaping plate full of greens! (Either spinach or mixed baby greens, like I used)

1/2 an apple, diced

handful of raisins

small handful of sliced almonds

For a citrusy drizzle:

1 tbsp. lemon, lime, or orange juice (I used lime)

1/2 tbsp. olive oil

dash of salt

splash of coconut milk (optional)

1. Bring the coconut milk to a boil, add the quinoa, and reduce heat to low or medium low. Simmer for 15 minutes. Be careful! Sometimes it cooks weirdly fast, and I'll return to the stove to find it dried out and burnt to the bottom of the pan. I hate that! In other words, check on it occasionally. You may need to add more milk or turn down your burner.

2. Cook until the quinoa is cooked (not hard) and the liquid is mostly absorbed. Transfer to a bowl and place in a fridge. I like to spread it out so it cools faster. (I also make the quinoa in a larger batch and just keep it stocked in my fridge, so I always have some cooled coconut quinoa ready!)

3. Prepare the rest of your salad while the quinoa is cooling. On top of your "heaping plate full of greens," add the diced apple (I used organic Braeburn), raisins, and sliced almonds. 

4. Mix together the ingredients for the citrusy drizzle. I like it with the coconut milk because it makes the whole salad all wonderfully coconuty.

5. Spoon the quinoa over the salad. It might be a little warm still, but I didn't mind that. If that bothers you, you can wait until it cools more.

6. Drizzle on the citrusy dressing, and munch, munch, munch!

Probably the healthiest thing I've ever eaten four days in a row.

The Best Day

I have had the best day ever. Well, kind of. But it does really seem like things are going my way today.

I started my day off right with some fun and delicious Choconut Oatmeal.

For lunch, I made linguini with my homemade tomato sauce and lentil balls, with a salad consisting of baby greens, grapefruit segments, raisins, sunflower seeds, and a raspberry-lime-coconut vinaigrette.

In the afternoon, I dragged myself to the wellness center. I really didn't want to be there. But after just 2 laps of running, I suddenly felt great. I knew I was going to run more than a mile. Gleefully, I ran a mile and a half...which sounds anticlimactic, but not if you consider that I haven't run more than a mile at a time since high school. I was considering continuing to two miles, but then my lungs really started hurting, so I wimped out. :)

Then I went to my beloved grocery store, which I actually haven't been to for nearly two weeks! And wouldn't you know it? They've expanded the health market section. And guess what one of the many new products is? A blend of almond milk and coconut milk. I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP. I was so excited that I opened it up as soon as I got to the car and took a swig. Such an interesting flavor! It begins with that typical nutty flavor I know and love, but then it hits you with the coconut. Bam!

Soon, it was time to make dinner. I had purchased all the ingredients to make this fantastic shredded brussels sprouts and apple salad...including the tofu. I really hate tofu. Or at least I thought I did. But then I read somewhere that if you tried tofu and didn't like it, it's because it wasn't prepared right. So I decided to give it another chance.

Um, this salad is possibly the best thing I have ever made (although I'm not sure it could beat my chili...or roasted butternut squash and kale pizza). I have been allllll about interesting salads lately (check out my Pinterest board!), but this one just blew me away. Charred, flavorful, sweet from the apples, crunchy from the almonds (I used sliced almonds instead of pine nuts), and.....that TOFU. I caramelized mine by sauteing it with olive oil, salt, garlic, and blackstrap molasses. It was crisp and sweet and smokey and wonderful...and it didn't taste anything like that dreadful sponge in the package!

Let me make this clear: if you've tried tofu and didn't like it, it's because it wasn't prepared right.

And then, just because I was so delighted with the world and needed some dessert, I made a glass of pina colada soft serve, with just three beautiful ingredients: frozen bananas, frozen pineapple, and coconut milk. And gosh darn it, it was the perfect ending to a great day. It was super healthy, yet it tasted far more rich and decadent than a brownie, or my mother's amazing baked cheesecake.

I tell you, my friends: clean eating is a blast and a half.

Resolutions and Tostadas

I was never one to make resolutions. Or, I should say, I was never one to follow through on them.

That changed last year when I decided to take on flexitarianism. I guess you could say it was a pretty successful resolution, considering I converted to vegetarianism at the end of August. I proved to myself that I can follow through on resolutions, as long as it's something that's attainable, something I value, and specific. For example, it's way easier to hold myself accountable to "Drink 5 glasses of water a day" than "Drink more water." The specificity of "I can't consume meat more than one meal a day" forced me to always challenge myself far more than "Eat less meat" would have.

Anyway...I've been considering these resolutions for months. I'm a planner like that. Naturally, I've considered a lot of food-related ones, such as "Lighten up on the peanut butter, you psycho," or "No non-organic soy." But ultimately, I decided to avoid those. As a perfectionist, putting myself under that kind of pressure can be a little problematic. Plus, my quest for good nutrition is a step-by-step journey. I don't believe I need any monumental "resolutions" to make them happen.

So without further ado, I present my resolutions for 2012: 

1. Exercise for 2.5 hours a week. It doesn't have to be intense, but it has to get my heart thumping! I'm not trying to burn calories or train for a marathon; I'm simply hoping to keep my heart and lungs healthy and vivacious!

2. Floss at least every other day. My dentist loves my teeth. Like, he loves them. Sometimes, I feel like he wants to turn my mouth into an art exhibit. He's always saying things like, "Beauuuutiful teeth.... Wow.... You have such excellent home-care... Beautiful.... Perfect...." I take great pride in my dental hygiene, to the point where I actually brush my teeth around four times a day. Yet I don't floss. That needs to change. I would commit to "Floss daily," but then I would give up if I accidentally missed a day. This way, I have wiggle room for mistakes.

I wanted to make more; I'm just full of ideas for self-improvement! But I knew I had to narrow them down and prioritize. These two alone will challenge me sufficiently.

So anyway, I've had a delicious start to 2012. I reheated my fantastic 3-bean and quinoa chili for lunch (I swear it gets better every time I taste it!), and I made a bean and avocado tostada for dinner.

I got the idea for the tostada from one of my favorite restaurants. It's usually made with a giant helping of iceberg lettuce, so I was excited to make it myself, using fat-free refried beans (which is apparently not fried in oil...so the question is...how did they fry it? haha), a whole wheat tortilla, and organic spring mix.

P.S. Are you aware that "refried" is actually a mistranslation? These beans have not been fried twice, as the name suggests. "Refritos" literally translates to "well-fried," and not "refried."

Happy New Year!

What I've been up to..

So I've been pretty active in my kitchen lately, now that I don't have to spend allllllllll my time on homework and reading assignments. For some reason, now of it has ended up on the blog, so I thought I'd sum it all up now. :)

A couple days ago, I made baked oatmeal for the first time. I tried a pumpkin variation, using this recipe. Except I didn't have any eggs, so I vegan-ized it. It was quite wonderful. The only downfall is that baked oatmeal takes so long to make! I can whip up my stove top oatmeal in less than ten minutes, including cook time. This oatmeal requires about half an hour.

Yesterday, I made my signature tomato sauce. I was about halfway through when I remembered I was supposed to be keeping track of how much of everything I put in (so I could share the recipe). So I guess that will have to wait until next time. Anyway, I just used it for some pasta. I used whole wheat linguini, with a ginormous heap of spinach and mixed greens salad with feta and sunflower seeds, drizzled with olive oil to hold it all together. A great meal. :)

Anyway, the real reason I made the tomato sauce was because I had a genius plan for today. Using Jennifer Perillo's lentil burger recipe, I will be making "meatballs." Then, I will assemble it into a meatball marinara sandwich. I have a fantastic loaf of bread that my boss gave me yesterday; it's a garlic-y baguette with Italian herbs on top. My meatballs will love it. :) I will let you know how this all turns out.

And this morning, I made whole wheat pumpkin waffles. They pretty much made my apartment smell like Christmas! Because maple syrup makes me sick, I slathered a light coating of peanut butter on mine, and then lightly drizzled it with honey. Then I tossed on a handful of raisins, for good measure. Num, num, num. :)