Brussels & Quinoa

I found this recipe while perusing Pintrist the other day and decided to add it into my meal plan for this week.  It was my first time cooking quinoa, brussels, and leeks – so don’t be intimidated if you’ve never tried to work with them before!  If I can do it, so can you!

Overall it was fairly easy to make…and better yet, delicious to eat.  I can’t take all the credit, however…this recipe was originally found on The Gluten Free Goddess Blog…the pictures are my own.

If you’ve never prepared leeks and/or brussels sprouts before I suggest you take a quick look at these videos so that you know what you’re getting yourself into.  Very easy to do…and will help keep sand from being cooked with your food 🙂

Video From Gourmet Magazine Test Kitchen : How to Prepare Leeks 

Video From Fine Cooking:  How to Prepare Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:

1 cup Quinoa
1 leek, washed, trimmed, sliced
1 lb. Brussels sprouts, washed, trimmed, halved (or quartered, if large)
1/4 cup silvered blanched almonds
1/4 cup plump golden raisins, packed (I used regular raisins, since that’s what I already had)
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar (U used regular balsamic vinegar, since that’s what I already had)
Sea salt, to taste
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried dill

Instructions:

1.  Prepare the quinoa according to the package directions (approx. 1 c. quinoa + 2 c. water, boil, turn down heat and simmer until the water is gone and the quinoa is fluffy)

2.  Preheat oven to 400 Deg F.

3.  Prepare the leeks and brussels to be roasted in the oven.  (Watch the videos above to see how this is done).

slice up 1 leek for roasting

Finish the "preparing process" by soaking the leeks in cold water, separating out the many layers. Spoon out the leeks when finished and towel dry. DON'T POUR or strain them from the bowl.

Prepare Brussels by removing hard leaves, and cutting in to quarters or halves (depending on size).

4.  Toss Leeks, Brussels, almonds, and raisins in the olive oil.

5.  Add balsamic vinegar, salt, vinegar and dill to the mix.  Toss to coat evenly.

6.  Place in a pan and roast vegetables at 400 DegF for 20-25 minutes, until brussels are tender.  Toss mixture once while cooking.  I cooked mine for 23 minutes and could have gone maybe 8 minutes longer…but I was hungry 😉

Roasted veggies, darker in color compared to the gluten free goddess...I'm assuming because of the balsamic vinegar that I had on hand.

7.  Finally, toss with the cooked quinoa and enjoy!

Finished product = Delish! 🙂

Gluten-Free – Coconut-Curry Chicken Soup

Who said that a gluten-free lifestyle had to be tasteless?  This is a recipe I tried from The Cooking Light Gluten-Free Cookbook.  It tasted great and was easy to make (less than 1 hour from set up to soup in the bowl when you have no pre-chopping/cooking done). Give it a try!

 

 

 

Serving Size: 7 – 2 cup soup servings, each with a lime wedge
Nutritional Info:
Calories: 315
Fat: 7.8g (2.7 sat; 2.2g mono, 1.3g poly)
Protein: 29.3g
Carbs: 30.9g
Fiber: 2.4g
Chol: 62 mg
Iron: 3.2mg
Sodium: 842 mg
Calc: 78 mg 

Time: It took me about 45 minutes to have soup in bowls, with none of the items pre-made or chopped.

Ingredients:

4 cups of water
3 cups of fresh spinach leaves
1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed and cut in half crosswise
1 (5-3/4 oz) package of pad Thai noodles (rice stick noodles)
1 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
2 tsp red curry paste
1-1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups fat-free, lower sodium chicken broth (*check for gluten when you purchase this item, make sure to get gluten-free*)
1 (13.5 oz) can light coconut milk
2-1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 1 lb) (I boil the chicken then “pull” it into pieces)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce (such as Thai Kitchen)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 small hot red chiles, seeded and chopped (or you can use 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper instead)
7 lime wedges

Instructions:

1. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a large sauce pan.  Add spinach and peas to pan; cook 30 seconds.  Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl.  Add noodles to the pan; cook 3 minutes.  Drain; add noodles to the spinach and bean mixture in bowl.

2.  Heat canola oil in pan over medium-high heat.  Add shallots, curry paste, curry powder, turmeric, coriander, and garlic to the pan.  Saute for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.  Add chicken broth to the pan and bring to a boil.  Add coconut milk to the pan; reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.  Add chicken, onions, sugar, and fish sauce to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.  Pour chicken mixture over noodle mixture in the bowl.  Stir in cilantro and chiles.  Serve with lime wedges & Enjoy!

I LOVED this soup.  The only thing is that because I didn’t do any prep or pre cooking my noodle mix sat for a while.  Not sure if this is normal or not.  Anticipating that I will probably not pre-cook my chicken next time, I think that the next time I make this I will start cooking my chicken and start step 2 first.  While I’m waiting for my broth mix to boil, I will start boiling water for my noodles.  If timing goes well, I should be ready to cook the spinach, beans and noodles once I’m simmering my coconut milk for 5 minutes.  Maybe this will help keep my noodles from sticking so much. 

Are Women Moochers?

Imagine this:

1.  A Boyfriend and girlfriend go to taco bell.  They drive up to order and the girl mentions to the guy that she might want one or two of his nachos.  He refuses to share and instead buys her a whole order of nachos.  She’s now forced to eat all the nachos when all she really wanted was one.  or three. 

2.  A husband and wife sit down at a restaurant.  He orders onion rings.  She reaches for one, he slowly inches the basket away from her and orders her another order of onion rings.

3.  A son makes a sandwich.  His mom, who carried him for 9 long months, isn’t hungry enough for her own whole sandwich, but rather just wants to try one bite of what he made…she takes a bite.  (1 Point for the Mom).  9 long months…the least he can do is offer one bite of a sandwich.  Right?

Now I have to ask, are these women moochers?  All they want is a bite of the food…or two or three chips.  Clearly they aren’t moochers, they are connecting, encouraging wise spending, and providing opportunities for those men to be more like Jesus.  Let me explain.

1.  CONNECTORS – I work in a male dominated industry.  One thing that I’ve learned is that the way to a man’s heart, mind, attention, and sometimes even respect, is through his stomach.  I’m not sure why this is, but food, for men…is a big deal.  Women on the other hand, long to feel connections.  We will spend hours talking and spending time with our girlfriends as a means of connecting.  Sometimes it’s difficult for women to feel connected to men.  They don’t always share their emotions and they don’t always want to talk about important things like The Bachelorette or shoes or PMS.  What better way for a woman to feel connected to her man than for him to share a little bit of his food?  If food is a way to a man’s heart then if he shares it with you, without argument or forcing you to eat an entire order on your own, is a clear and distinct indication of your priority in his life.  And at the end of the day, love should transcend the 5 french fries that us women take off the guys plate.  Men, when we ask for a bite…we’re not mooching, we’re providing opportunities to connect with you.   

2.  ENCOURAGERS OF WISE SPENDING – While some may say two is better than one, I would say it’s also more expensive.  Sharing a few onion rings with the lady next to you is ultimately far less expensive (and not just monetarily).  Aside from saving money, sharing is also less wasteful than getting a second order and having her leave all but the 5 or 6 bites that she ultimately takes from this entirely separate order that the guy has now forced her to tackle.  furthermore, there are starving children in the world…and we’ve just wasted an entire blooming onion because the guy couldn’t share those 7 or so bites with his lady friend.  By sharing you eat less (maybe I should have included obesity in this list), you save money, and you are not wasteful.  I think it makes perfect sense…and the man is not going to go hungry by sharing.  Clearly this isn’t mooching…it’s helping, as women are called to do for their men.  We “help” them save money and finish all the onion rings in the basket.

3.  WHAT WOULD JESUS DO – The final consideration is that by sharing with the women, men are able to walk as Jesus did.  The bible says that, specifically within the context of marriage, men should love their wives as Christ loved the church.  And how did Christ love the hungry church?  He didn’t send them off, he didn’t tell them to go find their own fish.  NO!  He provided and shared what He had with them.  And guess what happened?  Everyone ate and was content…no one went hungry.  When a woman is simply asking for a bite or two, it’s a perfect opportunity for the men to respond as Jesus did.   

A disclaimer for those “un-married men” who might be reading.  Just because you’re not married doesn’t mean that you can’t begin to act out this kind of service when it comes to all the yummy food that you have.  The best predictor for future behavior is present and past behaviors.  Certainly there are examples, but start practicing today for the wife that God brings your way.  When your mom or sister or girlfriend goes in for that 7th or 8th onion ring…don’t slap her hands.  Don’t force her to order her own…you can practice being like Jesus and sharing with her…it will be a beautiful act of love, it will ultimately save you money and you will connect in new ways and trust me, you will not go hungry.  

I think that in ultimately women are not moochers.  We nurture and encourage the growth of our men and our relationships.  When we say we only want a bite…that’s really all it is.  We ask for one onion ring or french fry… we never really take more than 9 or 10.  Guys…love the women in your lives.  They are not moochers.  They are wise, conscious, and usually just a little hungry, but never enough to get their own of anything.  Please just share, after all those same women are notorious for bringing home tons of leftovers (we never finish our food anyway) and you will almost always have first dibs.  Just sayin’.

Note:  This is “tounge-in-cheek” response to Bill Petruzzo’s rant on women being the ultimate moochers.  It can be read here.