Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Quinoa quinoa quinoa.

I’ll never forget the time my old roommate saw my bag of quinoa and asked, "What’s kweenoah?”

She’s so cute. I miss her! Hey, Jenna!

It’s pronounced keen-wah. And your body loves it. Quinoa is rich with nutrients and is one of the only grains that is considered a complete protein source. It’s gluten-free and a good source of calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, iron, and fiber. Don’t you want to eat it now? Oh, good, because I have a recipe ready for you. And it’s easy, to boot!

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry quinoa
• 1 large zucchini
• 1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
• 1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground pepper
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preparation:

1. Cook quinoa as instructed on package.
2. Meanwhile, slice zucchini into 1/2-inch rounds, then quarter them. Place them in a large bowl, then add tomatoes, chickpeas, salt, and pepper.
3. Once quinoa has finished cooking, fluff with a fork. Next, add the quinoa to the vegetable mixture and toss until evenly combined.
4. Drizzle with lemon juice and toss again. Top with feta and serve warm or chilled. Serves 4.

Using the Livestrong nutritional calculator, here are the stats:

Check out the fiber and protein content. You love it. That’s the key to staying full, my friends.

While you eat this, you can daydream just like I did…about this place.

From what part of the world is your favorite cuisine?

Weekend Highlights

Aziz!!! Oh  my gosh, he was funny. My face still hurts from smiling so much.

Sunday’s weather was glorious. There was absolutely no reason to stay indoors. Well, except for brunch. Rewind to Saturday night. After the Aziz show, Boding and I went to The Macintosh  for drinks. I go in there pretty regularly and last night got to hang out with Jacob, one of the chefs. It was really cool to talk to someone who is so passionate about food, being a chef, and the Indigo Road restaurant group. We were quickly convinced to come back the next day for brunch, but I told him I would be ordering “the healthiest thing he could come up with.”

The bartender was a little puzzled by me requesting “the healthiest thing he can come up with” but Jacob did an excellent job of coming up with just that. I had an incredibly delicious plate of  butternut squash, brussels sprouts, onions, mushrooms, micro greens, and quinoa with a parsnip puree. Ahhhhh, everything needs to be dipped in this puree. Everything.

Guess who ate the mushrooms! This girl. Unbelievable.

My beverage of choice at The Macintosh is something one of the bartenders came up with for me a while back. He named it The Xtina: Corazon tequila, ghost pepper-infused St. Germain, lime juice, and agave. It’s like a spicy margarita.

Boding had the Chicken and Waffles. At first I was skeptical of waffles that aren’t served with maple syrup but then I tried a bite. They do not need a single drop of anything. They are perfect, as was the chicken.

Jacob later sent out a gift to be funny. Fried dough. Quite comical after my healthy veggie plate. He’s got jokes.

I almost forgot! I had a side of their homemade pickles again. Mmmm!

After brunch settled, we poked around random stores downtown and played tourists. I met the dog of my dreams at Seeking Indigo. Meet Stella, the labradoodle.

Broad Street.

Later on, we went to Mt. Pleasant Waterfront Memorial Park.

For a little bit, I reverted from 27 years old to 7 years old. Swings! (I think that kid next to me might have been dying.)

Monkey bars!

And then I went from 7 all the way to 77. Reading a book with a giant blanket in a rocking chair is fiiiiiiiine.

Happy Monday! Have a great week!

Butternut Squash and Blue Cheese Quinoa

Try not to be shocked that you’re seeing a recipe on my blog. I know, it’s been a hot minute. Forgive me, for I have blog sinned. I’ve just been eating way too much Chick-fil-A.

At Trader Joe’s, the produce isn’t priced by weight, but just a set number. B-nut squash is $1.99, so naturally I picked up the largest one I could find. This monster was like a newborn baby. Lugging it up the stairs was both a bicep and a leg workout and I am not even kidding.

You know what else was a workout? Peeling the stupid thing. #firstworldproblems

I cut the squash up in 1-inch cubes and roasted it for about 35 minutes on 400*.  That evening, I used it to decorate my quinoa.

Butternut Squash and Blue Cheese Quinoa

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups low-sodium, fat free chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 cups roasted cubed butternut squash
• 6 oz. bag of baby spinach
• 4  Laughing Cow blue cheese wedges (or use 2 oz. blue cheese)

Preparation:

1. In a large saucepan, add quinoa, chicken broth, and cinnamon and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until broth is absorbed.
2. Add the butternut squash  and blue cheese and mix well.
3. Stir in the spinach until wilted.

Love a colorful recipe! If only this had something purple in it, then we’d have all my favorite colors.

As I was eating this and loving it (obviously), I asked my twitter friends for help naming the recipe. I got some funny responses:

Ben, Thatrunnerchick, and Boding are amazing.

Stevie is a freakshow and I love him.

Andy and Derek aren’t allowed in my house now.

Bo, Heather, RotiRolls and Holly can walk right in the door without knocking.

Have I told you guys lately that I love twitter?

Monday Can Be A Fun Day

Mid-morning while at work, I got a call that my glasses were in! I was so excited I almost took an early lunch get them. I’m glad I waited…Rewind to about a month ago: I found out that one of my readers, Amanda, also works at Blackbaud. She e-mailed me because she, too, had purchased the Pearle Vision coupon. We tried to coordinate our schedules to pick out glasses together, but that didn’t work. Luckily our schedules matched up today! I got a text from her saying her glasses were ready and she asked if I wanted to ride with her to pick them up. Blogger meet-up and new glasses? YAY! Her next text was “Pick you up at the front door! Valet service at Blackbaud!”

And then I jumped in the car with a stranger.

An awesome stranger! Amanda is so fun and sweet and I was glad to meet her. :)

That afternoon, my coworker and I planned a meeting to review my first 3 months of work. Her plan was to have an off-site meeting...at Menchie’s! Elizabeth got a bowl of cake batter froyo with cinnamon toast crunch cereal, and I got a bowl of cake batter and brownie batter froyo.

And here are the glasses!

After work, I went to the gym even though I felt like I had been sweating enough to skip it. It was over 100* here today. Ahh. You see why frozen yogurt was necessary? The gym was sort of miserable, but the Pandora app got me through it. I may or may not have made a couple moves on Words With Friends during my interval run…the walking part, of course.

For dinner, I made Jenna’s Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese Quinoa. Oh, hello heavenly beets and goat cheese.

This was my first time cooking quinoa, which is a shame because it’s a powerhouse food. Quinoa is fluffy, slightly crunchy, and nutty. It is high in protein and a good source of magnesium, manganese and iron. Although most people consider it to be a grain, it is actually a relative of leafy green vegetables.
Don’t forget how wonderful beets are. Check out these beet balls I saw in Whole Foods on Sunday. Wtc are beet balls? Odd, to say the least.