First Time Trying Quinoa

I bought a box of Quinoa (keen-wa) and finally got a chance to make some. I havent known how to use it...so I actually just dove in and made it up as I went.

First I washed the quinoa as I hear it can be pretty dirty, then I cooked 1 cup with 2 cups of water. When it was almost done I added in:
1/4 cup diced red onion
2 ears of corn (cut off the cob of course)
1 can of cannellini beans
1/2 can of diced green chilis
nature season's to taste ( I LOVE this seasoning!)

Mixed it all up, and I love how it came out. I debated about using black beans, but have been wanting to try the white kidney beans...and I like them!

I really enjoyed the quinoa and now I am off in search of what more I can make with it...what do you like to make with it?

Lentil Loaf

Again with my "Forks Over Knives" book. :) Plus I wanted to show you what I do with most of my books that I like to have open flat, I take them to Office Max and for around $4 they will cut the spine off and make them spiral bound.

For the second recipe I tried, "Lentil Loaf". While my lentil beans were cooking I prepared all the veggies...carrots, red onion, italian parsely, garlic, oats (I like the gluten free) and walnuts.

I put everything above plus the lentils into my new handy dandy food processor...OMG why have I not bought one of these before. I LOVE it!!!!!

Then I pressed into loaf pans...and here I cheated a bit on the "healthiness" of the recipe and did my usual meatloaf topping of ketchup and brown sugar...I know so bad, yet so yummy!!!!

I then baked at 350 for 50 minutes. I liked this recipe...wont lie as I didnt love it, but I liked it better in the days after, for me this wasnt so great on the day it was baked, but maybe I didnt cook it long enough...or too much? I found it mushy on the first day and much more firm in the days after. I think it would be fabulous made into a sandwich or in a pita pocket, for me the texture just seemed off.

Anyone made a lentil loaf before have any tips for what I can do to improve?



Polenta Pie

My newest favorite book is "Forks Over Knives"...The plant-based way to health. The first recipe I decided to try in the book was "Polenta with Rice and Beans".

I will admit I had no idea what polenta was...I thought it was some kind of potato looking thing, imagine my surprise to find it in a bag...AKA corn grits lol.

I started with the polenta crust...That wasnt as easy as I thought it would be, it is a bit sticky but it wasnt long and I had it neatly in the pan.



For the filling I cooked my rice in my rice cooker using broth for the water, and I added a can of diced tomatoes, a diced onion, and a tsp of chili powder.

When that was done cooking I added a can of drained black beans and mixed it up and then added into the "pie crust".

I poured some mild salsa over the top and baked it for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

I was pretty pleased with how it came out. Very tasty and very filling.

I really enjoyed the polenta itself, but I think to do the recipe again I will add diced green chilis to the polenta.

What is your favorite polenta recipe?