Sunday, July 22, 2012

Back in Business for Healthy eating in 2012! Quinoa Surprise!

I know it has been AGES since i've posted!!! Almost a year and I apologize. But I have a really good excuse :) My little baby boy Neil was born on New Years Day 2012, and has been keeping me super busy! He is almost 7 months old, and about to start eating solids. I got to thinking, we're so careful about preparing our baby's first foods organically, no preservatives, etc why shouldn't we start eating healthier ourselves? So I've been inspired by reading many baby food books/blogs to try to incorporate cooking for him as well as ourselves. Since I have started steaming veggies for his purees, I am keeping some aside for us to prep in various other dishes. Here is a pic of my hungry little monster above =)




So to kick off my healthy eating in 2012, one of Neil's first foods is going to be carrots. Since I was preparing carrots to steam for his puree, I decided to throw together whatever I had in my fridge to make this deliciously healthy and yummy meal which is extremely filling!! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!


Ingredients:

1 cup tricolore quinoa (available at trader joes) cooked (2 cups of water works, just like rice) according to package
1 avocado to add for garnish after dish is prepared, chopped in cubes
2 medium carrots, peeled, chopped in circles, steamed
1  organic green pepper, chopped
1 medium organic vine ripened tomato
1 small box organic spinach
1/2 can spicy vegetarian black beans (no liquid)
1/2 box Athenos feta cheese
1 clove garlic
Olive oil
Italian seasoning herb blend
salt/pepper to taste

Method:

1.) Prepare Quinoa in separate pot.
2) Chop all veggies, set aside.
3) Place circular carrots and green peppers in vegetable steamer, steam until tender
4) Saute garlic in olive oil. Add spinach, cook till wilted. Add tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are warmed. Add italian seasoning, sea salt/pepper to taste.
5) Combine with steamed carrots/green peppers.
6) Add cooked quinoa to veggie mix, stir.
7) Add black beans to mixture. Toss lightly.
8) Add feta cheese to mixture. Toss lightly.
9) Serve warm, topped with avocado. Enjoy!



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