Wow, I’m just on a salad/quinoa roll, aren’t I?! To be honest, it’s probably because there isn’t much “cooking” in “salad making” when quinoa is easier to cook than rice. (I heard you can also throw quinoa in a rice cooker.) Anyway, here’s another recipe with my favorite grain, inspired by the one they sell in containers at Fuel Cafe (in my gym, Equinox).
Ingredients:
- 1 cup red quinoa, uncooked
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can corn kernels
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 1/2 cucumber, sliced/diced
- 1/3 onion, diced
- 3 sprigs of cilantro, minced
- 2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Directions:
- Cook the quinoa in a pot with two cups water, bring to a boil, then let it simmer for 15 minutes or so. While waiting, prepare the other ingredients.
- Once the quinoa has cooled, add all the ingredients together in a salad bowl, squeeze in two lemons, add a pinch of salt, and mix!
Suggestion: Tastes awesome when served chilled, too!
Yesterday, we had a poolside BBQ at our friend’s San Bruno apartment complex, so I decided to bring something healthier to balance out all the greasy hotdogs and Korean BBQ. Here’s another refreshing salad packed with protein! Boy, so much healthy eating lately.
Ingredients:
- One bunch kale, cut into pieces and lightly steamed
- One bag of baby spinach
- 1 cup quinoa, uncooked
- 1/2 cucumber, sliced
- 1/2 box strawberries, sliced
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1/3 cup almonds, crushed
Directions:
- Cook the quinoa according to the package instructions (normally I just use 1 part quinoa, 2 parts water and bring to a boil then simmer). While it’s cooking, prepare all the other ingredients.
- When the quinoa cools, add all the ingredients together in a salad bowl, squeeze in some lemon juice and drizzle on some olive oil, and toss!
I don’t know about yours, but my Asian mother is pretty health-conscious, so when I saw this Chinese chicken salad recipe, I knew I had to try it. How healthy did I make it? I substituted the chicken with nuts instead for protein, used fresh tangerines (instead of canned), added more cabbage (cancer prevention!), and opted for a mayo-less dressing instead.
Ingredients I used:
- 3 heads of romaine, cut into pieces
- 1/3 cabbage, shredded
- 1/3 red cabbage, shredded
- 3 tangerines, peeled in slices
- 1/4 lb of snap peas, but the recipe calls for snow peas
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 1 carrot, cut into thin strips
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds (figured I needed some protein)
- 3.5oz bag of wonton strips
Directions:
- For the dressing, mix 1/3 cup ponzu sauce + 1 tablespoon sesame seeds + 1 teaspoon sesame oil, whisked together.
- Toss ingredients together in a large salad bowl with dressing and add wonton strips, last. Tada!
Fun fact: My mom’s really practical and doesn’t appreciate “superfluous” gifts, so instead of gifting fresh cut flowers, we got her a basil plant! She loves gardening.
A little over a year ago, I moved to San Francisco’s Inner Sunset district, where I am mere steps away from places like Park Chow, San Tung, Arizmendi’s, and Marnee Thai, just to name a few. I adore our neighborhood but I adore our cozy apartment even more. We actually have an outdoor backyard “roof patio”, but our real backyard is Golden Gate Park, half a block away. I read about the ridiculous measures people take to move to the city and realize how lucky I am to live in an adorable 1200 square foot space, in a safe and convenient neighborhood. You know what’s the secret? Being farther away from downtown and having roommates. I’m still next to a muni stop, I still have my own bedroom, and I have space to decorate! Last year, I posted these photos of my newly decorated bedroom:
Since then, my room hasn’t changed much, but I did get new bedding and add some clipboards above my desk!
I needed to balance out the green 
. Do you like it?
Addendum
I moved out of the office — finally! Here are some things I had at work, which are now at home. On with a new life!
Ever since the media made a big hoopla about red meat shortening my lifespan (read, watch, or listen), I’ve been limiting my intake of all meats and turning to more grains and legumes instead — so you can imagine my enthusiasm for cooking quinoa when I learned that it was a complete protein source! At our office, we cater dinner four times a week from Munchery, and once I had such a delightful quinoa dish that I jot down all the ingredients to attempt to make myself one day. Well, here is that attempt:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup quinoa, uncooked
- 3/4 cup navy beans, canned (unless you want to soak overnight)
- 1/2 cup peas, I used frozen
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 carrot
- Few sprigs of mint
- Few stalks of asparagus, on the side
- Munchery also included green onions, but I’m not a personal fan
Directions:
- Cook the quinoa (1 part quinoa, 2 parts water) in a pot, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and let it simmer for 20 minutes or so. About 15 minutes in, I added the navy beans and peas.
- While I was waiting, I sliced up the carrots, minced up a few mint leaves, and simply pan-boiled some asparagus for the side.
- After the 20 minutes and a 5 minute cool down, I added in the carrots, walnuts, mint leaves and mixed lightly. Tada!
Comments:
I don’t usually season my food as my body retains a lot of water from all the sodium build-up (from eating out all the time), but I’d recommend seasoning to taste, as this dish is pretty bland, though light and refreshing. Munchery actually served their version with a tahini and beet dressing on the side (which I have no idea how to make), but I can imagine topping this dish with something creamy, maybe even some plain yogurt! Next time, I’d cook the quinoa with less water since I added beans. The quinoa should be a bit grainier than pictured.
Fun fact: asparagus makes my pee smell, because it contains a sulphur compound called mercaptan! Some people lack the enzyme that breaks down mercaptan, so their pee doesn’t smell after eating asparagus, hehe.
