Tag Archive for: Healthy

If you are like me, you are always looking for a healthy option you can make ahead for lunch. Quinoa always seems like a good healthy choice, but I haven’t really found a way I liked it…until now! This is light and fresh with lots of healthy additions. Bonus, it holds up really well all week! I like to make this on Sunday and it is just as good on Friday as it is on Monday. I love that I can eat it cold at my desk which makes life so easy. Let me know what you think!

Kelly

Cilantro Lime Quinoa

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked quinoa

2 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

Juice and zest of 4-5 limes

2 Tablespoons honey

1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Kosher or sea salt

Pepper

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)

2 red or yellow bell peppers, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 grilled chicken breasts, chopped

Rinse quinoa 3 times to remove the bitter outside layer. Cook the quinoa with chicken stock and water (I add a little extra liquid because we are at high altitude). Bring the liquid to a boil then reduce to simmer for 30 seconds, bring back to a boil for another 30 seconds then reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes until cooked through and tender. Allow to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk the lime juice with the zest, honey, a pinch or two of salt & pepper, and olive oil, until the dressing comes together. Add the cilantro and mix.

Add the chopped scallions, peppers, carrots, black beans, chicken, and quinoa and gently toss in the dressing.

Garnish with additional cilantro and lime zest, if desired. Eat immediately or pack up for lunches for the week. Great hot or cold!

We started talking earlier this week about healthy eating and how to make it easier. When you live with someone who eats roughly 4,000 calories a day…all clean…you have to do some prep work to make things practical. On the weekend, we sit down together and make a menu for the week for dinner, but that doesn’t always help with breakfast and lunch. I am getting better at planning leftovers in for lunches, but it is much easier to just pack everything at the beginning of the week and be able to grab and go. I start by cooking about egg muffins, 2 cups of brown rice, 6 organic chicken breasts, 4 sweet potatoes and steaming a bunch of veggies. With these staples always in the fridge, you can make a lot of things happen. Sometimes chicken becomes Chicken Tinga, or enchiladas. Often it gets chopped and sent in lunches. By having a bit of an assembly line with the food scale, I can get through things pretty quickly with already cooked foods. Bonus, whatever we don’t get to, I just freeze and use that in meals down the road. Shredded chicken is awesome to have in the freezer…a great time saver! I try to mix in something I haven’t tried before once a week. It doesn’t always happen (read: the lentils I meant to make still in my pantry) but I try for variety. We usually mix in one fish meal and one lean red meat meal each week. I swear all of this is much easier than it sounds! It really does make the rest of the week go much smoother. Here is an example of a dinner I made from our staples in the fridge. You can see our fully stocked fridge is how we make it without take out for every meal! Chicken and Brussels sprouts with brown rice. MMMM. This was great too because it saved well and became the perfect lunch later in the week. Gotta love multitasking!

Chicken with Brussels Sprouts

2 Chicken breasts cooked and cubed

12-15 Brussels Sprouts, shredded

3 T Dried Cranberries

2 T Sliced Almonds

2 T Honey

2 T Butter

Crushed red peppers

Salt and pepper

Melt butter in a sauté pan over medium heat add Brussels sprouts and sauté about 2 minutes. Add chicken, cranberries, and almonds. Season with salt, pepper, crushed red peppers and drizzle with honey. Cook another 2-3 minutes.

Serve over brown rice.

There is a Thai place in our old neighborhood that makes unbelievable pineapple fried rice according to Mary. Ever since she mentioned it last week, I couldn’t get it out of my head. Conveniently, we had extra pineapple leftover from our Pineapple Salsa. On a night with little else in the house, we had just enough ingredients to make this “un-fried” version. There is so much flavor that you will never miss the extra oil, nuts or the egg. You can put any veggies you like and we often use dishes like this to clear things out. In this case, our emergency frozen veggies made an appearance and we were thankful for it! We also added cucumber at the last minute for a bit of texture which was a great way to remove the nuts you often find in this recipe. For a great ode to Thai food, try this one!

Kelly


Pineapple Un-fried Rice

2 packages prepared saffron rice (one traditional and one Spanish flavor)

1 tomato, chopped

2 T olive oil

1 cup of fresh pineapple chopped (about ¼ inch pieces)

2 cups shredded chicken

1 ½ cups Whole Foods organic vegetable medley

1-2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

4 scallions, chopped

4 T basil, chopped

½ cucumber chopped

½ lime cut in wedges for garnish

For the sauce:

2 T light soy sauce

1 T Hoisin sauce

1 T coconut milk

1 t natural peanut butter

Juice of ½ lime

1 T Siracha

Combine the two types of rice and prepare as directed adding the chopped tomato to the cooking liquid. (We usually leave out the oil.) Combine all of the ingredients for the sauce and combine well. Heat the olive oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the garlic. When lightly cooked and aromatic, add the chicken to warm for 1-2 minutes then add the vegetables and cook another 1-2 minutes. Add the rice followed by the pineapple and combine all ingredients. Top with the sauce and add the cucumber and stir well. Garnish with the scallions, basil and lime wedges. Enjoy!

What is more perfect for a Fourth of July celebration than a BBQ? It is the perfect way to celebrate America’s birthday!! We were invited to a friend’s house for the celebration and were asked to bring a side dish, so I thought who doesn’t like chips and salsa? This pineapple salsa was a huge hit (and may become margarita inspiration in the future!) If you wanted to get really fancy, you could scoop out half of the pineapple to use as a serving dish. I also baked up some tortilla chips for the leftovers, and they turned out great! Do you have a favorite party side dish that is your go-to? Happy (belated) 4th!

Kelly

Pineapple Salsa and Baked Tortilla Chips

For the Salsa:

½ Pineapple, Cored and Chopped

1 Tomato, Chopped

2 Avocados, Cubed

2 Scallions, Chopped

½ – 1 Jalapeño, Finely Chopped with Seeds

Juice of 1 Lime

Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Chips:

Corn Tortillas (however many you need for your crowd)

Cooking Spray

Kosher Salt

Your favorite spice mixture

Preheat oven to 375°. Stack the tortillas and cut into quarters. Lay out in a single layer in baking sheets and spray with cooking spray. Season with salt and your seasoning mix. Turn the chips and repeat on other side. Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes, turning once. Allow to cool a few minutes before serving to finish the crisping process.

In a bowl combine the salsa ingredients and gently stir to combine. Allow to rest about 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!