The Ultimate Quinoa Breakfast

I personality love to have oat meal with fruits and nuts first thing in the morning. It supplies me with all the nutrition that I need to start out my day on the right foot. It provides me with fiber, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Oat meal keeps me full and energized for a long period of time.

However, with passover going on this week oats are strictly prohibited. I had to find another way to get the same nutrients that I get from having oat meal. I looked in my pantry and I found the one thing I always have for lunch or dinner Quinoa. I have never had it for breakfast, but I said what the hell it can not be that bad with the right ingredients. Quinoa is a great source of protein, fiber, carbohydrates and iron.

You will need the following ingredients:

1 cup Quinoa (toasted in a 10 inch skillet)
2 cups almond milk ( I used my homemade almond milk, but you can use store brand as well.)

Additional add ins:

2 Tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 avocado sliced into small cubes
1 large banana sliced to small cubes
1/2 cup roasted honey walnuts ( or you can use any other type of nuts that you like)
1/2 cup raisins
2 Tbsp ground flax seeds
2 Tbsp wheat germ
1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Dressing:

1 orange ( use just the juice of the orange)
1/2 lime  ( use just the juice of the lime)
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/4 Tsp salt

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350F

1) Heat up a 10 inch skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Then add Quinoa and toast for about 3 to 4 minutes or until you get a fragrant toasted smell.

2) Then add in 2 cups of almond milk. Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover the skillet. Let the Quinoa cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until all the milk is absorbed. You Quinoa should have a thick consistency when done.

3) Once Quinoa is done. Let it cool covered for about 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork.

4) Toast your walnuts in an oven at 350F for about 8 to 10 minutes or until you start smelling the nuts. Once you smell them that means they are done. Take them out and add in 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey right away. Mix the nuts and honey together and put it aside.  (you can roast your walnuts as Quinoa is cooking to make the process quicker).

5) Take raw pumpkin seeds and toast them in a dry skillet for a few minutes. You want the seeds to have a nice golden brown color. Once they are done they will start to pop :).

6) Add Quinoa to a large bowl and mix in the rest of the ingredients raisins, banana, avocado, ground flax seeds, wheat germ, apple sauce, honey walnuts, and half of the toasted pumpkin seeds.

7) Quickly make the dressing. Mix in a small bowl fresh squeezed orange juice, lime juice, honey, canola oil and a kosher salt and mix to combine. Once done mixing sprinkle over the Quinoa and mix all together.

8) Now you are done with the hard part and ready for the best part to eat this delicious and healthy breakfast meal. Pour 1 cup of Quinoa mixture into your plate and top with the remaining pumpkin seeds.

Here are some pics of the finished product.

 Hope you guys enjoy this meal ;).

Super Colorful Quinoa salad with a citrus vinaigrette

After visiting Liza in Boston a few weeks ago which was loads of fun. Thank you lizik for being a wonderful host as always. One of the days Liza took us to this amazing Organic Vegetarian Cafe where we had some super fresh, healthy, colorful and yummy food. I decided that I wanted to resemble that dish as much as possible just with a little healthier dressing. This meal is full of fiber, complex carbs, antioxidants, protein, monounsaturated fat, vitamins, and minerals, basically everything that you need in a meal is here lol. I think the only thing I forgot to put in this salad is the sink its self hehehe :).

You will need the following ingredients for the salad:
1 1/2 cups quinoa
2 small beets (small beets roast much quicker than large beets)
4 medium carrots
2 green onions
1 avocado
1 mango
1 granny smith apple
A handful of cilantro

For the dressing:
1 orange
1/2 lemon
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp Cayenne( you can use less or more depending on how spicy you like your food)
Kosher salt and Pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 400F.

1) Wash the beets. Then put it into heavy duty foil paper and season it with a little bit of salt, pepper and 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Fold the foil in so there are no holes. Place the beets on a small baking dish and stick into the oven.

2) Wash and peel the carrots. Then put them into heavy duty foil paper and season with a little bit of salt, pepper, and 1 Tsp olive oil. Fold the foil in so there are no holes. Place the carrots on a small baking dish and stick into the oven.

3) Bake both Beets and Carrots until nice and soft. It took me about 45 minutes.

4) If you take a knife and put it in the center of the beet it should go down with ease and same for the carrots. If you like your beets/carrots to have a harder consistency you can take them out a little earlier. But beets are so much more delicious when they are tender.

5) While the veggies are roasting quickly make your dressing and Quinoa.
  -Squeeze all the juice out of the orange and lemon into a bowl.
  -Add honey, cayenne, kosher salt and pepper to taste and whisk together.
  -Add extra virgin olive oil slowly while you are whisking.
  -Whisk until everything comes together. Once done you can put the dressing into the fridge.

6) Heat up a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium sized pan on medium heat, and then add Quinoa and toast for a few minutes then add in 3 cups of water or vegetable stock if you have. I used water since I did not have any homemade stock available. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pan and cook Quinoa for about 10 to minutes. All the water should be absorbed.

7) Once Quinoa is cooked let it rest for 5 minutes and then fluff it with a fork so it does not stick together.

8) After your beets cool make sure to peel the skin off. Unless you peeled it off before roasting them.

9) Now that everything has been cooked we are ready to put it all together.

10) Grate the beets and apples in a food processor or a standard home grater. Once grated it add it to a large bowl.

11) Then add in Quinoa, chopped mango, green onion, avocado, carrots, and cilantro. Mix everything together and add in the reserved dressing that you made earlier. Taste your dish and add more seasoning if necessary.

12) Here is how the final product came out.

Almond Milk

I woke up on Saturday morning and got a craving for some Almond milk. I thought about buying almond milk from the store, but knowing that there are so many unnecessary additives that get added to store bought brands. I decided to take it into my own hands and make mine from scratch.

It's a very simple and quick recipe and you get delicious, nutritional and natural Almond milk.  Almond milk is a great source of fiber, magnesium, potassium, antioxidant, vitamin E, healthy monounsaturated fats and helps to lower cholesterol as well. Sprinkle it over your oat meal, cereal, granola, or use it in baking for cookies, pancakes, etc. By making your own almond milk you also get a bunch of left over almond meal which you can use later on to make cookies, cakes, muffins, etc :).

You will need the following ingredients.

2 cups raw Almonds (soaked overnight) Soaking nuts makes them super soft and much easier to blend.

8 cups of water (you can use less and you milk will be a little thicker)
4 to 5 dates for sweetness or you can use 1 to 2 tablespoons raw unprocessed honey.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

1) Soak the nuts overnight. Then drain them.
2) Put the nuts, dates or honey, vanilla, and a pinch of salt into the blender.
3) Add water and get ready to spin it.

4) Blend it until everything incorporates together and becomes nice and smooth. I blended mine for about 1 minute and 30 seconds.

5) Then use a cheese cloth or a strainer bag to get all the milk out without any almond flour into a bowl.

6) Then you can pour into a large glass container thru a regular strainer with small holes just to make sure your milk is nice and smooth.



This milk will last you for 4 to 5 days in a tightly closed container and kept in the refrigerator.

Enjoy and keep on smiling :). Especially when drinking this milk.



Avocado Banana Bread

Hello everyone Friday is here and the weekend is right around the corner YAY. We are getting closer and closer to full spring and summer. Warm weather is finally upon us and with that we get seasonal delicious and nutritional fruits :). One of my favorite fruits during the summer is watermelon. Oh man just thinking about that watermelon now I want to start jumping for joy.

Well until that happens I will make sure to stay in my seat. Now let's get down to cooking business. Yesterday I got a craving for Banana bread and wanted to try to make it with a twist and add in a secret ingredient which was avocado. In vegan cooking avocado is the main substitute for butter, because of its rich creamy texture. The addition of avocado gives this banana bread even more health benefits like good monounsaturated fat, fiber, vitamins and lots of good minerals. But most important it makes this bread nice and moist :).

The above ingredients were used for this recipe with a few additional ingredients.

Pre-heat your oven to 350F.

For the Dry ingredients you will need:

1 cup spelt flour

1/2 whole wheat flour

1/2 cup oats (not the quick cooking kind. The regular ones)

1/4 tsp pumpkin spice or just cinnamon

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking powder (optional) I did not use it this time and it came out fine :).

1/4 cup grounded flax seeds

1/4 cup wheat germ (optional)-This is a good addition of Vitamin E, Magnesium, Fiber, Protein.

1) Sift the flours, pumpkin spice, and baking powder (if you choose to add it) together into a large bowl.

2) Add in the oats, kosher salt, ground flax seeds and wheat germ and whisk until everything incorporates together. Then set the bowl a side.

For the wet ingredients you will need:

2 large bananas

1 medium avocado

10 dry dates

2 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup honey or you can use 1/2 cup raw sugar or Agave Nectar

2 Tsbp canola oil

4 egg whites or to make it vegan use flax seed substitute. Please see the notes section for the conversion of flax seed to one egg substitute.

1) Put bananas, avocado and egg whites into a food processor and pulse until everything comes together.

2) Then add in dates, vanilla, honey, canola oil and blend it all together. Blend it for about 30 sec to 1 min.

Now you are ready to add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients slowly a little at a time as you mix. Do not over mix or you will get tough banana bread. Just mix it enough so that everything comes together.

Then you can add additional goodies. I added toasted walnuts and dried cherries. Dark chocolate chunks would also work here very well. Get creative with it in any way you like.

After everything has been mixed together align a loaf pan with parchment paper and scoop your batter in the pan. I used a 9x4 loaf pan. Bake it for about 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out.

Here is the final product. You can spread any nut or seed butter on it. That combo goes well together.

Enjoy :).



Vegetarian Whole Wheat Wrap With Spicy Avocado Sauce

Yesterday I went to my first smoker event which was held at Chok Sabai. A smoker is basically a friendly fight competition between different schools in the community. It is a great way to meet people from the Muay Thai community. The event included delicious Thai food, Thai music, fun raffles, and a Ram Muay Thai ritual dance. Overall it was a great night. Hanging out with my lovely fiance and one of my best friends Zoren while enjoying great fights and delicious food. That is hard to beat on a Wednesday night.

After I got home from the event for some reason I was still hungry. I guess I did not consume enough rice and vegetables at the event. I decided to make a quick and yummy vegetarian whole wheat wrap with a spicy avocado sauce for a nice kick in the gut :).

You will need the following ingredients for the wrap:

1/2 zucchini (Sliced length wise)

1/2 yellow squash (Sliced lengthwise)
1 portobello mushroom (Cleaned with stems removed)
1 small carrot (Sliced length wise)
1/2 eggplant (Sliced length wise)
1/2 cup cooked quinoa (That is what I had at hand. You can use any grain you want or have available)
1 Large whole wheat wrap ( I got mine in whole foods. It's all natural and is cholesterol free, fat free and very low in sodium. It has good amount of carbs, protein and most importantly fiber)

1) Slice all of your vegetables length wise.

2) Brush vegetables with olive oil and a touch of balsamic vinegar. Then season vegetables with kosher salt and pepper to taste. I also added some smoked paprika over my vegetables. Once all seasoned up place all veggies on a hot indoor grill or a large pan. Make sure to always heat your grill or pan up before placing the vegetables on it. You can even oil up the grill just a little bit if you want. I did not do it since mine is non stick :).

3) Grill veggies for about 4 to 5 minutes on Low Medium heat on both sides. You want them to have nice grill marks and to start soften up.

4) While your veggies are grilling up you can quickly make your sauce for the wrap.

For the spicy avocado sauce you will need the following:

1/2 avocado
1 small jalapeno pepper seeded
1 large garlic clove
1 Tbsp good quality mayo. (I got mine in whole foods. It's low in fat, cholesterol, sodium and high in good monounsaturated fat)
1/4 tsp cumin, paprika and a pinch of cayenne
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro (optional)
1Tbsp good quality honey
1 to 2 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Put all ingredients except the olive oil into a blender or a food processor. I used a food processor for this spread. Blend until all combines together. You might have to scrape the side off the food processor. Once all ingredients have incorporated together add the olive oil and blend again for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Now your delicious spread is almost done. Now all you have to do is season it with kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Always taste your food to see if more seasoning is needed. Don't be afraid of tasting your food it will not bite you in the but. It might bite you in your gut :).

Now that your veggies are grilled and spread is ready let's put it all together.

5) Grill your wrap just a little bit. Don't leave it on the grill for too long or it will become too hard like a cracker. Just a little bit so it's nice and warm.

6) Take it off the grill and spread the sauce on the wrap. Then add 1/2 cup quinoa or other type of grain that you have.

7) Then add all of your veggies into the middle of the wrap. It's better to slice you veggies into small pieces after they grill. It will be easier to fold the wrap that way. If everything stays too big the wrap will most likely break.  So make sure to chop those veggies up after you are done grilling them.

8) Now fold you wrap and put it back on the grill. Grill both sides until u get a nice golden color. A few minutes per side. Make sure to watch the wrap so it does not burn.

Final product

I hope you enjoy this healthy and delicious sandwhich :).

Organic Roasted Salmon with crunchy Horseradish topping

This is the 2nd part from the Pasta recipe that I posted earlier today.
Pre-heat oven to 375F

1) Wash and dry your salmon fillets. Then align a baking dish with parchment paper. Parchment paper is a great tool because you do not have to add more oil to the baking dish. You save on some calories this way. Sprinkle salmon with extra virgin olive oil and then season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.

 

2) Grate the fresh horseradish either in a food processor or a box grater. Once finished grating sprinkle evenly over salmon and season again with a little bit of kosher salt and black pepper. Sprinkle a little more olive oil and a touch of honey. 

3) Put into the oven and roast it for about 13 to 15 minutes till it's just about cooked thru. You want your fish to be nice and moist. One great way to check if your fish is done is to see if it flakes easily. If it does then it's good to go into your belly :). Here is the finished product.

The horseradish once cooked thru becomes sweeter. So it's a very nice combination. Sweet and a little spicy. Enjoy this delicious and super nutritional.

Whole Wheat Orzo Pasta Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Roasted Sweet Pepper Vinaigrette

I came home yesterday after a great training session at Chok Sabai which by the way is an amazing place to train at. I wanted to make something colorful and healthy with loads of protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates which are essential after a workout for a clean recovery. To be honest I love dishes that are colorful and full of fresh flavor. It's just a pleasure to look at and especially to eat.

The pasta along with edamame served me with a great source of carbohydrates, fiber and protein. The veggies are an excellent addition of different type of vitamins and minerals. You should always try to have different colorful veggies as they provide us with different types of nutrients. The more colorful the veggie the more benefits it has to offer to our bodies :). Got to love all those veggies. I also decided to add some roasted salmon over a crunchy horseradish topping. The salmon was a great addition, because of its lean protein, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, magnesium and Omega 3 fatty acids which are great for the heart.

You will need the follwoing ingredients for this recipe:

1 pounds of Whole Wheat Orzo Pasta
1 small to medium Butternut Squash
1 medium Eggaplant

1 medium Sweet Red Pepper

1 mango optional

1 small Jalapeno Pepper seeds removed raw or roasted. I like it more roasted.

1/2 Raw or slightky toasted Alomnds

1 cup Edamame
5 cloves garlic
1/2 shallot, or green or red onion
1 medium piece of fresh Horseradish
2 to 3 pieces of 5 ounce Salmon Fillets
Sherry Wine Vinegar
Honey
Dijon Mustard

Pre-Heat oven to 450F

1) Take the Butternut Suash and peel the skin off.

2) Take the Eggplant and cut it in half.

3) Cut the Butternut Squash in half and take out the seeds. Then cut Butternut Squash and Eggplant into medium sized cubes. The reason you do not want to cut them too small is, because the bigger vegetables hold there form better when roasted at high heat. When you cut your veggies too small they get easily broken down and then you end up with a mush. We do not want a mush at least not in this case :).  After you are done cutting them up, throw them into a big bowl and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Make sure all vegetables are well coated in the oil. Then season with salt and pepper to taste. I did 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and then nice touch of fresh Black Pepper.

Season and Roast the Red Pepper with the rest of the vegetables. I roasted the Pepper as a whole without cutting it into chunks. I only cut the tail of and took out all the seeds. I also put the 5 cloves of garlic into aluminum foil and roasted them as well. You can use raw garlic in the vinaigrette, but when you roast it you get a sweeter flavor.

Roast everything at 450F for about 40 to 45 minutes. Check your vegetables every 15 min and make sure to toss them around so they roast equally. I also added a little more oil during the cooking process over the vegetables. They came out crispier that way.

  

4) This is how they came out after 45 minutes.

                  



5) Once you take out the vegetables take the Red Bell Pepper and put it into a small bowl and cover it with a towel or aluminum foil. Let it cool for about 15 min. That way the skin will easily come off.

6) Cook the pasta according to the box directions. Cook it till Al Dante. I cooked mine for about 9 to 10 minutes. Make sure to salt the water very well. When the pasta is almost done reserve about 1 cup of the starchy water that the pasta has been cooking in. You will need it to refresh the pasta. When draining the pasta make sure to never wash  it with any water. You do not want to wash of the starch. If you do you will get a mushy sticky pasta and no one wants that :).

7) Cook Edamame according to the box direction as well. I cooked mine for 5 minutes. 

8) Once you drain the pasta put it back into the pot you were cooking it in or a big bowl and add a little bit of the starchy water that you saved earlier. Then add in the Edamame, Roasted vegetables, Mango slices, and a touch of extra virgin olive oil. You can also sprinkle some Cilantro or Parsley over the pasta. I didn't do it since I did not have the ingredients at hand.

              



For the dressing:

Put the following ingredients into the blender except the oil.

1 medium roasted Red Bell Pepper

5 raw or roasted Garlic cloves

1 raw or roasted Jalapenno pepper. I like this Pepper more when its roasted. But I forgot to do it. So I used it raw.

1/2 cup roasted almonds. If you do not like almonds you can skip this step.

1/2 shallot

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

1 tbsp sherry wine vinegar

1 tbsp honey

Blend until everything comes together. Then add in 3 tbsp of good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil and blend until everything emulsifies. I also added 1/4 cup of water to make the dressing liquidier. But that's optional. You can do more or less. Depending on how you want your dressing to be. Mine was more on the chunkier side.

Once your dressing is ready season it with koser last and Pepper to taste and then pour over the pasta and vegetables. Whola and you are finally done. If you can let the pasta sit for a little bit before eating so all flavors come together, but if you will be as hungry as I was you will just attack this deliciousness right away.

Have fun and enjoy food. That's what it's here for :). I will post the salmon recipe in part 2 of this blog.

Delicious and Healthy Chocolate Mousse

As I came home after a wonderful day with my fiance Ellik which we spent on Randall's Island. I  got a craving for something sweet and delicious. I wanted to make sure that the sweet that I was going to make would have lots of nutritional value and also be quick to make. So I looked at what I have in my pantry and found the key ingredients that made up this take on a chocolate mousse. Cashews, Banana, Vanilla, Dates, Almond milk, Canola oil, Cocoa Powder, and Flax seeds.

The reason this mousse is super nutritional and good for you is because it contains lots of Fiber, Protein, Omega 3 Fatty Acids, Low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fat which is good for the heart. Also contains antioxidants, minerals, and dairy/gluten free.

Ingredients:
1/2 cups raw cashews (if you like you can roast them in an oven at 350F for 8 to 10 min). I used them raw.
1/2 almond milk ( if you don't have almond milk you can use water it works well here)
1 ripe Banana
3 dates (could use less if you want your mousse to be less sweet)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup good quality cocoa powder. (use raw if you have. it has more nutritional value then the processed cocoa powder)
1 tablespoon flax seeds (optional)
1 tablespoon canola oil
pinch kosher salt

Directions:
Put all of the ingredients into a good powerful blender and just blend everything together for about 1min and 30 seconds until everything comes together. Your mousse should look smooth and delicious :). Then pour the mousse into a ramekin cup if you have one and if you don't just pour into regular cup and put into a fridge and let it set for at least one hour. Then enjoy your healthy and delicious snack attack.

Notes:
-You can use agave or honey instead of the dates for additional sweetness. If using the liquid sweeteners I would put between 2 to 4 tablespoons. I guess it all depends on your sweet tooth at that moment.
-Feel free to top your mousse with additional toppings like raisins, walnuts, cherries, or to make your mousse even more richer and delicious add grated dark chocolate or just add full dark chocolate chunks.

Welcome!

People kept asking me for my recipes. I decided that a blog would be the easiest way to connect to people and share my passion for cooking.

Here, you will find my recipes, pictures of my creations and hopefully other fun things!