Quaintly Quinoa

A couple weeks back my Fireman so sweetly brought lunch to some friends of our that were in need of some good company- and if you know my sweet man, he is awesomely good company.  When asked what our friends would like, they simply replied 'Anything off the Whole Foods bar'.  So, as my Fireman was on his way out, he gave me a ring- causing my face to become a tad green with envy.  I wanted lunch off the Whole Foods bar!  After getting past a brief pout I realized he had never been in WF by himself. 

Me: 'Do I need to walk you through it?' 

FM: 'No, Amber.  I got it, I think.  They told me just what they wanted.' 

Me: 'Alright, buddy.'

That evening our conversation went just like this.

FM: 'Sweet Pea.. (thats what my Fireman calls me.. awww, cute. Yes- I know.) is ke-noi-waa good for you?

Me: 'Ke-whatta?'

FM: 'Here.. this word..' (showing me his text from our friends that requested {Quinoa} for lunch)

Me: 'Ohhhhh, silly boy. Qin-wah'

He ate a food that afternoon for lunch he didn't know how to say.  He followed the lead of anothers request for a quinoa salad and fell in love.   So- after puppy eyes kindly requested that I make something similar for him, I agreed.  He clearly twisted my arm. 

Spinach, pungent cheese, sweet dried fruit, and a tart Pink Lady.  YUM. 

We ate on this for 4 days.  Lunch was quite colorful, and I didn't put it in a tortilla.

Speaking of tortilla.  I grabbed a few items to remake this salad, after yet another request for more to be made.  'Put cilantro in it or something..'

My Fireman is so creative.  Stay tuned for a Southwestern Quinoa Salad- coming soon:)

Quinoa Salad

with Gruyere, Walnuts, & Dried Fruit Medley

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups quinoa

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

1 large red onion, quartered and sliced thin

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, thinly sliced

1/2 cup (2 ounces) Gruyere cheese, shredded

1 large crisp apple, such as Honeycrisp or Pink Lady, diced

3/4 cup walnut halves, chopped

1 fennel bulb, chopped

1/4 cup dried tart cherries

1/2 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped

3 tablespoons red wine vinager

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Combine quinoa and 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until quinoa is tender but still slightly crunchy, about 15 minutes. 

Drain quinoa and return to the pot.  Cover and let stand for 5 minutes; fluff with a fork.  Let cool to room temperature. 

While quinoa cooks, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a small skillet over medium high heat.  Add sliced onion and 1/4 teaspoon if salt; cook, stirring frequently until tender and brown around the edges, 6-8 minutes.  Add the balsamic vinager and toss with the onions until the vinager cooks away, about 1 minute. 

Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl combine the quinoa, onions, spinach, and the next 7 ingredients (through apricots).  In a small bowl, whisk remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil with the red wine vinegar and black pepper.  Add the dressing to the salad, tossing gently to combine. 

Nutrition Information

Serves: 8 (about 1 1/4 cup each)

Calories: 345

Fat: 16 g

Carbohydrate: 42 g

Fiber: 6 g 

Protein: 9g

Fry-Free Take-Out

Yes, it is true we dig the Tex-Mex flavors in the CB house- but we also love Asian and all things that come along with it.  When I talk about Asian foods with my Fireman he names Orange Chicken and fried rice.. or Shrimp Pad Thai as his favorites. Oh, and about 98% of the time he is kidnapped by the Food Court toothpick guy.  You know, the one that hands out the free buffet-style-chinese-chicken-something or other.  Usually, I'm walking myself right over to a sandwich place or other fare and he dissappears off to the buffet line.  Those toothpick guys bee-line right for him.  Such an easy target.

Well, this night I made my own chinese chicken.  No toothpicks needed.

The problem with most of that take-out food is the type of meat they use, and not to mention it is fried crispy.  I chose white meat chicken breast.  I trimmed it before cutting it into about 1-inch cubes.

Flavors merry best the longer you let them sit.  Next time I will probably let this sit overnight in my fridge.. like I do when I'm grilling up salmon.  I only let it merry for about 1.5-2 hours, long enough for me to come home from work and throw it all in a bag before heading to the gym. {Ready prepped for when I got home!}

Dredge the chicken pieces in just a little flour.  About 2 tablespoons is all you need. 

Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees.  Look- crispy!  No batter, no vat of oil, no drip dry.  Just the oven.

Oh, the wonders of cornstarch!  Just 2 teaspoons will do the trick.  Simmer on the stove to make thick and saucy! Drizzle it over your oven baked crispy chicken. 

Stir well to coat evenly, and then pop it back in the oven for another 5 minutes or so to carmelize your chicken. 

Look how delicious this is.  If I could hand you a bite, I would. I wish this meal wasn't over. 

My dish was rounded out with rice noodles and Tangy Slaw {I'm obsessed with this mayo-less slaw lately}  I think next time this would be better with a simple rice pilaf.  Better than the rice noodles, probably.

Anyway you serve it, take {out} is brought {in} with this satisfying meal. 

Honey Teriyaki Chicken

INGREDIENTS
Chicken
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Sauce
3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup of water
2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Combine first 6 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal and shake well. Add chicken; seal and toss to coat. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Remove chicken from the marinade.  Add in flour to a medium sized bowl and toss to coat, shaking off excess. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper and add the chicken, spacing evenly across the pan. Bake 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through.

While the chicken is baking, combine chili sauce, ketchup, honey, fish sauce, and soy sauce in a medium sauce pan.  Bring to a low boil and heat until thickened; about 6-8 minutes. Combine water and cornstarch in a small measuring cup, whisking until dissolved.  Add to sauce mixture, bring to a boil. 

Remove chicken from the oven and pour the thickened sauce, stirring to coat each piece.  Place the chicken back in the oven and cook for an additional 5 minutes more. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over hot cooked noodles or rice pilaf.

Nutrition Information

Serves 4 (3/4 cup chicken, each)

Calories: 228

Fat: 4 g

Carbohydrate: 19 g

Fiber: 0 g

Protein: 19 g

Burger Makin' it Lean

Last week when I was meal planning, I was toying with the idea of making black bean burgers for me and my Fireman at some point this week.  I have several different versions of this burger of the bean kind.. and finally came up with something worth working into our weekly rotation. 

Once a week after grocery shopping I pretty must rearrange my kitchen- the pantry and fridge get a mini-makeover/clean-out.  Totally prevents the 'what-is-this-moldy-once-green-now-purple-food-stuff?' question.  Upon doing that this weekend, I came across a package of lean ground turkey Firemom gave me a couple weeks back.  I came home that night and threw it in the freezer and totally forgot about it. So, last minute scratch of the bean burgers- I thought turkey burgers would do just fine to please my belly.

Choose the lean ground turkey (at least 93% lean..reads 93/7 on the package) or ground turkey breast over the regular ground turkey meat. 

Dark meat and skin in the regular version makes for a ground meat equivalent to that of 80/20 ground chuck. 

I seasoned my meat well, and rather than adding in an egg and breat crumbs to hold my patties together, I amped the nutritional value a bit with wheat germ.. adding in some fiber, whole grains, and heart healthy fat.  

I also roasted off a couple poblano peppers under my broiler for about 10 minutes- nice and charred.. FULL of flavor.  Toss them in a paper bag or container with a lit and let cool for another 10 minutes.  Peel the skin and dice.  I did this the night before and kept the peeled whole peppers in the fridge until I was ready to mix up my patties. 

A little olive oil and cooking spray to carmelize my sweet onions.  I made them more crispy than carmelized.. but thats how I like them.   

Grill for 7 to 9 minutes, turning after about 5 minutes to get good marking on the flip side.  I used my sandwich press (again).  Loft living caused us to give away out grill when we moved- so I make due with what I have.

While my burgers were grilling up, I mixed together a spicy ketchup with my other poblano pepper and some canned chipotle chiles.  You could replace the actually chiles in adobo with the powder- depends on your desire for heat.   

A slice of Gouda cheese made this smokey burger even better, I actually found some Chipotle-Gouda Cheese at my market.. So, again.. totally up to you and what you desire.  Regular cheddar would be perfect here, too! 

Dude.  Time to grub.  I'm hungry for this. Now.  Why does this meal have to be over already... I brought leftover burgers for lunch- maybe lunch can be a little early (this morning).

Southwest Poblano Turkey Burgers

Adapted from Cooking Light

INGREDIENTS

2 poblano chiles (about 1/2 pound)

Burgers

3/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion  

1/3 cup wheat germ

1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey breast

Cooking spray

4 ounces Gouda cheese, thinly sliced

6 (1/2-inch-thick) slices sweet onion

6 (2-ounce) Kaiser rolls, split

Chipotle-Poblano Ketchup

1 cup ketchup  
1 roasted poblano pepper, diced

2 tablespoons minced seeded chipotle chiles, canned in adobo sauce (about 2 chiles)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

DIRECTIONS

Preheat broiler.  Pierce poblanos 2 times with the tip of a knife. Place poblanos on a foil-lined baking sheet; broil 10 minutes or until blackened, turning occasionally. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel and discard skins. Cut a lengthwise slit in poblano; discard seeds and stem. Finely chop poblanos.

Combine one roasted poblano and next 7 ingredients in a large bowl. Divide mixture into 6 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.

Place patties on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 5 minutes. Turn patties over; grill 2 minutes. Divide cheese evenly over patties; grill an additional 5 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°. Remove from grill; let stand 5 minutes.

Sauté onion slices in a medium pan coated with cooking spray; about 8 minutes until browned and tender.

For the ketchup, combine remaining poblano, ketchup, chipotle chilies, and cumin.

Place 1 patty on bottom half of each roll; top each serving with 1 onion slice, 1 tablespoon Chipotle-Poblano Ketchup, and top half of roll.

Nutrition Information

Serves: (1 burger, each)

Calories: 395

Fat: 11 g

Carbohydrate: 42.6 g

Fiber: 4 g

Protein: 34 g