quinoa Archives - Lean Lena

Lean Lena July 8, 2014

Tasty Tuesday Linkup Party and Quinoa Taco Salad Recipe

Hey, guys! Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July!

I had a great weekend! Full of family time, laughs, fun activities and good food. Yep, there were fireworks, too 🙂 Back to the salt mine today, but all recharged and ready for it.

As always, it’s the Tasty Tuesday Linkup Party time here on Lean Lena. Here’s the new badge (you can grab the code for it on the right sidebar), and I’m hosting it alone for now.

We’ll see what happens 🙂

So! If you have a recipe on the blog, a restaurant review, a meal plan, a “what’s on my plate” kind of post or anything food related – you can link it up below.

This linkup is open for 1 week – right until the next one starts. So, if you didn’t get a chance to link up today – come back tomorrow!

Any shares and spreading the word is greatly appreciated!

Today I’m sharing yet another salad recipe with you – and this one is also quinoa based. I just love quinoa in salads! Have you seen my post featuring recipes with quinoa yet? Head over here to check it out in case you missed it.

Then come back inspired and make this super-salad!

YOU WILL NEED:

Quinoa, cooked according to package instructions – about 1/2 cup uncooked, and cooled down
Canned Black Beans (rinsed and drained well)
Fresh tomatoes
Fresh leeks or purple onion
Corn (I “shaved” my corn on the cob that I had handy but you can use canned corn as well, just rinse and drain well before adding to the salad)
Fresh cilantro
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Taco seasoning, salt and pepper to taste
Tri-Color Tortilla Strips to garnish (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine quinoa and all vegetables (except tomatoes) in a salad bowl.

Add lemon juice, olive oil, taco seasoning, salt and pepper and mix until well combined.

Fold in tomatoes.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Enjoy!

How wonderfully easy is this salad?

The best part of it is that the longer it stays in the fridge, the tastier it gets (within reason, of course 🙂 )

Now tell me, what was the tastiest thing you ate last week?

Got a post about it? Link it up below!

Happy Tasty Tuesday and I will see you tomorrow right here with my report to follow up on my resolutions I talked about in the Tough Love post last week.

Stay tuned!

Be sure to check out the linkups this post was shared on:

Real Food Wednesdays

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Filed Under: dinner, fitness, Link Up, lunch, recipes, Tasty Tuesday Tagged With: dinner, good food, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, lunch, quinoa, recipes, salad 22 Comments

Lean Lena June 24, 2014

Quinoa the Queen and 5 Ways to Easily Incorporate it into Your Diet

Happy Tasty Tuesday morning to you, my friends!

What fun things did you do this weekend? I was on a cleaning spree – so I scrubbed and cleaned, and washed and dusted, and vacuumed and what not 🙂

Love to have a clean house! Great feeling.

There was also some pool time on Sunday and hubby’s company picnic on Saturday.

FUN!

But back to tasty things 🙂 It’s linkup party time! Do you have something tasty you’re talking about on your blog? A new recipe? A restaurant review? Link it up below!

Don’t forget to check out other links!

Me? I am talking Quinoa today 🙂

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Quinoa is a wonder-seed. Rich in protein (8 g, 16%), magnesium (118 mg, 30%) and fiber (5 g, 21%) it has become extremely popular among people with various dietary restrictions, preferences and tastes.

I personally discovered it about a year ago (thank you, Internet 🙂 ), and I have been hooked ever since I tried it for the first time.

If you’re looking into trying quinoa, here are some tasty ways to incorporate it into your diet.

{ONE} Salads

I usually make a whole batch of it on Sunday and add it pretty much to all my salads.

On a bed of fresh baby spinach

Here’s the link to my Quinoa Power Salad and ways to serve it.

Every salad (except the beet root salad) in this Sunday meal prep photo has white quinoa in it:

{TWO} Baking

I haven’t tried baking with it yet, but this Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Quinoa Snack Cake by Peanut Butter and Peppers looks super-yummy!

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{THREE} Breakfast Recipes

Some people eat quinoa cooked as oatmeal for breakfast.

Or, you can make this awesome Quinoa Pudding by Honest Fare and have that instead!

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{FOUR} Add to Soups

Add your quinoa to soups instead of that pasta! So much better for you!

This Black Bean and Quinoa Soup by The Post Punk Kitchen looks simply ah-mazing!

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{FIVE} Add to Smoothies

Yes, you read that right! I can’t wait to try and add quinoa to my smoothie!

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Check out the recipe for this beautiful Tropical Quinoa Smoothie by Rabbit Food for my Bunny Teeth.

And those are your 5 ways to incorporate quinoa into your diet.

Now it’s party time!

Share your tasty finds with me 🙂

Questions of the day:

Have you ever tried quinoa? How did you like it? What is your favorite recipe with quinoa?

Take care, my friends!

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Filed Under: breakfast, dessert, dinner, fitness, Healthy Living Tips, Link Up, lunch, recipes, Tasty Tuesday Tagged With: baking, breakfast, dessert, dinner, good food, healthy breakfast, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, lunch, quinoa, recipes, salad, smoothie 15 Comments

Lean Lena March 25, 2014

Tasty Tuesday: Quinoa Power Salad

Hey guys! It’s Tasty Tuesday! And on Tasty Tuesdays we party!!!

Yeah! Don’t forget to link up below and check out other links of the party guests. If you link up, your link will also appear on the blog of my co-host – Meranda.

So. Today I wanted to share a recipe for one of my most favorite salads.

Guess what? There is no traditional recipe for it 🙂 Just guidelines and suggested ingredient list – no quantities. Just use how ever much of whatever you have basically!

INGREDIENTS:

Have to use to get a great salad:

Quinoa, cooked according to package instructions, and cooled
Canned black beans, rinsed and drained well
Purple onion, finely chopped
Sweet potato, microwaved, chilled, cubed
Fresh cilantro or parsley (depends on what you like more – I like both so I throw in whichever I have handy)
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Cumin, salt and pepper

Optional ingredients:

Fresh cucumber, cubed
Fresh tomato (I am not a big fan of adding it – gives a great taste to the salad, but I personally don’t like the texture)
Acorn/Butternut squash (cooked and diced – hey, good way to use those leftovers)
Bell peppers
Avocado (I only put it in if I am making just enough for us to eat in one meal, otherwise avocado gets dark and mushy the day after)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Start with cooking your quinoa according to package instructions – it takes a while to cool, and you will need to use it chilled. Can always put it in the fridge, but I try not to, just let it cool at the room temperature. I usually use 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa and 1 cup water. With everything else thrown into the salad it usually makes 4-6 servings.
Microwave the sweet potato, quarter and let cool (quartering will help it cool faster, too). I usually take a medium size potato and microwave it for 2-3 minutes.
Next – make the dressing. This is one of those salads where adding the dressing in advance makes the salad better and more flavorful. Combine lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin in a bowl. Wisk it and let sit for a little bit for the flavors to combine.
Dice, chop and prep the vegetables you decided to add to your salad.
Add all the ingredients together in a salad bowl, pour the dressing over, mix until combined, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Enjoy!