Recipe: Super Powered Super Protein Quinoa Salad

Imagine a world where we always felt super strong!

He who stands for nothing will fall for anything.

  ~ Alexander Hamilton

Anyone up for a super powered, super nutritious, and super delicious recipe to help us stay strong?

There are few foods that fit the bill quite like quinoa does, as this amazing super food boasts some truly impressive nutritional qualities.

Quinoa is often referred to as a grain, but from everything I’ve read, is actually the seed of a plant. This could explain it’s super packed punch of pure complete protein, and it’s super light texture and taste.

And of course, if you are one of those folks who has yet to try it, you are most surely in for a treat as I’ve yet to meet a vegetarian, vegan, meat eater, or otherwise that doesn’t appreciate it.

It just makes you feel that good.

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

  ~ Frederick Douglass

When it comes to quinoa, it really is all that and more.

Just ask the Bolivians, who have been eating it (where it originates) for centuries.

With the sudden rise in popularity of quinoa in North America and across the globe, it has been written (this New York Times article from last year is a great read) that the effects of this new demand for this amazing food have had some very interesting ripple effects on the diet of some of the people of its homeland.

It is for this reason I try to take (just a little) extra care not to burn quinoa when I cook it, and not to leave any languishing in the pot at the end of cooking (if at all possible). Of course, in a perfect world, we would do this with anything we cook or bring into the house, as food waste of all forms is really never a good thing, and especially when it’s this precious (because it really is).

And have I mentioned delicious? No need to worry about those leftovers going to waste, especially with delicious combinations like this.

So without further ado, here is a wonderful way to enjoy this amazing food, packed full of energy and added super power from sweet corn, whole roasted almonds, veggies, and your unadulterated love & affection.

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

The Less:

Less gluten based sustenance can mean lighter fare to keep you going. Less weight in your tummy means lighter movements throughout the day. Less prepared foods and packaged salads means more hand-made love in your house, so no matter where you eat this, you’re home.

The More:

More plant-based, clean protein means more pure energy to burn through the day. More high fiber, high frequency flavors means you’ll never waste a single bite. More color, love & homemade goodness means you’ll never skip a beat, with super powered super foods to get you primed for whatever comes your way.

Super-Powered Super-Protein Quinoa Salad:

• (1) cup dry quinoa
• (1 – 3/4) cups cold water

Veggies & Nuts:

• (3/4- 1) cup whole almonds
• (3/4) cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped into one inch pieces
• (2) cobs fresh corn on the cob, peeled and broken in half
• (1) yellow, orange, or red bell pepper, chopped
• (2) tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, chopped (or parsley)

Dressing:

• (1) tsp salt
• (2) tbsp apple cider vinegar
• (3) tbsp olive oil
• (1) tbsp cumin seeds
• (1) additional tbsp olive oil for frying cumin seeds

Start by putting up your quinoa to cook. Combine the quinoa and water in a saucepan with a lid and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to low (without removing the lid) and cook, covered for 25 minutes. Once cooked, remove the lid and fluff the quinoa with a fork. After a few minutes, place it in a mixing bowl to cool. Make sure to give it a good stir with a fork – this will continue to fluff it up and will also help to release the cooking steam.

While the quinoa cooks, heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the whole almonds onto a cookie sheet and place in the oven (yes, even while it is heating up!) and allow the almonds to roast until turning a deep brown and smelling fragrant (about 10 minutes). Once roasted, remove the almonds from the oven and let cool.

Next, put up a pot of water to boil and add the two peeled cobs of fresh corn.

Cook, covered on a medium boil, until the corn is tender, about 6-8 minutes. Drain the corn when ready and place in a bowl of ice water to allow to cool while you prepare the rest of the vegetables.

Chop the colored bell pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, and cilantro and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil, vinegar & salt and set aside.

By this time, you should have a pot of quinoa either cooked, almost cooked or cooled, corn cooling, and almonds cooling.

Now time to fry (or dry toast if desired) your delicious cumin seeds.

If you like, you can also sub in dried powdered cumin in this recipe, using a teaspoon to start and adding as you wish to taste. I’ve become so fond of whole cumin seeds of late that I simply couldn’t resist throwing them into the mix here..you won’t regret this extra step!

To fry whole cumin seeds, heat the olive oil for frying (1 tbsp or less) in a frying pan on medium high heat. Once the oil is ready (about 1 minute), add the cumin seeds and cook, stirring, on medium high for one minute or until the seeds are fragrant and darkening a little (if they start to smoke and turn black they are burning).

Remove the seeds and their cooking oil into the mixing bowl with the oil/vinegar/salt mix and allow to cool.

Next up is the corn. In this house, it is common to cook up several cobs of corn to have in the fridge cooked and ready to go. When removed from the cob, fresh local corn is simply delicious added to all manner of salads and veggie dishes.

Once you have cooked the corn halves and allowed them to cool, simply hold the half cob of corn up on the stub end with one hand and cut the kernels off with a sharp knife with your other hand.

The sweet corn that falls off the cob is nothing short of heavenly, and once you get the hang of this, you’ll wonder how you ever got by without this.

Once the quinoa is cool enough to touch, add it to the mixing bowl with the oil & vinegar & spices. Stir to combine and add the corn, vegetables, cilantro and whole roasted almonds.

Stir everything until well mixed and beautiful. Taste to correct salt and add pepper if desired.

Serve this beautiful mixture still a little warm, cool, or cold from the fridge for lunch or dinner, with or without added feta cheese  (it really doesn’t need it here).

This can also be served a top a bed of dressed greens and cold steamed vegetables like I had several times this week.

Perfection right to the last bite.

We acquire the strength we have overcome.

  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The beauty of this food is that it never feels heavy. If the goal is satisfaction, it is well within reach here.

If your goals are even higher, you can bet that when the fuel is this powerful, there’s just no limit to what you can do.

Mastering others is strength. Mastering oneself makes you fearless.

~ Lao Tzu

Strength is not something you have, it’s something you find.

~ Emma Smith

So whatever your dragon is today, face it knowing you are already armed with all you could ever need. Personal strength really does come from so many places, and good food is a great place to start.

• What is your favorite super food?
• Got a super power or source of strength to share with us?

I know you gifted & passionate folk must have more than a few tricks up your sleeves!

With so much raw talent amongst you all, there really couldn’t be any other way…and I for one would love to hear all about it!

Yours in Less,

Market Day in Provence: A Picture Journey

If only the world could stand still a moment.

“Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair…”

~ Susan Polis Schutz

Alas it does seem a while since I posted, bonjour everyone!

Truth be told, it’s been somewhat challenging to blog from the road here, as time inside is limited and my mind is flooded with new sensations, views, ideas, and inspiration, none of which have solidified enough to properly put to words.

It is also (put more simply) that I am (and for the first time in a long time and maybe actually ever) in pure honest vacation mode, and my mind has turned off (mostly) everything.

All to make room for the new.

Here, in Provence (where we arrived Friday after a few glorious days in Burgundy), I was treated Sunday to my very first Provencal market experience, and what a treat that was!

The adorable and ancient village where we are based, called L’isle Sur La Sorgue, is somewhat popular for its markets, most notably antiques.

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.

~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Provence itself as a much larger area, (I just read in my French history book) has been celebrated since the Roman times for its particularly good fresh produce.

With the area being somewhat continually drenched in hot sun (it has been between 35 and 40 degrees steady since we arrived), one would think it obvious that this food would be good, and I had heard that indeed, it was.

But I was not prepared for this.

There are simply no words that could adequately describe the taste of the food that grows here, for this is (for any fruit and vegetable lover) a total mecca.

So in the absence of new recipes, I do hope you’ll enjoy a little tour of the town and the market with me here – as I’ve tried to do it justice, but I’ll let you be the judge 🙂

Life isn’t as serious as the mind makes it out to be.

~ Eckhart Tolle

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

~ Eckhart Tolle

I am quite sure I read there were over 300 stalls at this market on Sunday, and judging by the fact that we couldn’t even see it all, I believe it.

This little village, with its narrow ancient streets, transformed into a bustling shopping zone with sellers & producers offering everything from soap, to clothing, records, antiques, jewellery, shoes, bags, scarves, spices, and of course food.

Oh, the glorious food.

Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.

~ Unknown

Forget every stereotype you’ve ever heard about the French being anything less than polite. Here, they are warm, and excited to see visitors delight in their hard work. In fact, here in the south, the people are downright wonderful.

There are so many characters in a small village like this. And their food, their food.

It is truly sublime, not to mention very cheap (I’ll share more in my next post on just how inexpensive it really is).

Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.

~ William Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s Sonnets

In my next post I’ll tell you the top foods we’ve been enjoying here, especially since arriving here in Provence where we’ve got a full functioning kitchen, a barbeque, and an outdoor eating area to enjoy the food and the company under the open skies.

After Paris, and then a few days in hotel in Beaune, we are happy to be enjoying a lovely amount of space here, and are taking advantage of the fresh food & views available right around the corner.

L’espoir fait vivre.

~ French Proverb, “Where there’s life, there’s hope.”

We’ve got just a few more days here, so the likelihood that I’ll get another post out before the end of this trip is quite small, but you never know – I’ll have months of inspiration to share and enjoy from the perspective of life at home.

But not just yet!

From here, we head south for a night to enjoy the ocean before returning to Paris for the last two nights – we head home Monday. I hope you all are enjoying the final weeks of summer, and I’ll look forward to catching up soon!

• If you traveled to Provence, what would be on your list to eat?

Let us know, and thanks for joining me!

Yours in Less,

Recipe: Fresh Homemade Coconut Milk

It doesn’t get any simpler than this.

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

~ Confucius

Surely something so simple cannot be this easy, can it?

I assure you, with a little effort, it absolutely is, and with that effort, you will be so richly rewarded.

With all the wonderful alternatives to dairy milk out there, it is no surprise that coconut, with all of the amazing health benefits that come with it, is leading the charge in many ways as a delicious way to get good fats and loads of high quality energy into our bodies.

While it surely isn’t a local food (unless you are lucky to live where they grow of course), coconuts are widely available in markets & supermarkets all across the world, and with (just a little) know how, can be purchased for just a few dollars and used in any number of amazing ways.

Here is my favorite way to enjoy it (other than found as-is on a beach in Mexico), and I am sure I am not the only coconut milk lover out there!

Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.

  ~ Jimi Hendrix

Picking coconuts can be a little tough, and often can yield something less than fresh.

Perhaps the greatest challenge is finding a coconut that hasn’t gone bad. I assure you, once you crack it and drain the water inside, you’ll know if you’ve got a rancid one on your hands. Such is life, and I often purchase 2 at a time just to be sure. And at such a low cost of $2-$3 each, it’s not such a bad way to go.

If you’ve never worked with fresh coconut before, you are in for a treat!

Just talking about cracking these guys open brings back some of the fondest memories of my childhood – when finding the soft spot on the coconut with my dad (and the nail and hammer) was just about as awesome as it got.

And that’s pretty awesome.

This method of making (and enjoying) coconut might not be for everyone, but if you’ve got the will and a good blender, you might just be in heaven with this.

The taste and texture of fresh coconut milk is about the creamiest, dreamiest thing I can think of, and here it can be done right at home!

So be prepared for (just a little) work, and maybe (just a little) mess, but I promise the results will be worth it. And so will the recipe coming up for the pulp in my next post 😉

The Less:

Less canned, processed items in the home means more hands on, homemade goodness. Less packaging and labels used means less waste, resources, and energy. Less shelf stable anything means more fresh live energy, so you can infuse yourself and your loved ones with love, straight from the earth right to you.

The More:

More rich, satisfying health food means more all round satisfaction in your belly. More whole, natural fats means more easy assimilation and clean fuel. More delicious fresh dairy alternatives means lots of healthy & tasty options, so living with less is easy, while still being tempting and delicious.

Fresh Homemade Coconut Milk:

• (1) fresh hard-shell coconut
• (3-4) cups water
• Sweetener if desired
• Lots of Love & Elbow Grease

Start by grabbing a safe sharp object – a good pair scissors with a sharp tip, or my dad’s favorite (and thus, mine), a nail and hammer.

Find the three spots on the tip of the coconut and with the tip of the sharp object, gently and carefully try to poke each hole. One of the three holes is the ‘key’ to the coconut and will cave under the pressure much easier than the other two. This is how you know which one to go for! Once identified, poke the soft hole all the way through and twist the scissors or nail to make as big a hole as you can (it will be about as big as a small pencil eraser).

Drain the water inside the coconut and set aside for drinking (right away or later).

Now the fun part.

(and you might find a better way to do this).

You’ve got to break the coconut into pieces. I do this by throwing it against the concrete in my backyard as hard as I can. It’s pretty satisfying and kids do love this (just make sure they are well out of the way of flying pieces!!). Otherwise, you can set the coconut on a hard surface and hit it with a hammer until it breaks. Keep breaking up the pieces until you get pieces smaller than the size of your hand.

Then, using a firm object (like a strong metal spoon that you don’t mind bending), separate the hard shell from the coconut meat. The meat itself will have a soft brown ‘skin’ – this can stay on, just carefully (and with elbow grease) get all the furry hard shell pieces off until you have a bowl of clean pieces of white coconut. Yum!

Growing up, this was a special dessert for us.

Once you’ve got all of your coconut pieces, give them a quick rinse under cold water to get any mess from the skin off. Break the pieces into smaller pieces if desired and add all the coconut to your blender (you should have roughly 4-5 cups of coconut pieces).

Next, add 3-4 cups of clean cold water to the blender. Blend the coconut and water on high for up to 3 minutes, ensuring all the pieces are well blended (the pulp will remain quite coarse depending on the strength of your blender).

If you start with less water, make sure to add enough water to facilitate good blending.

Once you have blended the mixture for up to 3 minutes, strain the milk through a fine strainer or cheese cloth. Notice the cream that rises to the top during this process – this is so good for you and so incredibly delicious too!

From here, transfer the milk to a large mason jar or container for storage in the fridge for up to 5 days. The milk will separate a little in the fridge, but just give it a good shake before using!

One recipe will make enough milk to fill just under a one liter jar (depending on how watery you like it). Feel free to sweeten with vanilla or maple syrup as desired, and enjoy this with anything and everything you like 🙂

And there you have it, fresh, homemade coconut milk. How awesome is that?

Make sure to save the pulp, as I’ve got a most yummy dessert to share with you next, when I will be posting fresh upon our arrival in France!

You’ll be ready to dive into making coconut milk just to make the dessert I am sure, but once you’ve done both, you might not be able to stop (or maybe you will).

The more I see, the less I know for sure.

~ John Lennon

I’ve said before that coconut is almost literally a vegan’s dream, and whether you are vegan or not, I have yet to meet a soul (aside from my youngest daughter but never mind her) that doesn’t love the flavor and richness of coconut.

Here it is in all of it’s pure, unadulterated glory. The best kind of glory there is, if you ask me.

There is no exquisite beauty… without some strangeness in the proportion.

~ Edgar Allan Poe

Beauty is not caused. It is.

~ Emily Dickinson

So if you are an adventurer in the kitchen (I know quite a strong few of you out there) – I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. I’ve been relishing in the freshness of this drink all week and I’ve got to tell you, my friends and co-workers have not minded one bit, as they’ve also enjoyed the outcome of the delicious pulp too.

• Have you ever made coconut milk at home?
• What is your favorite way to use coconut milk?

Do tell friends! This will be the last of me from Vancouver for a while, we are literally in the last few hours here, and we leave very early Sunday morning. I’ve said my good-byes (some were very hard this time), but I am so looking forward to not only going, but to returning too.

Renewed. Inspired. Fresh.

I can’t wait to have you all join me. I hope you will!

This recipe has also been featured in Healthy Vegan Fridays #5 – check it out here!

Yours in Less,