Faro and Vegetable Salad Recipe

17 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by snackingkitchen in Cooking, Grains, Healthy, Kale, Lunch, Meatless Monday, Salad

Do you love whole grains? Are you a fan of bringing in daily lunch but making it only once a week? Are you tired of pb&j sandwiches? Then this Faro and Vegetable Salad just might be what you will want to make and pack up for your daily lunch this week. Packed with nutrients and vitamins, it’s colorful, cheerful, crunchy, and delicious. The zesty lemon-mustard dressing is light and can be kept separate from the salad, to be added right before serving. Don’t have faro on hand? This will work equally well with brown rice and wheat berries.

Faro and Vegetable Salad

Ingredients

1 cup faro
2 cups water
1 bunch kale, torn into pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 English cucumber, diced
2 large tomatoes, diced
2 carrots, shredded
2 tablespoons dill, chopped

Dressing:
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Add faro and water to a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer faro until tender, about 15 minutes. Add in kale, cover, and let sit for a few minutes for kale to wilt.

2. Combine cooled faro and kale with the remaining vegetables.

3. Whisk together dressing and pour over faro and vegetables. Toss gently.

Pack this lunch daily and you’ll be happily fed. Want to mix it up? Add grilled chicken, tofu, or shrimp along with the salad. Love cheese? Add crumbled feta cheese to your daily lunch. As the salad sits in the fridge, the vegetables take on somewhat of a marinated quality and the faro soaks up the dressing nicely.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers Recipe

03 Thursday Feb 2011

Posted by snackingkitchen in Cooking, Grains, Quinoa, Recipe

≈ 1 Comment

Healthy and delicious dinner or lunch dish inspired by the recipe from Whole Foods Market. Following the Health Starts Here program, the recipe does not include any oil or salt. I increased the amount and variety of the vegetables and added spices. I hope you will try and enjoy the recipe. Depending on the size of your peppers, you might have some filling leftover after stuffing the peppers, but not to worry, I was happy to eat the filling on its own.

If you choose, feel free to saute the vegetables in olive oil and season the quinoa filling with sea or kosher salt.

Serves 5 (1 pepper per person)

Ingredients

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1/4 vegetable stock or water
3 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 cup frozen edamame, thawed
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro, dill or parsley
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
5 bell peppers, tops removed and reserved, then cored and seeded

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Put quinoa and 1 1/2 cups water into a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium-low; cover and simmer until liquid is gone and grains are tender, about 15 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes; fluff with a fork and transfer to a large bowl.

2. Heat vegetable broth in a pan. Add carrots, celery, edamame, garlic and spices. Cook 5-7 minutes until vegetables soften . Add vegetables, green onions, herbs and vinegar to quinoa and mix.

3. Stuff peppers with mixture and arrange in a baking dish; pour 1/4 cup water into dish. Place tops on peppers, cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until tender, 20 to 30 minutes more.

How did I forget to take the photo of the final product? Perhaps, I was too hungry to eat the pepper. Regardless, it taste delicious! I would recommend serving it with some tomato sauce. Remember, if you’re following the Health Starts Here program, choose the sauce that doesn’t have any added fat or salt. Garnish with green onions and enjoy! Dinner leftovers will be great for lunch the next day.

Saturday Snapper Supper – Cooking with Alla

17 Friday Sep 2010

Posted by snackingkitchen in Cooking, Fish, Grains, Salad

≈ 2 Comments

I have this wonderful friend Alla. We actually met through a JConnect cooking class and share a love for food and cooking, among many other things. Alla’s home is a home away from home with me, and having her as a close neighbor is quite handy. I can’t tell you how many times we have planned to cook together.
“Let’s cook tonight!” she says. “Ok, great!” I say and head over to her place. What happens next? We meet and realize that we are both too hungry and tired to cook, and end up going out to eat (sushi and pho are the most popular options.)

Well, the no-cooking spell finally got broken on a Saturday afternoon. We both were fired up with energy and enthusiasm to cook our first meal together!

Now, I am quite particular in the kitchen and like certain things done the right way (or my way) and was a bit hesitant about sharing the cooking duties, but we worked great as a team and I learned a thing or two about compromising (no onions were used and somehow I managed to survive)! 🙂

On the menu:

Baked Snapper with White Wine, Lemon & Dill
Couscous Salad with Cranberries, Sauteed Mushrooms, Toasted Almonds and Dill
Fall Salad with Pears, Avocado, Blue Cheese, Almonds and Cranberries

Notice, that we used a few common ingredients in all three components of the dish to tie it all together. We cooked, I photographed, and then we sat down and shared our first meal. I am hoping to share many more in the future!