Bean & Quinoa Salad

This salad is so tasty. Less ingredients but so much colours. So appetizing. And healthy, loaded with proteins without any piece of fish or meat.

Bean & Quinoa Salad
Adapted from Closet Cooking
(serves one)

Ingredients

- 80 grams red kidney beans (from tin, rinsed well)
- 20 grams red (or white) quinoa, rinsed and cooked
- 50 grams red pepper, diced
- 100 grams cucumber, cubed
- 70 grams corn (from tin, rinsed well)
- 1 cup rucola, chopped
- 2 spring onions, chopped
- pepper and salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil (with lemon)
- balsamic vinegar
- dried parsley

Method

Mix beans, quinoa (cold!), pepper, corn, cucumber, onions and rucola in a bowl. Season with pepper, salt and parsley. Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar and mix well.

Enjoy!

France

I'm back!

I loved our trip to France! Except the fact the wheater was not that good (cloudy, windy) and I spent more time in a warm sweater instead of a bikini, I feel less tired then before.
Surfing wasn't that easy: the waves were not as good as expected. I've tried it a few times but gave up after a while. I'll try it next time when we go on a surf trip!
Doing nothing (reading, listening to music, watching the waves, ...) can be so relaxing... Mmm...

We also made some good, tasty food. Look:

Baked Salmon with Asparagus and some Pasta.

Steak with raw vegetables (tomatoes, cucumber, salad and corn).

But look what I discovered in France: Quinoa Pasta!

I ate it a LOT. Different kinds of pasta salads.

Not a great picture but I can tell you: it tasted good!

Enjoy the breeze in your hair!

Quinoa & Buckwheat Fruit Bar (no bake)

Oh, finally I got my own bar recipe!
I searched through a lot of blogs, was looking for something unbaked, Larabar like bar without nuts or nut butter.
Don't get me wrong, I love nuts and nut butter, but now I wanted to create a bar without it, mainly to reduce the percentage of fat.

I created a bar without any elektric kitchen tools. I only used my two hands, a knife, scissors and lots of inspiration.

Tada!

The recipe:

Quinoa & Buckwheat Fruit Bar

Ingredients
- 50 gr medjool dates, pitted
- 30 gr dried figs (moist)
- 30 gr dried apricots (moist)
- 30 gr raisins
- 30 gr dried cranberries
- 5 gr buckwheat groats
- 10 gr puffed quinoa
- 10 gr oats

Method
Chop or cut the dried fruits into very small pieces and mash it into a 'paste' with a fork.
You become a mixture of dried fruits. Then, add the oats and buckwheat.
Add the puffed quinoa at the end and mix well.

Press the 'paste' into a plate. Cut into bars (the size you want).

I made 4 bars, each 35 grams. One bar = 100 kcal.

Store in fridge or freezer. I prefer keeping them in the freezer. I like dried fruits when they are very cold.

Enjoy!

Wrap!

A quick post because work is waiting for me!

I just want to share my lunch (and dinner) for today.

My first wrap:

Tortilla wrap with chicken, spinach, tomato, and basil. Grilled for about 7 minutes.
Easy, but so delicious!

I have to work late so I already made my dinner for tonight.
Another quinoa salad. This time, I choose red quinoa instead of white. Sometimes, I just want another color on my plate :).

In the mix:

- red quinoa
- cucumber
- orange pepper
- spring onion
- shredded carrots
- apple (I used Granny Smith)
- shrimps

Seasoning:

- salad herbs (eschalot, parsley, salt, garlic and pepper)
- balsamic vinegar
- lemon juice

(For some reason, blogger wants to show my pictures vertically. Bad boy!)

My First Quinoa Salad (Easy Peasy)

Yesterday, I made my first quinoa salad.

I have to admit something: It has been at least 6 months I ate grains. Curiously enough, I love grains. I don't have to say it again I'm a little oat-addict. But now I'm in love with another grain (or better 'seed'): quinoa.

In the mix:

- red pepper
- cucumber
- a carrot
- spinach
- spring onion
- quinoa (of course)

Seasoning:

- salad herbs
- a tablespoon of lemon juice
- two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

It tastes very well! Next time, I will add some corn and maybe fish (shrimps, tuna or salmon) or poultry (chicken or turkey).

I love lunch time!