Kickin' Quinoa

So, Quinoa...what is it? When it's cooked, it kind of has the texture of couscous/rice but it's actually a seed, high in protein, gluten free, and pretty good for you. I guess people are kind of turned off by it because they're not quite sure what to do with it. Well, this is what I do with it....

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups of quinoa
- 1 or 2 jalapenos diced pretty small (depends on how spicy you like it)
- 1 medium sized onion diced
- 5 roma tomatoes (4-5 depends on size, seeded [take out the juicy insides] and diced)
- 3 cups of water or stock (if you make less quinoa, the rule is 2 to 1 water to quinoa)
- Seasonings: Bouillon powder, salt, pepper, chili powder, and garlic salt taste

You may consider:
- Broccoli florets or asparagus spears (cut into 1 inch pieces after roasting) drizzled with olive oil and salt, roasted in the oven at about 425 degrees until they start to caramelize (about 10-15 minutes). Add them to the finished quinoa....it's delicious!

Directions:
- In a medium sized sauce pan over medium/high heat, drizzle in about 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and then add diced onion. Cook onion until it starts to brown and caramelize (approximately five-six minutes) stirring often with a wooden spoon.

- Add in jalapenos, and cook for another 2-3 minutes stirring often.

- Add in 3 of the diced tomatoes and cook for yet another 2-3 minutes.

- Add in dry quinoa and stir ingredients together. Cook ingredients together for 2-3 minutes. Quinoa is going to stick to all the jalapenos, onion, and tomatoes....that's totally fine.

- Pour in water/stock and add seasoning and give a stir. Just so you know, you don't want to be frugal with the seasoning, quinoa doesn't have a whole lot of flavor on it's own.
- Bring the water to a boil and then cover and reduce heat for approximately 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on the quinoa!

- Once all of the water has been absorbed, add in the rest of the diced tomatoes and the roasted vegetables (I highly recommend the roasted veggies! They add a lot of good flavor.)

If you're not quite ready for quinoa, you can do the same recipe with Israeli couscous (the large couscous...the basically tiny balls of pasta). The only difference you'd make is that the water needs to be boiling before you add it to the couscous and it doesn't need to cook quite as long.

Whoa, Edamame!!

Here is a recipe for a healthy edamame, spinach, tomato, and garlic pasta.

Ingredients:
- 1 package of small sugar plum tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes)
- 1 package of shelled edamame (available at Trader Joe's)
- 1 bag of baby spinach
- approximately 6-7 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- about 2 cups of dry whole wheat pasta (here I used whole wheat rotini, but I've also used whole wheat egg noodles which have the lowest calories/fat and it comes out just as tasty)
- Seasoning (to taste): salt, pepper, chili flakes, garlic salt

Directions:
- Prepare pot with water to boil pasta. In the amount of time it takes the water to boil and for the pasta to cook, the rest of the dish should be ready to go.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, put about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and then pour in all of the sugar plum tomatoes whole and sprinkle with a little bit of salt.
- Cover skillet, occasionally moving tomatoes around the skillet for approximately 5-8 minutes until the tomatoes start to char a bit and become easy to squish.
- Lower the heat just a tad, and use a fork to squish all the tomatoes.

- Once all the tomatoes are squished, add in the finely chopped garlic and add a little more salt, pepper, and chili flakes.
- Let some of the liquid cook out, then add in shelled edamame.
- Stir everything together with a wooden spoon, and let everything cook together for about 2-3 minutes on low heat.

- Add baby spinach a pinch more salt, chili flakes, and garlic salt, then cover and let cook for another 2-3 minutes until spinach begins to wilt.
- Stir spinach into edamame, tomato, garlic mixture, then, use a slotted spoon to drain and scoop pasta out of the water and directly into the skillet.
- Stir everything together for a minute or two until everything is evenly distributed.

Serve it up, and enjoy!