PRESENTS:

Today we have Tiff, of Mostly YA Lit sharing her love for not only food, but healthy food!  And I am SUPER excited because it is all about one of my FAVORITE healthy foods, quinoa!  So I think its only appropriate to title today’s post, Quinoa Craziness! Tiff is sharing a super awesome way to try this nutrient packed grain, and I personally think we should all give it a try!  Here is Tiff, guys!

Even though I’m a book blogger, talking about food is one of my passions. I seriously LOVE FOOD.

Especially baking. And ice cream. And really delicious fusion restaurant-y stuff like crispy duck egg à la bourguignonne, but also perfect thin-crust pizza, and amazing burgers…

But yeah, this is a problem since I’ve just gotten back to being healthier about my lifestyle. So for me, making and finding recipes that are delicious, appetizing, but also also nutritious is really important.

And thus…my FitFAVE.

Quinoa with olives, arugula and feta

Photo source: Food Network Canada

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups quinoa
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 bunch arugula, washed and coarsely chopped (we use pre-washed packages)
• 1 cup pitted and chopped Kalamata or black olives (or just one small jar or can)
• ½ cup minced red onion
• ¼ cup minced celery or fennel
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup crumbled light feta cheese
• salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions (usually, just bring a full pot of water to boil, add desired amount of quinoa, cook until you can see the rings on each piece and it’s soft). When cooked, pour out into colander and rinse in cold water.
2. Place quinoa into a bowl and toss with olive oil to coat.
3. Wash brine off olives and feta.
4. Add arugula, olives, onion, celery/fennel, lemon juice and feta to quinoa and toss. Season to taste and eat immediately, or chill until ready to serve.

This recipe started out as Israeli couscous with olives, arugula and feta created by Anna Olson, who is a local chef here in Ontario, Canada. But since my husband and I started making it a few years ago, we’ve added our own tweaks to make it even healthier and easier (but still delicious).

The original recipe calls for Israeli couscous, which is yummy, but also pretty starchy. We almost always go with quinoa now. We also use light feta, because the flavor is pretty similar to full-fat. We use jars of sliced olives and pre-washed arugula because we’re lazy, and we wash the brine off the feta and olives so that we can better control the salt content. We’ve alternated between celery and fennel – fennel adds a bit more flavor, while celery cuts down on it.

What I love about this recipe is that you get a whole host of flavors – tons of lemon to cut the saltiness of the olives and feta, the crunch of the celery and the pepperiness of the arugula. It also looks really pretty, and it’s fantastic as a side, or I do 1-2 cups as a meal because the quinoa is packed with protein. I’ve taken this for lunch, I’ve taken it to potlucks and barbecues…everyone loves it.

And guess what? You can’t really screw it up. In fact, the only time I have is when I added too much onion. Other than that, the proportions are just guidelines and feel free to add your own spin and toss everything in at the same time to mix.

Hope this helps with your healthy lifestyles – please let me know if you try it. And thanks, Cassie, for having me on the blog and inspiring all of us to share our foodie-ness!

blog | twitter

The post fitFAVES: Quinoa Craziness! appeared first on The Casserole.