Monday, November 14, 2011

Quinoa with Cucumber, Mozzarella, and Tomatoes



Meet my new best friend: quinoa (keen-wah). With being gluten free, I have found that quinoa is one of the best alternatives to anything. It's packed with tons of protein and fiber which allows you to feel full and helps the digestive system too.

I used to think it looked weird (well, it still does) but after this recipe, I began to live off of quinoa. It's a spin off of couscous, but probably way better for you.


I used:

1 cup quinoa per 1.25 cup water

mozzarella

cucumbers

roma tomatoes

red onion (optional)

two tsp canola oil (the healthiest oil for you!)

juice from one lemon (I used pure lemon juice..too lazy)

salt and pepper

1. You want to cook the quinoa as you would rice: soak it for about 15 minutes; drain and rinse.
2. The ratio of quinoa to water should be 1:1.25, place on stove, bring to a boil; lower heat to simmer and cover. Let cook about 20 minutes.
3. While the quinoa simmers, dice the tomatoes, mozzarella, cucumbers.
4. The quinoa is ready when it has absorbed all the water. At this point, I added the oil and lemon juice and stirred it around. I combined all ingredients and added salt and pepper according to taste.

I like it both cold and warm. I usually eat it as dinner once the quinoa is ready, and then the next day I treat it as a salad.

Enjoy!








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