Hearty greens & quinoa salad with walnut-sesame dressing

Lunch or dinner for 2 with some leftovers :)

Steamed Vegetables
1/2 radicchio sliced thinly
1 bunch broccolini roughly chopped 1-2 inch pieces

Black lentils + Quinoa
1/2 cup of lentils
1/2 cup of quinoa

Arugula and Yellow Beet Salad
3 cups of spinach
2 cups of baby arugula
1/2 yellow beet grated, or thinly sliced

Walnut-Sesame Dressing 

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup cashews

2 tbsp sesame seeds

2 tbsp almonds

1 tbsp vinegar

1 cup of water

3 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp garlic powder and onion powder each

1 tbsp basil
1 tsp agave
1 micropinch of stevia

Garnishes
sriracha sauce
2 slices of tomato
3 yellow beet sticks

Wash the lentils and quinoa, and put in a pot, fill the pot with water until the water covers the lentils and quinoa by about an inch.  Bring to a boil, then simmer until water is evaporated, about 20 minutes.



After lentils have been set on the stove, steam the vegetables until the broccolini is bright green and the radicchio has wilted slightly.  While the vegetables are steaming, cut the salad ingredients and place in a bowl. Place all of the ingredients for the dressing in a high powered blender like a vitamix and blend until smooth. Garnish with sriracha.

Place 1-2 cups of salad on the plate.  Follow with a 1/4 cup of steamed vegetables, 1/4 cup of quinoa and lentils and 5 tbsp of dressing.  Garnish with tomato and beets.

 Mix well and enjoy :)

The simple dinner

I really didn't feel like putting much effort into cooking yesterday, so this was a minimalist effort kind of throw-together.

Steamed Asparagus and Radicchio
1 package of asparagus chopped in 2 inch pieces
1/2 medium radicchio roughly sliced

Yes, radicchio is bitter especially cooked with only water, but I think it's important to strengthen our tolerance for bitterness in our meals :)
Steam for 5-10 minutes, just before wilting point of radicchio.

Chopped Greens
3/4 bunch of red lettuce chopped/ripped into bite size pieces

as simple as that, the table needed something fresh looking :)

Seasoned Mixed Potato Rounds
7 small purple tomatoes roughly sliced
1 large sweet potato roughly cubed
1 large yam roughly cubed
2 tsp of oil
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sage

Preheat oven at 375 F. Mix all of the chopped potatoes in a bowl add the owl and seasonings and mix.  Place in a pan or a baking dish, and bake for 30 minutes.  Take potatoes out, stir well and put them back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Scrambled Chorizo in Tomato Sauce  
1/2 cup of chorizo
1 can tri- bean mix
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4-1/2 cup of water
1/4 tsp of basil
1/2 cup of sliced cabbage

Mix all ingredients together in a pot.  simmer until cabbage softens.


I invited our friend to dinner, who brought along chips and salsa, which made a perfect contribution to the meal :)

I took equal servings of salad, vegetables, potatoes and chorizo and it was the best all mixed together with a spoonful of salsa and a couple chips :)