Keen-wah! Keen-wah! Keen-wah!

Brand new grain available on the market... that is, if you don't count the last 5000 years. At one time Quinoa was known as 'the mother grain.' It is higher in protein than any other grain, its a source of essential fats, ITS DELICIOUS, and its quick to cook!

Check out www.quinoa.net for more info on this amazing grain.

Here is a delicious Quinoa salad recipe sent to me from my darling mother-in-law, Debra:

2 c. quinoa, rinsed and drained well
3 c. water with 1 tsp salt
Boil the quinoa, water and salt, then cover and reduce heat.
Simmer for 15 min.
Remove from heat and fluff with fork.
Cool to room temperature.

Mix or whisk together vinegarette:
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
1/2 c. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper

Mix together:
1/2 c. crumbled feta
1/2 c. marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
1/4 c. sun dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
1/2 cup minced red onion
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Toasted pine nuts for garnish

Put quinoa in a large bowl, toss in vegies and stir.
Add the vinaigrette, toss to combine.
Garnish with nuts or tomatoe and extra feta.
May be served cold or at room temp.

*Quinoa plant photograph from www.quinoa.net

"Salads can be a healthy way to include potato chips in the diet!"

I said this to my lovely housemate Julie this morning while crushing chips onto my breakfast salad. But seriously, I think it is important to acknowledge that including little treats that we like in a healthy diet creates a sense of balance and keeps you from feeling deprived. It certainly does for me! And it adds a little crunch too!

Here is my breakfast salad that I dreamed up while running this morning:

Fill your bowl with greens and sprouts,
add turkey, olives, a little bocconcini, hemp hearts, a few cilantro leaves,
and drizzle with lemon juice.
For the dressing I combined a little hummus and yogurt (yum!).
Then I crushed a few chips (grinning wickedly) and
added a slice of apple for colour.

Delish!

I made up supper as I went along...

Chilly in Vancouver tonight and I needed a warm something when I got home. I miss my lovely husband in Nelson and his fabulous cooking skills, but here is something I will make for you Andrew when we are together soon!

While a little filet of salmon bakes in the oven with a sprinkling of brown sugar, I sautee
about 1/3 an onion, a carrot, and few fingerling potatoes both sliced in coins in a dollop of almond oil.
I threw in a handful of pine nuts and a few walnuts,
a handful of raisins,
then I added some pumpkin pie spice,
salt and pepper,
a dash of chili flakes,
and another little sprinkle of brown sugar on that too.
On top I threw in a few green beans to get steamed a bit.

Spicy and festive on a raining evening after a long day, miles and miles from Andrew.

The Morning Cup

There's nothing like a lovely hot cup of coffee or tea or even lemon in hot water to wake up the mind and spirit and get the body moving in the morning. Especially nice is when someone else brings it to you, maybe even without you having to get out of bed!

Focusing specifically on coffee and Yerba Mate, I wanted to focus on some health benefits of each.

The website positivelycoffee.org reports that drinking coffee in moderation in conjunction with a healthy diet and moderate exercise is safe and healthy! Caffeine can improve performance, improve cognitive function, and boost motivation.

Yerba Mate (yerba mah-tay) is a cultural drink from South America (see www.noborders.net/mate/index.html) and a favourite of mine! The stimulation from Mate doesn't affect the nervous system as coffee does and sipping Mate throughout the day restores clarity for me as well as decreases hunger, an unexpected benefit when I am at school for long periods when I forgot to pack a lunch!

Yerba Mate was introduced to colonizing and modern civilizations by the primitive Guarani Indians of Paraguay and Argentina (Mowrey). For healthful purposes Mate is used to boost immunity, cleanse and detoxify the blood, tone the nervous system, restore youthful hair color, retard aging, combat fatigue, stimulate the mind, control the appetite, reduce the effects of debilitating disease, reduce stress, and eliminate insomnia (Mowrey). Isn't this incredible?!

Read more on Yerba Mate for Better Health by Daniel Mowrey at http://www.noborders.net/mate/health.html

Enjoy your cup!

Walnut-Crusted Chicken Strips

In a bowl, mix:
yogurt,
lemon juice,
pepper flakes,
salt and pepper,
a little cumin,
and a dash of love.

(A Carrier woman I met in Northern BC told me you must never cook when you are feeling unhappy or angry, because those feelings are transmitted into the food and may make people ill.
Always cook with an open heart).

Now, where was I? Oh yes, mix the yogurt mixture together and coat chicken breast sliced into strips. Then dip the yogurty chicken into a dish of ground walnuts. The smaller you grind the nuts the better, as more will stay on!

Now bake at 350 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes.

Welcome to the Healthy Kitchen!

Making healthy food is fun and easy. You don't need to rely on complicated recipes or instructions, all you need to do is use your intuition and your senses to create delicious and healthy food that will nourish your body and soul. The food you eat not only affects your body and how you feel about yourself, but it affects your environment and directly relates to how you feel about it too! As an experiment, try casting your grocery net a little smaller, a little closer to home, and you will be surprised by what you find out. Eating and cooking is about imagination, ingenuity, liberation, and maybe even a little rebellion. Get your fork out there and enjoy yourself!