Quinoa-Beet Salad with Chili-Ginger-Lime Dressing...& the Sunny Side of Fried Egg!

 

Honestly, I’ve never cooked with beetroot; pickled beet is also my least favorite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After browsing the net to learn more about the benefits of beetroot (from organicfacts.net and livestrong.com), I have come to the conclusion that I’ve been missing the most awesomeness vegetable for decades. For me, it was unacceptable! So, I went to my local supermarket and grabbed a bunch of 3-midium size beets home to play with.  

With no plan, as usual, of how I wanted to cook with beets, I actually started with what I know best and love most, beet smoothie.   

Since quinoa is very trendy and many recipes cooking with quinoa can be found everywhere on many food blogs, I’ve decided to make quinoa salad with beetroot for my lunch today. I’ve cooked quinoa before but the hubby was not a fan of quinoa so I thought I would be eating this salad with only me and myself. What a treat!

 You know, you can add any of your favorite vegetables and dressing into the salad as you wish; however, the dressing for my salad has a little kick of spicy from chili garlic sauce that I use. If you don’t like spicy, you can just reduce or skip it all together and use the rest of the ingredients. However, I found that the little spicy from chili makes me want to keep eating even more. And a gorgeous sunny-side-up egg makes this salad even more luxurious, if you will.

What you need:   2-3 servings

1/2 cup dried quinoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup diced red beet
A pinch of salt
2 small Persian cucumber, diced
2 small yellow sweet pepper
1 tbsp. finely chopped green onion – for garnish

 *sunny-side-up egg

For dressing:

1 tbsp. Asian chili garlic sauce
2 tbsp. fresh squeeze lime juice
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. finely grated garlic
1 tsp. finely grated ginger

How to:

- Add quinoa, water, beet and salt in a small pot and cook over medium high for 5 minutes and reduce to simmer and continue on cooking with the lid on until all the water is absorbed – for about 10 minutes. Set aside and let it cool.
- Add diced cucumber and yellow sweet pepper into cooked quinoa in a salad mixing bowl and set aside.
- Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients and pour over the salad bowl, and gently toss together to mix well. Sprinkle with green onion to garish.
- Serve as lunch with any protein of your choice or serve as a side dish.

Enjoy!

 

^__^

The BB Smoothie.....xoxo

I knowwww…another smoothie; and Yessss…I am a smoothicholic!    

The B & B is for beet & blueberry which contain powerful nutrition and health benefits that help boost our endurances. This smoothie is the most gorgeous smoothie I’ve ever made! Just look at its color and you will go WooowwwW….and then, you will feel like superwoman who can take on anything that come her way. No joke!  

The hubby’s reaction to my beet smoothie was, “Ewww!” But after he has a big sip of my beet smoothie, he said, “hmm…it’s actually really good!” For that reason, beet smoothie has been immediately added to my smoothie collection. Yeyyyyy! 

That’s all I want to say, really! But read this and you will want to find out more about eating fresh beetroot if you want to live a little bit longer and still look younger.

According to livestrong.com, “Beet juice, which is naturally sweet, yields health benefits that may include weight loss. It contains a number of vitamins and minerals including folate, manganese, potassium, vitamin C, iron, copper, and phosphorus. Beet juice is highly potent and should not be consumed by itself. You should consider blending beet juice with other vegetables. Using just half a beet per serving is enough to get its nutrition and health benefits.”



without blueberries added

 So, should you now become beetroot fan like me?   

What you need:  for 1

1/2 of medium size of beetroot chopped
A handful blueberries
1/2 cup orange juice
6 oz. low-fat plain yogurt (or any of your favorite)
1 tbsp. honey – optional
1/2 cup crushed ice

: Blend everything in the blender on high speed until smooth and frothy

 

 

Enjoy!

 

^__^



 

Detox-Green Smoothie – no dairy products

Yeah! Green smoothie……again! But wait! I didn’t add any yogurt this time!

So, woke up this morning, I “tried” to “skip” my coffee, again (I’ve tried many times, didn’t work). I went straight to the fridge and took out the stuffs I needed to make my “morning” smoothie.
To the hubby surprise, he asked, “What are you doing? Aren’t you gonna have your coffee?” The coffee was made and smell so good, but I said, “No, I’m having smoothie breakfast.”

This smoothie made out of all things “green” of what-I-had-on-hand, and a banana – green apple, green grapes, Persian cucumber, celery, and spinach. I added banana instead of my usual yogurt because I wanted to try “to like” it in a smoothie. I never like banana in smoothie, don’t know why, but I added it anyway.

The smoothie came out surprisingly nice and refreshing with a strong hint of celery and a little hint of banana. After a big glass, I felt very full like I just finished a big breakfast –and that’s awesome!

The beauty of drinking this smoothie is that it makes me feel like the healthiest person in the world! Sounds like over the top… I knowww. I’m trying to get over myself right now.

What you need:  makes 2 big glass 

 1 handful baby spinach
1 handful seedless green grapes
1 medium Green Smith apple, chopped unpeeled
1 medium Persian cucumber, chopped unpeeled
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 banana
1 cup apple juice (love to try with coconut juice next time!)
1-2 tbsp. honey
1/2 cup crush ice

: Blend everything on the high speed until it smooth and frothy

 

 

Enjoy!

 

^__^