RAW Stacks Recipe!

I know it's the day 'before' Thanksgiving, and I should have had this food idea posted earlier (for those friends of mine in Malibu), but time has gotten away from me this week. So, hopefully some of you are still making your grocery lists and will be able to add this to your holiday menu.  If not, maybe an add-on to your leftovers over the weekend.


Timbale Stacks!

How delicious does this look!  Oh my goodness, I loved this dish.  

Quinoa, Squash, Avocado

I took this recipe from my favorite RAW book, The Beauty Detox Foods. I did change it up a bit, only because I didn't have all the ingredients.  My red cabbage went bad (not a good aroma), so I replaced that with mushrooms. It wasn't a mistake, I'll tell you that. I didn't have any micro greens either, but I think it looks just as pretty :) and appetizing! 

Ingredients

2 cups butternut squash, cubed

2 tsp coconut oil

1/2 Tbs dried rosemary, crushed

Sea salt, to taste

Ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup quinoa, soaked overnight and rinsed well 

2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

1 1/2 Tbs lime juice

2 1/2 Tbs minced fresh parsley

1 tsp minced fresh basil

1/4 cup finely minced purple cabbage

1 large or 2 small avocados , diced
Microgreens or clover sprout, to top

Directions
Preheat oven to 375F and grease a baking sheet with coconut oil.  Toss the cubed squash with the coconut oil, rosemary and sea salt and black pepper.  Bake 20 minutes, then stir and bake 20 more.

Meanwhile, cook the quinoa in the vegetable broth for about 12 minutes, or until soft and fluffy. Add to mixing bowl and mix in lime juice, parsley, basil and cabbage.  (In my case, I sautéed mushrooms in veggie broth.) You can season with sea salt if you so desire.

Assemble the timbales, in a ramekin or any dish you'd like.  Even a cup if you don't have a small dish.  I used a small pyrex dish, worked just as well.  Grease your dish with coconut oil (small amount), and layer, squash, avocado, and then quinoa.  Press down, then turn over. Top with sprouts.  Voila!
Happy Hump Day! 

Quinoa, Sweet Potato, Beans, Dish it!

Yum, yum, yummy!  I love me some quinoa!  How many of you, when you saw that name for the first time, spoke it as it looked, quin-no-ah? Oh yes, I see all the hands. Innocent mistake. For those of you who still don't know the pronunciation, it's keen-wah.  Who knew. Anyway, on with it.

                     

This is too delish!  It has a semi-sweet taste due to the currants, but then I added the sweet peas.  A trick I learned with quinoa, is to go at it with a rampant boil rather than a slow simmer. It cooks much faster. I don't cover it, I keep stirring. If you think its drying out before it's thoroughly cooked, add some low-sodium vegetable broth.  Then I add any veggies, fresh or frozen to add to the taste.  Quinoa can be very blah when eaten alone. The sodium is high in this for me, I wouldn't add salt.

I go crazy buying all kinds of quinoa, and this one looked really good to me.  Next time I'll use the same ingredients, but my own fresh stuff.  Prepackaged just has that added salt that my body doesn't like.

                       

   
This dish was heaven for me as dinner!  Do you ever make a dish you just want to eat night after night? This could be one of them for me. I couldn't get enough, but saved some leftovers.  I have to hide it  from my son, or I'll never get to eat it.  Although, he usually finds it :)

                        

The sweet potatoes were scrumptious!  By the time I took the photo, there weren't many left.

Process:  I poked holes into 4-small sweet potatoes, popped them into the microwave for 5-minutes.  Then I peeled the skin off (and I ate it), cut them up and made a sticky little gravy to pour over them and mix.  SO. GOOD.  I can't get enough of sweet potatoes, and they are an excellent healthy treat.

For the sweet potato gravy I took 1/2-cup of honey, 2-TBL of smart balance (butter), fresh ground pepper, 3-TBL of orange juice (because I didn't have orange zest).  Combine all ingredients into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.

                         

The green beans were Trader Joes, and they are yummy all their own. I like to put a little lemon juice on them with just a skinny pat of butter, not even a teaspoon.

I l-o-v-e shopping at Trader Joes!  I walked out with a lot of stuff, even meat for the meat-heads, and still have 4 "large" recycle bags (and you know how big they can be) full, for only $130. I am a happy camper!

I mean, look at this!  Pure health & beauty!

                         

What's on your table lately?