Quinoa Salad - Asian Style

Oh my, January has almost gone and we are rushing headlong into 2017.

I'm hoping for a healthier 2017, filled with amazing adventures, travel, new food combinations, weight loss (yes I am still trying), finding new things to try, taking more photographs, getting fitter!!! The list goes on. 

Fingers crossed, I will be launching my new look blog in 2017 which will have more features and lots of new recipes. So keep a look out!

My biggest hurdle for this year, apart from getting my new blog working, is to find ways to reduce calories, get high nutrition and still have enjoyable food.

What I want to reduce - apart from my waistline - is having too many 'trendy' ingredients that you use once and then hide in your pantry until you throw them out in a years time. Great food, great tastes, simple as......

It's summer here and we had a ridiculously early start to hot weather  - 41 degrees C on Christmas Day, and our Tour Down Under (cycle race) last week experienced temperatures in the 40's too. We have had hot, humid weather and more storms than ever before. 

Don't despair, I've got some great salads for you.

This week I am sharing one of my favourite salads. Low calorie, a healthy combination, high in protein and it tastes pretty damn good! 

In hot weather, this salad is fantastic, there's so little cooking.

Quinoa Salad - Asian Style

Ingredients - serves at least 6 as a side dish

1 cup Quinoa - I use red, but any colour will be fine
2 cups water
salt
1 cup  red cabbage shredded
1 cup shelled edamame
2 carrots shredded
1 zucchini shredded
1 red capsicum chopped
1/2 large continental cucumber diced
pinch salt and pepper


Sauce

1 spring onion finely sliced
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/8 teaspoon chilli flakes
1/4 cup of Tamari/ soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar 
2 tablespoons of chopped coriander
2 tablespoons water - optional


Wash the Quinoa well and place into a medium saucepan with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer until all water has evaporated. This usually takes 10 - 15 minutes. Cool slightly.

While Quinoa is cooking prepared salad vegetables. I use a mandolin to cut cabbage, zucchini and carrot. Place in a bowl and mix well. Add chopped red capsicum and edamame beans and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Now if the sauce looks a little thick (depends if you go overboard with the coriander), then add 1 - 2 tablespoons water and mix well.

Once the Quinoa has cooled slightly, mix into the salad vegetables. Add the sauce and mix well. Sprinkle with a few chopped coriander leaves and slices of spring onion.

Serving suggestions


This salad can be used on its own or as a side dish. 

You could add some cooked tofu, omelet, or nuts. You can also substitute the Quinoa for brown rice or other grains you prefer.

More Cucumbers

So my cucumber challenge continues for today and then it will be time to tempt you with other flavoursome dishes.

Again, Adelaide is facing some really hot weather, back up into the 40's C.  
So, these recipes are just what you need for stinky hot days. Sometimes it is so hot that I feel sure my brain is melting and it is hard to concentrate even on the simplest task. I think it has already been recorded as the hottest summer on record and yet there are still people who don't believe in climate change!

I found a recipe for Cucumber Sorbet and I thought it would team well in with the Basil Ice Cream I made a while ago, but alas after a few attempts I could not get a consistency that I was happy with. I have changed tack now,  I think hot and I think BBQ and I think quick, and I have come back to salads. 

The first salad to tempt you is one to complement a Tofu Burger with Wasabi Dressing (recipe included). Both the salad and burger are easy to prepare and ideal for this time of year. Secondly, a sweet salad teeming strawberries with cucumbers and an unusual dressing.

So get out your BBQ and you can cook the burgers outside so your kitchen stays cool, unless of course you are in the Northern Hemisphere when the heat from the cooker will help defrost your feet.

 Asian Marinated Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

1 continental cucumber, peeled

30g sesame seeds (toasted in a dry frypan)

1/2 red onion very finely sliced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

2 tbls rice wine vinegar

This is best made with a mandolin for slicing the onion and cucumber. Once sliced place in a small bowl with salt, sugar, rice wine vinegar and sesame seeds. Mix all together and set aside for at least 1 hour before using.

Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

                               Tofu Burger with Wasabi Dressing

Burger Ingredients

2 cloves garlic
1 red onion, finely chopped
375g packet firm tofu
200g small firm mushrooms, chopped
1/2 bunch coriander
3 cups breadcrumbs made from 3 slices of bread
2 tbls tomato paste
2 tbls hot chilli sauce
2 tbls balsamic vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbls olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
300g sesame seeds toasted

For this recipe I used a firm, organic tofu. It really doesn't work so well with the soft variety.

In a small frypan, add olive oil and cook the onion until soft. Add mushrooms and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Cool.
In a food processor add 250g of the hard tofu chopped, garlic, coriander and process under it looks pretty smooth.  Transfer to a bowl and grate the remaining tofu into the same bowl and mix together. Add the onion and mushroom mixture . Add chilli sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper and juice from 1/2 lemon. 
Add 2 cups of breadcrumbs and mix well. Shape into  8 patties and cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Take out of the fridge and use the remaining 1 cup of breadcrumbs to coat the outside of the patties before cooking on your BBQ. Remember to add a little oil to the BBQ before cooking to avoid them sticking. Alternatively, you can toast some sesame seeds and use these to coat the burgers instead of the breadcrumbs, or do both.

Wasabi Dressing

2 tbls Wasabi
1/2 cup mayonnaise
squeeze of lemon juice

If you haven't used Wasabi before, take care because it is extremely hot.

Mix the mayonnaise, Wasabi  and lemon juice together to make a nice runny consistency. Taste it before adding to your burger so you don't end up getting a nose bleed.

Cucumber and Strawberry Salad

1 continental cucumber
250g strawberries
3 tablespoons honey
10 mint leaves
5 tbls Buderim Refresher Ginger Cordial  or similar

Slice the cucumbers and strawberries and place in a serving bowl.
Chop the mint leaves very finely. Mix the ginger cordial, honey and mint together and dress the strawberries and cucumber. Simple and sensational. Great flavours that go so well together.

The Mean Green Cucumber

It is time to turn my attention to getting my body back into better shape. Is this possible she asks herself, taking into account age and current state of the body?
I have read that it is never too late to improve strength and reduce BMI, but I need to take everything into consideration including, motivation, courage and limitations due to injuries sustained dancing and playing sport in earlier years.
My weekly exercise program is 1.5 hrs of Pilates, 30 minutes Aerobic Dance Class and 1 or 2 Weight Classes per week and I am trying to walk on days when I am not at the gym. I'm willing to try a personal training session every month to keep me on track.  I have allowed myself 12 months to achieve this. If you hear the grunts and the groans along the way stay with me, it's only my way of attracting attention!!

Continuing with two fasts per week, (that is only consuming up to 500 calories on two days per week) I am eating normally on the other 5 days. Dropping back alcoholic drinks to weekends only and special occasions and reviewing food portion sizes, I can still eat fantastic food.  I will NOT stop eating the food I love, but I will be re-testing recipes to find healthier options and hoping eating smaller portions will do the trick. Cream and chocolate will appear less, but will still be included because there is a definite place for both in my life.

One of my friends has thrown me a cucumber challenge this week. It seems she has a trillion growing in her garden and needs help to use them in an interesting and yummy way. I really like cucumbers, hot day, cold, crunchy mouth watering cucumbers and so low calorie. The first few eaten straight from the fridge would be great but then I suppose the novelty would wear off. So I am posting a few recipes for you all to try. I hope you like them. The bonus is they are all healthy and low in calories, so no excuses!

Creamy Cucumber and Avocado Soup

I am starting with this one because you can serve it warm or cold, depending on your weather conditions. So if you are in the Northern Hemisphere and a cold soup doesn't appeal, try it warm!

I must admit this is one of my favourite recipes because it is so creamy and has a little zing to it. Don't shrug it off because it is made from cucumbers, you may be very, very surprised.

Ingredients

4 Cups peeled, deseeded cucumbers

2 Cloves garlic

1 Small onion diced finely

1 tbls Olive Oil

1 Ripe avocado peeled and diced

Pinch salt

1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper 

1 tbls Lemon juice

Few sprigs mint chopped

11/2 cups vegetable stock

1/2 cup Plain yoghurt

1/4 cup Parsley, chopped

Place oil in a large frypan with garlic and cook until soft but not brown, 10 minutes. Add lemon juice and cook for a few seconds before you add cucumber (save a few fine rounds for garnishing), stock, cayenne pepper, mint. Cook on low heat until cucumber is soft, this takes about 10 - 1 minutes. Parsley and avocado should be added now with a small pinch salt.

Using a stick blender, a blender or a food processor, puree until you are happy with the consistency.

If you are going to eat this immediately add the yoghurt and parsley and stir this in. If you are eating it cold then cover and place in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

If you want to save this and reheat it later in the day, don't add the yoghurt now but wait until you have reheated it and then stir in the yoghurt just before serving. To serve, garnish with a round of cucumber and a mint leaf. Grab a bagel, slice it into 4 rounds and lightly toast. If you have 1 slice with a small bowl of soup it is approx 219 calories. Brilliant!