weekend visitor.

As many of you know, this is my first year living alone.  Most of the time, it works out extremely well.  I love my tiny place, which is commonly referred to as the cottage.  I enjoy coming home to a quiet apartment, where I can have peace and quiet while studying.  My daily schedule is so busy that I would not be a very good roommate and I just don't want to be the bad roommate.
There is however, one major complaint I have: eating meals alone.  Growing up, food often brought my family together.  We shared the majority of weeknight and weekend meals together, talking about the ups and downs of our work, school and sports.   Even now, when I journey home, most of our time is spent together in the kitchen preparing food.  My love of cooking and baking has not changed,  but it just is not as much fun when you make a fantastic meal and sit down to eat it by yourself.  For me, one of the best things about cooking is sharing my creations with others.
This past weekend, my Mama come over for a visit.  We always have such a great time together,  exploring the CoOp, going for coffee, visiting our favorite downtown shops and of course, cooking some great meals.  It's weekends like this that make me wonder if I will move back to be near to my family when I finally finish school.  I never, ever thought those words would escape my mouth, but it's impossible not to think about it when some of my best friends happen to be my family.
On Friday night, we decided to try a recipe that I stumbled upon last week: Quinoa Salad with Roasted Beets, Chick Peas and Orange (from a fabulous website I discovered: www. glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com). This salad was colorful, packed with protein and made a large enough batch to be packed in some of my lunches for during the week.  The best part though? Sharing this meal with someone. 

Quinoa Salad with Roasted Beets, Chick Peas and Orange
Ingredients:
3 cups cooked quinoa 
2 beets, trimmed and quartered
Olive oil
Sea salt
1/4 cup fruity olive oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 teaspoons organic gluten-free tamari sauce
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar or rice vinegar
1 tablespoon organic raw agave nectar or local honey
1 cup drained rinsed chick peas
2 big handfuls of baby spinach leaves
Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
1 fresh orange, peeled, trimmed, cut into bite sized pieces

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.  While the quinoa is cooking, roast the beets in a medium size roasting pan, by combining the beets with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of sea salt. Place the pan in the center of the oven and roast until the beets are tender (roughly 45 minutes). Remove the beets from the hot pan and set them aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, rub off the skin. Cut the beets into bite sized pieces. 
***To save on time, I pealed the beets, cut them into bite-size pieces and boiled them on the stove.  This worked well and I would recommend it if short on time!

To make the dressing, combine the olive oil, orange juice, GF tamari, vinegar, and agave in a glass measuring cup and whisk. Set aside.

Combine the warm, cooked quinoa in a mixing bowl with the chick peas and baby spinach leaves. Pour in the salad dressing and toss lightly. Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste.
Gently add in the cut up roasted beets and fresh orange pieces. Do not over mix or your entire salad will turn beet red. I think it's more attractive to keep the staining to a minimum.

Serve with a sprinkle of fresh goat cheese, or slivered almonds, if desired.
Serves 4.

simple yet delicious

After preparing and plating a meal, I often find myself wishing I had more of a variety of color on my plate, both for photography and nutrition purposes.  Experts use the quick rule of thumb that a wider variety of food color typically  provides a more healthy, well balanced meal. This cranberry relish adds a splash of color, tons of nutrients and a huge punch of flavor to any meal.  You can serve it as a side or put it on vanilla yogurt for a snack or a healthy dessert, which my mom and I do quite often.  It is so easy to make, it is almost fool proof. 

Cranberry Relish with a Twist

1 (12 oz) bag fresh cranberries

1 orange, cut into piece (rind and all)

1 apple, cored and cut into pieces

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp ginger

Place all ingredients in a food processor, pulsing until fruit is mixed together.  Do not over process or relish will become a puree rather than a relish :)

Sweet Potato Fries

I'm going to start with something SIMPLE but also extremely delicious. Over the last few weeks since I have been back in LAX, I have found myself making sweet potato fries 1-2 nights per week. Sweet potatoes are high in vitamins A, C and B6, as well as antioxidants and fiber. The not-so-appealing-looking-orange-ish-brown-ish things are actually quite good for you! These fries have no added oil, so they are low fat as well.
I have been enjoying them with a turkey or veggie burger and some ketchup :)

Here's how you make them:
Preheat the oven the 400 degrees.
Dice up a potato into long, fry like strips (you can peel the potato first if you don't like the skin, wash them if you leave the skin on).
Spread them out on a lightly greased cookie sheet, I use a few spritzes of cooking spray
Sprinkle the fries with desired seasoning (I use lawyrs seasoning salt)
Bake the fries 20-25 minutes, depending on how thick they are.
I tend to check them after about 15 minutes and flip them over with a spatula.
They will be golden brown when the are done.