Quinoa Tabbouleh

This recipe was so refreshing and filling! The flavors were super intense but I wish I had added more lime, parsley, and mint to it to make it even more delicious. I also think my ratio of quinoa to tomatoes and cucumbers was a little off...too much quinoa. The recipe is essentially exactly the same as the traditional tabbouleh made with bulgur. The only difference is that it calls for quinoa, which I liked because I think more people will likely have quinoa on hand and know how to prepare it than wheat bulgur. I also didn't rinse the quinoa and I've heard that rinsing it changes the flavor dramatically. 

Quinoa Tabbouleh 

• 1 cup of quinoa, rinsed well
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for taste
• 1 large cucumber, diced, chef's choice
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2/3 cup chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped mint
• 2 scallions thinly sliced

Preparation

• Prepare quinoa as directed on package or follow the simple directions below:
• Bring 1 cup quinoa, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 2 cups water to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low or to simmer, cover, let cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Take off heat and let stand for 5 minutes, uncovered. Fluff with fork and allow to cool completely before using.
• Combine olive oil and lemon in small bowl and add salt and pepper as desired. 
• Chop up veggies and herbs and combine with cooled quinoa.
• Pour olive oil/lemon mixture over the quinoa mixture and stir thoroughly.

Cauliflower and Brussel Sprouts Pizza Crust

Hmmm...not sure where to start with this post because this was an interesting experiment. I loved the result but hated the process. I don't currently have the right kitchen gadget to make the process a lot less time consuming. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning...I love pizza. And I love cauliflower and brussel sprouts. I think  it was probably last year when I started hearing about this alternative way to make pizza crust out of ground up cauliflower and was immediately intrigued. Cauliflower is a much more versatile vegetable than I ever thought. Side note: A few weeks ago I made beer battered buffalo cauliflower bites, which turned out delicious...I'll have to post about that experience sometime soon.

Anyways, I only have a blender, not a food processor so that made the whole grinding up cauliflower and brussel sprouts a much longer process than it would have been with a food processor. Other than that, it's a very basic recipe...put it all in a bowl, knead it up, shape into pizza crust, bake and vous la!

***please note: I found that this recipe makes two smaller pizza crusts. I like very thin pizza crust so a little goes a long way for me. 

Cauliflower Brussel Sprouts Pizza Crust 

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 8-10 brussel sprouts
• 1 cup of flour, chef's choice
• 1 teaspoon of nutritional yeast
• pinch of salt
• pinch or red pepper flakes
• 3 eggs

Preparation

1. Separate cauliflower into florets, and blend until they are the consistency of quinoa
2. Line a bowl with cheese cloth or paper towels and put the ground cauliflower to squeeze out moisture. Do this several times till it seems mostly dry. 
3. Grind up brussel sprouts till well shredded before adding to cauliflower. 
4. Mix in flour, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper flakes. 
5. Add three eggs and knead them into mixture. 
6. Line a pizza pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper and form dough into pizza crust shape desired. 
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until brown on top and edges. 
8. After crust is crispy, add whatever toppings desired and then cook at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. 

Recipe credit goes to What's Cooking Good Looking. 

Pollotarian, pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan...what am I?!

When I first started cooking my own food when I moved away to college, I was introduced to all the different kinds of diets in regards to meat and animal by-product consumption...pollotarian, pescatarian, vegetarian, and vegan. Most people haven't heard of pollotarian or pecatarian even though they might identify with those eating habits. I had a friend in college who called herself a pollotarian when I first met her, became vegetarian shortly after, and a couple years later went vegan. Because of the nature of the vegan diet, it was difficult for her to get the protein that she needed so she has since gone back to simply being a vegetarian.

So...not that I've used all these different words, let me define them for you.

A pollotarian is someone who eats poultry i.e. chicken, duck, turkey, etc. Some have used this term to mean someone who eats both poultry and fish but technically one would not consume any fish.
A pescatarian is someone who eats fish i.e. cod, salmon, swordfish, shrimp, etc.
A vegetarian is someone who doesn't eat any kind of meat but eats animal by-products i.e. eggs, dairy products, honey, etc. You can even break this category down more into two more categories:

1. ovo-vegetarian, someone who eats eggs
2. lacto-vegetarian, someone who eats dairy products

A vegan is someone who doesn't eat any kind of meat and won't eat any animal by-products.

I haven't done a whole lot of research on these different eating habits and lifestyle decisions other than what I learned in the general nutrition class I took in college and from the many friends I have who have either tried out one or more of these options or who are have been eating one of these diets long term. For short periods of time, I have only eaten fish and poultry but never for very long. For me, I hate to say it but rather than being about animal rights, my diet is much more about nutrition.

I have threatened to become a vegetarian many times in the last 10 months but every time, my boyfriend has talked me out of it and convinced me to simply have more moderation in my consumption of beef and pork. Personally, I think that all diets are about moderation...cutting something  you love out of your diet can make you want to binge on something else thats unhealthy. It's easier to eat healthy when you treat yourself a little bit as a reward for eating well.

Thoughts? Comments? Criticism?