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.

Polenta Veggie Lasagna

I loooooove pasta. I'd say at least once a day I crave macaroni and cheese and lasagna and spaghetti and meatballs. Yeah, my pasta obsession is bad...Pasta in moderation (pasta and moderation just don't work for me) is okay but there's nothing that's really nutritionally good for you unless it's a whole wheat pasta which to me always seem very chewy no matter how long you cook them for. Anyways, I've been wanting to come up with ways to curb my pasta cravings and I've started to realize that it's usually the stuff that we pair with pasta that I really crave like cheese and red sauce. So I knew if I could find a lower calorie, less filling substitute, I could almost cut pasta entirely out of my diet. Thus begins my experiment making polenta veggie lasagna.

Let me just give you a quick preview...this is what it looked like when I finished...

First, pick out what kind of vegetables you want to include in your lasagna. I love broccoli in just about anything and in the last few months, I've been putting brussel sprouts in stir-rys and omelets so I figured it could work well in lasagna too. Normally, I would use a red pepper, but my boyfriend's mom was coming for dinner and she's allergic to peppers. I also used a green zucchini and a yellow onion and kind of eyeballed the amounts for each vegetable. I added some fresh spinach towards the end because I didn't want it to cook too quickly.

I always sauté my veggies in olive oil or in olive oil cooking spray. While they are cooking, I grind some rainbow peppercorns and sea salt into the mixture. No matter what vegetables I'm cooking, salt and pepper are a must...

Since it's lasagna, of course, I needed to layer it all with some fat-free ricotta cheese, egg, and italian seasoning mixture. 

I used garlic basil polenta and sliced it very thin...I found that in an 8x8 pan, I could fit about three rows with three and a half slices across. 

First, I put a thin layer of red sauce on the bottom of the pan and then put the polenta down followed by a layer of the sautéed veggies and then the ricotta cheese mixture on top of that. I topped the first layer with red sauce and then sprinkled a little mozzarella on top and then repeated all of the steps again. After I put the second layer of the lasagna down, I finished it off with a sprinkling of italian seasonings. 

Vous la!

Then I baked it at 375 for thirty minutes covered and then 15 minutes uncovered. It was delicious!

Polenta Veggie Lasagna

• One tube of polenta
• 2 1/2 cups of fresh vegetables of your choice (broccoli, peppers, onions, spinach, brussel sprouts, etc.)
• 1 jar of red sauce
• 1 1/4 cup fat free ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• Italian seasonings
• Shredded mozzarella 

Preparation 

1. Dice fresh vegetables and sauté in oil just till tender. 
2. Slice polenta thinly while veggies are sautéing. 
3. Mix ricotta cheese, egg, italian seasonings. 
4. Layer red sauce, polenta slices, vegetables, ricotta cheese mixture, red sauce and mozzarella. 
5. Repeat step 4. 
6. Cook at 375 degrees for 30 minutes covered. 
7. Cook for 15 minutes uncovered and then let stand for 5-10 minutes to cool.