Quinoa: What Is It and How to Make It - Healthy, Simple Recipes

What is quinoa? Pronounced keen-wah, this grain-like seed is full of protein and calcium (who needs meat or milk?!) Very versatile and can be used like rice, and it's gluten-free. Wanna learn more? Check out my article on Organic Authority. 

Where to find quinoa: any natural market, but it's slowly creeping its way into most major grocery store. It often comes in a bag and can occasionally be found in bulk. Organic quinoa runs around $4 a pound in bulk (which is about 9 servings).

How to cook quinoa: place it in a pan with water at a 1:2 ratio, bring to boil, the simmer for 15 minutes

Video: Lentil Chili and Sautéed Kale with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

These recipes were the result of not having a lot of food in the kitchen - I found some recipes on Food.com and Epicurious and adapted them a little. They each cost less than $1.50 per serving and took less than 10 minutes to prep. You can change up the ingredients a little based on what you have on hand in your own kitchen.

Both recipes are gluten, soy, and sugar free, and low in salt and oil.

Vanilla Coconut Chia Seed Pudding - inspired by Vida Vegan Con

There is a lot of talk about the scrumptious food at Vida Vegan Con this past weekend, but I was especially excited to hear about the chia seed pudding, a dish many attendees experienced for the first time. Yesterday I posted my favorite recipe for it, Mint Chocolate Coconut, and today I decided to try making the version from the conference, despite it's lack of chocolate. I found a recipe from The Svelte Kitchen and adapted it a little based on my dietary preferences - replaced the agave nectar with stevia powder, the almond milk with cashew butter, skipped the salt, and added in a little coconut oil - pure bliss! Whether you were at VVC and want to mimic the incredible dessert you had or are just looking for something new to do with chia seeds, you're gonna love this!

It's creamy and simply sweet - rolls down the throat and lands happily in the belly. Have for breakfast or dessert. Gluten-free, soy-free, sugar-free, and can be made anti-candida friendly if you use almond butter and leave out the coconut (replace with cinnamon or your other favorite spices). It can also be raw if you use agave or dates to sweeten it.

Video: Mint Chocolate Coconut Tapioca Pudding - Raw, Gluten-free, Sugar-Free, Soy-free, Anti-Candida Friendly

I've been trying to perfect chia seed pudding and have fallen flat so many times...until recently. I was inspired by my friend Vanessa's recipe on The Green Girl Next Door, and with a few little adjustments to fit my diet and palate I came up with something insanely heavenly! As Vanessa mentions in her post, chia seed is not just a great thickener, it's also very nutritious and contains: omega-3 fatty acids, protein, antioxidants, fiber, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, molybdenum, niacin, and zinc.

Steamed Eggplant with Ginger Garlic Chive Dressing

This is one of those recipes that I kinda made up as I went along and didn't expect to taste very good, so I didn't measure anything. Low and behold it was really tasty, so I'll make a guess how much of each ingredient I used but would recommend that you taste as you go along. It's free of: gluten, soy, sugar, salt, and is anti-candida diet friendly. I suppose it could be made oil-free as well.