Saturday, August 5, 2017

Breakfast for Champions! Nutritious Quinoa Salad with Red Bell Pepper and Corn!

Had some fun in the kitchen this morning. I had been thinking about creating this salad for the last few days and so, step by step I put it all together and it turned out pretty darn good. Took some photos and even did a taste test with my employee. All A-OK, so here we go.

I used 1 package of white Quinoa (1 lb.) which I purchased at Trader Joes. Some may choose the red. I had cooked and cooled the quinoa the night before so that was ready to go when I started my preparations this morning.

Here are the ingredients I added, all of which were organic except for the olive oil.

1 lb of white quinoa
1/3 of a package of frozen corn, briefly cooked in boiling water and cooled (only 1 minute).
1 medium sized red bell pepper finely chopped.
1 medium sized green bell pepper, finely chopped.
1 white onion, finely chopped.
1 bunch of parsley
A few sprigs of fresh cilantro.
Juice from 2-3 large or medium sized lemons
3-4 TBS extra virgin Greek Kalamta olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 6-8

I did not use fresh cracked pepper as I wanted the pepper to be more of a subtle flavor than a dynamic one.

                                       Here are the first three ingredients in my salad bowl.




1 medium white onion, finely chopped.

                                           1 bunch of curly parsley
                                             Finely chopped.

Getting ready to mix all together. 

I used two large lemons and approximately 4 tablespoons of olive oil but when I cook, I rarely measure anything so that is my best guess on the oil.  I had to add a bit more lemon and then I added my sea salt and pepper. 

After mixing together these basic ingredients, at the last minute I decided to add a bit of cilantro so I did. 

Prepared my lemons so they were ready to squeeze.

Tossed the salad in olive oil. Added the lemon juice. Added salt and pepper. 
The olive oil I always use is Greek Kalamata extra virgin, which is my favorite!

I garnished this salad with some sliced lemons, first on top and then at the edges of the bowl.
Now, after all this preparation, I was very hungry as I had been up for a number of hours and eaten nothing so I thought why not? It's ready, nutritious was very satisfying. 

Alternate ingredient: 1 can of rinsed and drained black beans for a heartier meal. I tried it the next day and it was very yummy! I did have to add a bit more fresh lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt but I'm sure you could have figured that out:) 

If you like this recipe please share on any social media or with a friend.
If you would like to email me any comments, please send to Penny at:
afsharlady@aol.com