Edamame Quinoa Salad

September 12, 2013 by Mackenzie

I love this salad because of the flavors, the textures and the colors! It’s easy to throw together and is a perfect side-dish for just about anything.

Recipe Type: Salad, Side Dish, Lunch

Author: Mackenzie

Serves: 5 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup cooked, cooled quinoa
16 oz frozen, shelled, edamame
1 1/4 cup frozen corn
2 green onions, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
Several tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash of cayene

Instructions

Prepare quinoa if you haven’t already. Let cool.
In a medium saucepan, bring about three cups of water to a boil. Add the edamame and corn and boil for about 3-4 minutes – just until tender. Drain and cool completely.
In a large bowl, combine the cooled edamame, corn and quinoa and the green onion, red pepper and cilantro.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, lime juice, salt and spices until well combined. Drizzle over the salad and toss to coat.
Best when served chilled.

Recipe adapted from RealHouseMoms

G-team Banana Bread

September 6, 2013 by Mackenzie

Last weekend, we (the WU golf team) traveled to Michigan for our first tournament of the year! We played really well and won the tournament! Yeah Bears! Now, I knew that we needed a little something extra to get us through an 8-hour bus ride so I brought along some banana bread. As a team well-known for our bottom-less stomachs and endless appetite for dessert – I knew the bread wouldn’t last long. And it certainly didn’t – they loved it! Since we won the tournament, maybe this bread needs to become a tournament tradition 😉

G-team Banana Bread
Makes 1 loaf
Recipe from my Grandma Mary

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups flour
3 ripe bananas, mashed

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, salt and vanilla and mix well. Mix in the baking powder and flour, then add the mashed bananas. Mix until just combined. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour!

Southwestern Black Bean and Grilled Chicken Salad

September 2, 2013 by Mackenzie

Okay, this salad is so good that I ate it for dinner one night, and then lunch and dinner the next day. Ha! Fine, I’ll admit that I was going out of town the following day so needed to get rid of it and I had nothing else to eat. But… I still really enjoyed it every single time and look forward to making it again!

I love that this salad has a southwestern flare, but isn’t overloaded like a taco salad is. It’s perfect for late summer with the refreshing cherry tomatoes and vibrant colors from the avocado and tomatoes. I adjusted the original recipe to make it “clean-eating” complaint and I don’t think you’d ever notice the changes! It is a bit more time consuming than your average salad – but it’s easily filling enough for a main dish so it’s worth the extra effort!

Southwestern Black Bean, Tomato, and Grilled Chicken Salad
Serves 3
Recipe adapted just slightly from CookFresh Magazine 2011

Ingredients:
2 organic, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt
2 teaspoons maple syrup
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 lime
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons honey
Freshly ground black pepper
1 can black beans
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 large scallion, thinly sliced
1 package of pre-washed romaine lettuce, chopped
2 medium firm-ripe avocados

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, coriander, cumin, 3/4 teaspoons salt and maple syrup. Then, cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise, creating four thin, chicken cutlets. Rub both sides of the chicken with the spice mix. You can cook the chicken either by grilling it or in a skillet (I’ve done it both ways, since I don’t have a grill at school). If you’re grilling it, heat grill to medium-high heat and grill chicken for three minutes on top side and about two minutes on bottom side. If you are cooking it in a skillet, head some olive oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat and cook, flipping occasionally until done, about ten minutes.

2. While the chicken cooks, prepare the dressing. In a glass jar with a lid (if you don’t have one, a small bowl works fine too), combine the olive oil, lime juice, 1 tablespoon of the cilantro, the honey, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Whisk or shake well to combine. (I’ve found this makes extra dressing so I do it in a glass jar so I can save the extras for another salad!)

3. In a separate bowl, combine the black beans, tomatoes, scallion and remaining 2 teaspoons of cilantro and a pinch of salt. Add about 2 tablespoons of the dressing and toss gently.

4. In a large bowl or on a serving platter, toss the lettuce with a little bit of the dressing to lightly coat. Slice the chicken breast very thinly and pit and slice the avocado. Arrange the chicken, avocado and black bean/tomato mixture over the lettuce. Drizzle more dressing over salad if desired.

Avocado Chicken Salad

August 28, 2013 by Mackenzie

This recipe has been one of my go-tos all summer – I’ve probably made it at least five times in the last month! It’s super easy, super fast, summery, and made with all “real food.” Can’t get any better than that!

This recipe is great because you can scale it up or down very easily depending on how many people you are feeding or how much leftovers you want to have. I go with a 1:1 ratio of avocado to chicken breast and usually do half a chicken breast per serving. It’s also a great recipe because of how versatile it is – you can eat it hot or cold, plain, in a wrap, in a sandwich… I’ve tried it all these ways – and loved it each time!

Avocado Chicken Salad
Serves 2 (easily scaled up or down)
Recipe from Gina’s Favorites

Ingredients:
1 organic, boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or olive oil)
1 avocado
1/4 red onion, chopped
Juice of 1/2 a lime
2 tablespoons cilantro
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Dice chicken into 2-inch pieces (doesn’t have to be exact, you’ll shred it later). Heat the coconut oil in a medium-sized skilled over medium heat. Add the chicken, sprinkle some salt and pepper of it and begin to cook it. When the chicken is almost done, add the red onion and let them soften. Take a wooden spatula or a fork and shred the chicken into smaller pieces. Cook the chicken and onion together until the chicken is cooked through.

2. In a medium bowl, mash the avocado. Add the chicken and onions, the lime juice, cilantro and salt and pepper to taste. Mix it all together and enjoy! Keeps well for up to two days in the fridge.

Quinoa Salad with Apples, Walnuts, Dates, and Gouda

August 21, 2013 by Mackenzie

This is another easy to-go meal that I brought along on our drive to St. Louis. I love this salad because it has so many of my favorite things in it – apples, walnuts, celery, gouda, dates, grapes… Yum! This salad keeps well for a couple of days – so put it in some single-serving tupperware and you’ll have lunch for the week!

Quinoa Salad with Apples, Walnuts, Dates and Gouda
Serves 5
Recipe adapted from Cookfresh Magazine 2011

Ingredients:
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup water
Sea salt
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 cups arugula
4 oz. aged Gouda, diced
1 1/2 medium celery rips, thinly sliced
1/2 large, crisp apple, Fuji or Pink Lady, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup dates, pitted and diced
3/4 cup grapes, halved
1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa: place quinoa and water in a medium saucepan with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered for 15 minutes. When done, fluff with a fork and allow to cool.

2. While the quinoa cooks, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring frequently, until tender and brown around the edges, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and toss with the onions until the vinegar cooks away, about one minute. Remove from the heat and let cool.

3. In a large bowl, mix the quinoa, onion, arugula, cheese, celery, apple, walnuts, dates and grapes.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil with the apple cider vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt and a few grinds of pepper. Gently mix the dressing into the salad. Enjoy!

Mexican Chicken Quinoa Casserole

August 20, 2013 by Mackenzie

Mexican Chicken Quinoa Casserole - amazingly delicious, full of "real foods" so it is healthy, and easy to prepare! Spencer and I are enroute to St. Louis! We are driving all the way there – 33 hours in the car with my bro 🙂 While he was driving today, I thought I would be productive with my passenger seat time and write up a recipe! Now that we’ve got wi-fi in the hotel – I can post it!

At the beginning of this trip, this Mexican Chicken Quinoa Casserole was divided into about 10 tupperwares in the cooler in the back of my car. Now there’s only about half left! It’s one of the super-easy, on the go meals that I made up before we left so that I could stick to my Clean Eating lifestyle and also have quick yummy meals on the road!

I’ve now made this dish twice in the last two weeks – it’s so good and very easy to take with you on the go because it is just as good cold as it is warm. Everything in it is “real” – nothing processed or genetically modified. I think you’ll love it!

Mexican Chicken Quinoa Casserole

Serves 10, fills one 9×13 dish
Recipe adapted from MJ and Hungryman

Ingredients:

2 organic, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, cut into one inch pieces
1 cup organic frozen corn, thawed
1 (10 oz) package frozen spinach, thawed (squeeze out as much water as possible)
1 (15 oz) can black beans
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tsp cumin
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup organic chicken broth
1 cup of your favorite salsa (I love the emerald valley brand at Whole Foods)
1 cup shredded cheddar

Directions:

1. Prepare chicken: heat coconut oil in a medium-sized skillet. Cut the chicken breasts into smaller pieces (doesn’t matter how big because you will shred them later) and add to skillet. Cook, turning often, until cooked through. Allow to cool and when cool enough to handle, shred the chicken.

2. Cook quinoa: pour quinoa into a saucepan and add 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/2 cup chicken broth. Bring liquid to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until soft, about 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil and sauté onion until softened, about five minutes. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the bell pepper, corn and frozen spinach and combine well. Add tomato paste, cumin and salt and pepper and mix. Then add the shredded chicken, quinoa and black beans. Mix well. (If this gets too big for your skillet, you can transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add everything in that).

4. In a medium saucepan (I just used the same one I had made the quinoa in), add the chicken broth and salsa. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add to chicken mixture and combine well.

5. Pour mixture into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Sprinkle the cheese over the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Top with avocado and salsa.

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