quinoa salad with toasted almonds

In need of a healthy and tasty lunch? Look no further than this salad, featuring protein-packed quinoa and toasted almonds. Using Martha Stewart's recipe as my starting point, I switched out various vegetables and added other ingredients. I also used dried thyme instead of fresh. Otherwise, I followed the cooking method exactly as written.

The ingredients were prepped and I began sauteing the green onions, onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes. After the onions soften, the quinoa is added along with water, thyme, and salt. Halfway through, sliced zucchini is mixed into the quinoa. The total cooking time to cook the quinoa was about 17-20 minutes.

As the quinoa cooked, bacon was cooking in a skillet and almonds were toasting in the oven. The remaining ingredients were prepped and ready to be tossed with the quinoa.

Place the cooked quinoa into a large mixing bowl to toss with additional ingredients.

The flavor of the thyme with the heat of the red pepper is really delicious. I would recommend that you do not leave out the toasted almonds because they add a lot of flavor and crunch. Each portion is packed with a lime wedge to be squeezed over the salad before serving, which adds another dimension of flavor. I would recommend adding chopped flat-leaf parsley, too.

Besides packing for lunches, this would make an excellent light dinner or tasty side dish.

Foodbuzz Family Bites: black bean burgers with honey mustard cole slaw

This was another Family Bites recipe, and for this I wanted to create a black bean burger that was substantial, yet not dense, and the end result was really delicious and one of the best non-meat burgers I've made. To increase the nutritional value, the burgers include both whole oats and oat flour, which also helps bind the bean mixture together and helps with the texture. The burgers have a Mexican flavor, so if you ate this as a sandwich you could serve it with guacamole and sour cream.

I want to experiment with freezing these. I'm guessing I'd have to cook them first, then freeze. To reheat I'd probably heat up some olive oil in a skillet, lightly sear both sides then add some water to the skillet, cover with a lid, and let steam until thoroughly heated, finishing by removing the lid and cooking until the water evaporates. I guess. But these would be great to have on hand.

As an accompaniment, I made a cole slaw with lime juice and honey mustard dressing with cole slaw, shredded carrots, and onions. Since I used Newman's Own dressing for the recipe, feel free to replace it with whatever you can find.

This is all I have to say because I have a migraine, and you'll find the recipe after the jump.

Wait. This was a latter-stage recipe, and I'm a bit disappointed because I felt like I lost my creativeness and copped out by making the cole slaw. They were looking for salads, but more along the lines of a meal salad than a side dish, and this wasn't very creative at all. What I realized throughout the entire process was that creating recipes was more difficult than I had originally thought, but for the most part in the time I had I think I did a good job, even if some of the recipes seem lackluster.

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Black Bean Burgers with Newman's Own Light Honey Mustard Cole Slaw
recipe by Christina Provo

A flavorful, hearty black bean burger paired with a crunchy honey mustard coleslaw is the perfect light, make ahead lunch that’ll take you through the day.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Yield: 5 servings

Ingredients -

Vegetable oil
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
1/2 cups whole rolled oats
2 1/2 cups cooked black beans (if from a can, drain and rinse)
1/4 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup whole rolled oats, finely ground in food processor
1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
1 carrot, julienned
zest from 1 lime
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Newman's Own Light Honey Mustard Dressing, plus additional for serving
Black pepper
Chopped cilantro for serving

Directions -

1. Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add bell pepper and garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add in oregano, cayenne pepper, and salt and saute for 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and let cook for 10 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Pour in 1 tablespoon lime juice and cook for 30 seconds, then stir in 1/2 cup whole rolled oats and cook, stirring, for a minute. Remove from heat.


2. In the bowl of a food processor, add 1 1/2 cups black beans and vegetable-oat mixture; pulse 5 times or until the black beans are broken up and no whole pieces remain. Scrape down the sides of bowl; add remaining 1 cup black beans and cilantro and pulse for about 7 times until mixture is blended (some black beans may remain whole). Dump mixture out into a medium bowl and stir in ground oats. Refrigerate for 25-30 minutes.


3. Meanwhile, mix together green cabbage, onion, carrot, remaining lime juice and zest. Stir together. Pour the Newman's Own Light Honey Mustard Dressing on top and sprinkle with black pepper. Stir to coat and refrigerate until ready to serve.


4. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil on medium heat. Measure out 1/2 cup of black bean mixture per burger and pat out to a rough 3 1/2-inch diameter. Place in skillet. Repeat with burger mixture until 4 burgers are in skillet. Cook for 3 minutes; flip over and cook for another 3 minutes. Remove burgers to a plate and continue cooking remaining black bean mixture.


5. To serve, divide coleslaw between plates and place a black bean burger on top. Serve with additional Newman's Own Light Honey Mustard Dressing and chopped cilantro.