Quinoa, Red Lentil and Chia Pilaf

I found this recipe over at Original Fast Foods, and decided to give it a try. It makes a delicious side dish for fish. I had some (leftover) for lunch with some sliced tomatoes. I tripled the recipe so that I could put some in the freezer. I found this to be a one of those recipes that will be used often!

Quinoa, Red Lentil and Chia Pilaf
from http://originalfastfoods.com

1/3 c. quinoa (I use Bob's Red Mill as it is pre-rinsed)

1/3 c. red lentils

2 TBSP chia seed

1/3 c. shallots or onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 c. broth

1 large red or green sweet pepper, chopped (I used yellow since it was in the fridge)

1 large carrot, chopped

1/4 tsp thyme

If your quinoa isn't rinsed, so this first. Pick through the lentils for stems, rocks, etc and rinse these as well. Add all ingredients into a pot except for the pepper and the carrot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until quinoa and red lentils are tender.

Giveaway: Muir Glen Limited Edition Reserve Tomatoes

2011 Muir Glen Limited-Edition
Reserve Tomatoes Gift Pack with dish towel

Time for a giveaway! I was at the Natural Products Expo in So. Cal in mid March, and thought it would be nice to go to my favorite companies and see if they'd give me something to giveaway on my blog. I love Muir Glen products. Besides my own bottled tomatoes, Muir Glen is my go to organic tomato products. I especially like the fire roasted tomatoes! Perfect in so many recipes.

Anyway, back to the story! I met Brit at Muir Glen, and she was delighted to help me out. The giveaway is an awesome gift pack of 2011 limited-edition Reserve Tomatoes. This pack includes:

• One can each of Reserve Harvest Sunset Organic Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes and Dice Tomatoes
• One can each of Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies and No-Salt added Diced Tomatoes
• A recipe booklet featuring a variety of cuisines created by award-winning chefs from around the country and a coupon for $1 off any purchase of Muir Glen Organic Tomatoes

Here's what you need to do....

Go to www.muirglen.com and check out their recipes. Leave a comment on this post telling me which recipe you'd like to try.

For additional entries:

Post this contest link on facebook, and post a comment that you've done so.

Twitter this contest with the link and use @foodgrecipes and post a comment that you've done so.

Post this contest on your blog, and post that you've done so (with link to your post).

Be a like a Boy Scout, and do a good turn. Post a comment of what you did!

OK, there you go. This contest will go until Saturday April 14, 2012 at 2:00 Noon MST. I'll use random.org and find a winner. Make sure you check back on Saturday around 2 pm to see if you are the lucky winner. You'll love the Muir Glen Tomatoes and the dish towel is so soft and perfect for hand drying dishes!  

Harvard School of Public Health:Eating Red Meat a Health Risk

Well, it doesn't come as a surprise to me that a recent study suggests that eating red meat leads to increased mortality. I pretty much got disgusted with red meat around the age of 18, and can go months without eating it.  In this study at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), researchers have found that there is an increased risk of total, cardiovascular and cancer mortality with high consumption of red meat. You can check out the press release here. The study showed that substituting other protein sources such as fish, poultry, nuts, and legumes is associated with a lower risk of mortality.

The bottom line is: eat red meat infrequently!

Recipe: Swiss Chard, Tomatoes and Sprouts

I've been making a lot of vegetable dishes for dinner lately.  This is one of my favorites. I usually improvise, but I share the recipe to get you started on your own creations. I serve this with brown rice and fish. Fantastic!

Begin with a couple of chopped tomatoes in a skillet along with a Tablespoon of olive oil, a couple of cloves of minced garlic (or equivalent frozen/refrigerated). Cook for a few minutes on medium.

Next, I went out to my garden and harvested some Swiss Chard. I love fresh chard. It has a great texture and wonderful taste.

I also added sprouted mung beans, spinach, chopped red pepper, cilantro and chopped celery...

Let it cook down for 3-5 minutes...

I added some walnut pieces for some crunch toward the end of cooking.  Sorry, but no final picture on this one. Everyone must have been hungry!

Food: Home Bottled Tomatoes

I've had these bottled tomatoes done for a couple of weeks now. I love having home canned tomatoes on hand. I love fresh, but when I don't have fresh, these are the next best thing.

I got a case of tomatoes from Bountiful Baskets and ended up with 9 quarts of tomatoes. Love it!

I use bottled tomatoes for all kinds of recipes including, pasta sauce, chili and sauteed vegetables.

The next canning project will be black beans, since I've used up the ones I had on hand.

Canned anything lately? Share a link in the comment section.

Recipe: Sauteed Vegetables with Lentil Sprouts

Here are the lentils I sprouted to use in my stirfry. You can see how to sprout lentils, here and buy lentils for sprouting here. Sprouted Lentils are a wonderful addition to stirfry, chili, or garden burgers. Put the lentil sprouts into the large frying pan/wok, along with ginger, garlic and 1/2 c. broth. I like to steam the lentils first so that they are nice and tender.

After the lentils have steam cooked for about 3-5 minutes, add the rest of your chopped/diced vegetables. Next I added some fresh, peeled and chopped water chestnuts. They were in the Asian pack from my co-op, Bountiful Baskets. Awesome!

Then, add the rest of your chopped/diced vegetables. I like to get a huge gallon sized bag of vegetables prepared in advance of the meal. Then, it is easy to add to the pan. Below, I have included Swiss Chard, snap peas, celery, pre-cooked green beans. This is about 6-8 cups of chopped/diced vegetables.

Here it is in the frying pan. I cook just until everything is tender, but not overdone. Stir and turn constantly. Add additional small amounts of broth during the cooking process so that it doesn't burn

Sorry I didn't get a picture of the completed dish. It was served with fish and brown rice.

How to Sprout Lentils

I decided to go ahead and sprout some lentils. I have several sprouters, but I'm especially fond of the Easysprout sprouter. It is truly the best manual sprouter on the market. Anyway, the nice thing about the Easysprout sprouter, is that it takes up so little space, and it is very easy to use.

Recipe for growing lentil sprouts. Decide how much to sprout. A good place to begin is 1/4-1/2 cup.

1. Examine lentils for dirt or small rocks. Pick out anything that isn't a lentil and discard
2. Rinse thoroughly. You can do this right in the Easysprout sprouter. Place lentils in the inner cup. Run water over the top and let it run through the inner cup.
3. Place inner cup inside of outer cup, and fill with water. Have water come several inches above the lentils. Leave to soak for 12 hours. Overnight works great.
4. Pull inner cup out and drain. Discard soak water. Great for watering your plants!
5. Rinse every twelve hours. Continue to do this until the lentils are sprouted to your satisfaction.

Here are some pictures:

sprouted lentils 24 hours past soak

sprouted lentils 48 hours past soak

I like using the lentils at this point. I don't want them to form leaves. These are perfect for garden burgers, chili or stirfry. See my post on using sprouted lentils in stirfry here.