Quinoa Summer Salad

I don't know about you, but whole grains intimidate me. I don't mean like whole grain bread or whole grain pasta which I think I have a handle on, I'm talking WHOLE grains. As in, freshly plucked from the grain or wherever they come from. Here's my typical MO: I see the whole grains in the bulk food bins at Whole Foods. I think to myself, "I'm gonna buy me some of that there grain and make me somethin' real nice (pronounce 'nass')." Apparently, I must think that in order to cook whole grains I need to live on the bayou. So I buy a big bag of said grains feeling quite proud of myself as I write the bin number on the twisty tie. Then the poor bag of grains will sit, completely ignored, on the pantry shelf for, say...three years, before I toss it out after convincing myself that surely it must be crawling with pantry mites or something equally disgusting. (Is there really such a thing as a pantry mite?)

You may remember that recently I visited Peru. And in Peru they grow a grain called quinoa, (pronounce "KEEN-wah").

quinoa growing in the Peruvian Andes

Have I mentioned that the food in Peru is amazing?? I mean AMAZINGLY delicious and quinoa is a staple in many a national dish. Upon returning home from Peru guess what I found in my pantry! A bag of quinoa that I had just purchased before my trip. I didn't even know what I'd bought. But now I had just enough confidence to try and make something edible with it. I knew it could be done. I had sampled the goodness just the week before. So I cooked me up a pot (there's that whole bayou thang)...and served it to my children for dinner. And they ate it! And asked for seconds!! I had broken the barrier of the whole grain (at least one of them).

Since then I've been experimenting and I have a recipe (with pictures!) to share.

To 2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, add 1/2 cups chopped carrots.

Add 3-4 chopped chives and 1/2 cup chopped sweet peppers.

Toss in 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, 2 T chopped basil & 1 T chopped mint.

Oh my heavens, I wish you could smell this picture.

Add juice from 1/2 a lemon (squeeze through the seasoned fingers of a 6 year old for optimal flavor).

Add 1 T olive oil if you're feeling extra skinny. Or skip this step if your jeans are feeling snug. (You really won't miss it.)
Season to taste with Trocomare or Herbamare (all natural seasoned salt -no weird stuff- I get it at Whole Foods). *I love this pic with Evie stealing a taste of mint from the bowl. Yummy!

Serve with baked chicken and steamed broccoli.

Salud!

*disclaimer: Although the kids enjoy quinoa plain (or with milk and honey) they weren't ginormous fans of the quinoa summer salad. Dave and I, however, thought it was heaven on a fork.

**According to wikipedia: Quinoa contains a full complement of the amino acids which the human body can't produce itself, making it an unusually complete foodstuff.

Favorite After School Snack

Popcorn is one of our favorite after school snacks lately. And I'm totally into popping my own (you know I'm always striving for that elusive "Mom of the Year" Award - I may not be able to make my own Waldorf toys, but I can at least pop my own popcorn, right??). Besides, haven't you ever wondered what exactly is in those bags of microwaveable popcorn? You know, that greasy part that makes it so yummy? What is that?? I don't know...but, I tell ya, the more I learn to read labels the more of a food snob I'm becoming.

Anyway, popping your own popcorn is way fun and here's how you do it:

*in a skillet heat up 1-2 T of olive oil over med-med/high heat
*add 1/2 C popcorn kernels to hot skillet
*stir kernels coating them with oil and spreading them evenly in pan
*cover the pan with lid (important!) and agitate the pan with back and forth motion
*continue until all popcorn is popped
*season with any of the following: melted butter, sea salt, rosemary, trocomare or herbamare (excellent all natural seasonings with no weird stuff), parmesan, brewer's yeast (that's what my mom used to put on our popcorn when we were kids). Sometimes I use coconut oil instead of olive oil and season with a sugar/cinnamon mixture for a yummy, kettle corn flavor. Anything goes!

P.S. How fun is my new blog background?!

Nie and Caramel Sauce

First, let me just say that our darling Nie is "Out of the Woods". This is the official word coming from her sister, cjane. This is such stupendous news! She still has months of recovery and then many, many months (maybe years?)of physical therapy. But, we'll take it. Never before have I been so emotionally invested in a perfect stranger! (Nie is a fellow blogger for you newbies.)

Secondly, I have a fabulous (and ridiculously easy) recipe to share:

My Favorite Caramel Sauce

2/3 C heavy cream
1/2 C butter
1 C brown sugar

(only 3 ingredients - now that's my kind of recipe!)

*Heat cream in saucepan. Set aside
*Bring butter and brown sugar to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
*Remove from heat and add cream
*Refrigerate. It also freezes well.

This delightful caramel sauce was a gift from my dear friend Marci when we were in Guatemala for Christmas two years ago. (Remember Marci and her caramel sauce, Angie?)

The kids and I love it most when used to make caramel popcorn (which is how we became addicted to it in Guatemala). We also love it for dipping apples and adding to hot apple cider. Enjoy!

Thanks, Marci!

Now, if I could just think of something to make for dinner...suggestions?

Lovin' Fall,
Heather

Ponche de Frutas - A Guatemalan Christmas Tradition

Ponche de Frutas is a traditional Christmas drink here in Guatemala. It's served warm and I'm thinking it must be like a cider. I haven't tried it, but I can hardly wait. My neighbor promised she'd show me how to make it. You know I'm so adding Ponche de Frutas to our list of favorite Christmas Traditions!

Ponche de frutas

Ingredientes (Rinde 20 porciones) • 5 litros de agua • 1 piña grande de cáscara lisa • 4 plátanos semi maduros • 1 papaya pequeña • 1 libra de manzana • 1 raja de canela • 1 onza de pimienta gorda • 1 1/2 libra de azúcar • 1 mamey sin semilla • 8 onzas de pasas • 8 onzas de ciruelas pasas Preparación Lava las frutas cuidadosamente, a la piña quítale la punta y pícala con un cuchillo, luego vacía en una olla llenada previamente con el agua fría.

Por aparte, corta en trocitos la papaya, el mamey y los plátanos. Introduce las cáscaras de piña y pon al fuego fuerte por 30 minutos.
A continuación extrae las cáscaras, incorpora la fruta picada y cuece por 45 minutos a fuego medio. Por último, añade las pasas y las ciruelas durante los últimos 10 minutos antes de servir. Si lo prefieres agrégale frutas secas o coco en cuadritos. Retira del fuego, añade azúcar al gusto y sirve.

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