Tasty Warm/Cold Vegan Asparagus Quinoa Salad

(Simple, Easy, Tasty, fun cooking)

  

Looking around online for new recipe ideas I discovered an interesting asparagus and fruit salad. I wasn’t too thrilled on adding the suggested berries to the meal so I tweaked it a little and this is what I came up with.

Serving size is about 3 to 4 people…or lunch and dinner for two days! #leftovers 

-       1 cup of Trader Joe’s tri-color uncooked quinoa

-       1 ½ cups of organic vegetable broth (low sodium preferably)

-       ½ tsp of olive oil

-       3 garlic cloves (minced)

-       1 sliced leek

-       1 bunch of fresh asparagus

-       1 generous half cup (or more) of fresh chopped parsley

-       ¾ cup of trader joe’s frozen peas

-       the juice of one fresh medium lemon (watch the seeds!)

-       ½ tbsp of Trader Joe’s Organic Maple Agave Syrup Blend

-       a pinch of Trader Joe’s sea salt

-       a good amount of pepper

First, rinse the quinoa using a fine strainer. In a wide saucepan add vegetable broth and quinoa. Bring to a light boil. Reduce heat to a medium low heat, cover with a lid and cook for 14-18 minutes, or until the quinoa is fluffy and the water has been absorbed. (Similar to cooking rice, fluff the quinoa with a fork and sit it aside for a couple of minutes)

While the quinoa is cooking take a large skillet and add drizzle olive oil in the pan. (I set the pan to a medium heat) Sauté the garlic and sliced leek for about 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper. Next add chopped asparagus (I cut into about 1 inch pieces) and sauté for another 5 to 7 minutes (or desired texture). Finally, stir in peas, and parsley and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes. Combine the quinoa and vegetables  together in the largest pan.

Finally, squeeze the juice of one lemon, the agave maple syrup blend, and about ¼ of sea salt into a small mixing bowl. Whisk to blend the ingredients. Mix the dressing into the quinoa mixture.

Grab a bowl and prepare to be amazed!!! I was so delighted about how wonderful this meal taste. It is full of whole ingredients and very satisfying to the palate. It’s a hearty light meal. I suggest also bringing this to pot lucks, holiday celebrations, weddings, and so much more. It’s a meal everyone will love. It is appealing to all of the senses and the simplistic dressing encourages me to create my own dressing versus buying premade ones. This meal is tasty hot off the stove, room temperature and cold. Let me know if you make it by tagging me on Instagram @JJLC_Photography

I encourage everyone to always try to make a new meal weekly to keep your diet dynamic and exciting! Always use wholefood when you can and eat lots of vegetables! This is a good source of vegetable protein as it is packed will all nine essential amino acids! It’s technically a seed not a grain 

One Week of Easy Vegan Lunches for Under $15

If you love noodles, beans, soup and couscous Dr. McDougalls has a great line of instant cup meals that are vegan and under $2 each. Some cups are even packed with 10 or more grams of protein! Pair your favorite cup with a great snack like a D's Naturals No Cow Bar, Earth Balance vegan cheddar flavor squares, non dairy Silk yogurt or your favorite fruit! This is a great lunch option for the week if you are on a budget!  I've seen these options in Whole Foods and Wegmans. 



Day One:
Enjoy Black Bean & Lime Soup with vegan Earth Balance cheddar flavor squares. This Soup is packed with 18 grams of protein and 1 serving of the cheddar squares have another 2 grams. This is a comfortable tasty combination. 



Day Two:
Try this low sodium Black Beans and Rice option and a D's Naturals #NoCowBar. The Beans and rice have 7 grams of protein and the protein bar (vegan, no added sugar, gluten free, soy free, dairy free) is packed with 21 grams of plant protein. The pictured vegan protein bar is the Chocolate Fudge Brownie, but there are other flavors to choose from.
















Day 3:
Try this Lentil Couscous low sodium option with a side of Silk dairy free yogurt. There are 10 grams of protein in this cup. The yogurt has another 6 grams of protein. In the picture the yogurt flavor is peach & mango. If you're in the office, on campus, or just having a busy day running errands this is a great inexpensive lunch option.



Day 4:
Tortilla Soup with Baked Chips is a great option for day four. This option has 8 grams of protein. Pair it with a couple small tangerines for an awesome zesty citrus meal.














Day 5:
If you have a busy day and want a tasty nourishing meal this Split Pea soup and a banana is for you. This soup is packed with 16 grams of vegetable protein. 














All of these great quality tasty foods that can be purchased for under $15!  I've attached a video too. Like the video and share. This is just an easy alternative to instant favorites now available in plant based form!


Thanks RightFoods for featuring my photo on your website and Instagram :)
https://www.rightfoods.com - I purchased mine from Wegmans. 

Easy 30 Minute Chickpea Meal

Many of us are tied up between jobs, school, family obligations, and other time constraints. Often we crave a satisfying meal, but time can hinder us from having a well balanced healthy one. This easy chickpea recipe is one of a couple meals I enjoy making when I want something hearty and healthy. I'm a vegan but trust me this meal will appease any palate. Just give it a try. Check out the video to see it cooked from beginning to end! Let me know if you try it :) Thumbs up the video if you like it! There will be more to come. (10 minutes prep + 20 minutes to cook)

This is a high protein easy chickpea (Garbanzo bean) meal. Packed with lots of flavor this meal is very easy to cook. It's vegan friendly too. This is a good meal for lunch, dinner, potlucks, parties, weddings, showers, and the Holidays. Things needed:

1 can of organic unsalted Garbanzo beans
2-3 small fresh garlic cloves
Fresh Parsley
Fresh Basil
Scallions
One half of a red bell pepper
Mrs. Dash Seasoning
Veggie Crumbles (trader joe's brand is great)
Organic tomato sauce
Olive oil

The video shows how to make a portion large enough for 1-2 servings. Feel free to adjust amounts as needed.

Let me know in the comments if you make it! Share pictures with me on Instagram if you do @JJLC_Photography Check out my other blogs! More to come :)


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All I wanted was vegetable Lo Mein

Five minutes away from my home there is a nice fast food Chinese restaurant. I just knew they would waive the 15-dollar minimum delivery fee on the account that the drive to my home is such a short commute. I even figured since I live in a near-by condominium community someone else had to be ordering take-out and fulfilling my order would not be a problem. Unfortunately, after I told the employee on the phone all I wanted was vegetable Lo Mein she told me I needed to order something else. I explained to her that I did not want anything else, and the order was cancelled.

Just like that my call was dismissed with no remorse. The situation was even worse because this particular restaurant has awesome food, they know their food is tasty and it is evident a daily influx of customers will always order from them. What am I to do?

Well, it was a lazy day for me, which meant no leaving the house. So I went to my pantry and pulled out some spaghetti pasta, Asian five spice, braggs amino acid soy sauce, a garlic clove, a piece of ginger and olive oil. Next, I went to the refrigerator and grabbed baby carrots, celery, spinach, mushrooms, oyster sauce, and kale. I turned on some water for the pasta, sliced up my vegetables, put the oil in my frying pan and proceeded to cook. In less than 20 minutes I had a meal that appeased my vegetable Lo mein craving. Do it yourself (DIY) take out cooking.

Now I could have stopped there but I thought why not just cook this dish in the future instead of ordering out? So I went to Whole Foods and purchased Lo Mein noodles, soy ginger Asian dressing, and sesame oil. Earlier, I stopped at a farmers market and picked up garlic, carrots, green beans and a few other things. Just to give the meal another whirl,

 I tried cooking the vegetable Lo mein again using my new ingredients and it taste awesome. Also, I didn’t follow a recipe so it was basically instinct cooking. I feel better knowing (which wasn’t something horribly hard to figure out) I can appease my taste without ordering 15 dollars worth of food from a take out restaurant. Honestly, I cook 95% of my meals but on occasion the urge for something I don’t traditionally cook lurks about. So from now on, instead of running to an establishment to satisfy those sudden urges, why not try preparing the meal at home?

2015 - The key to the Lo Mein flavor is the Braggs Amino Acids. It's really flavorful, taste like the best soy sauce in the world lol and you will also enjoy it on dark green leafy veggies. I will post a video of how I use them in Kale this year! If you'd like to try it order it using the link below :)

Suggestions: (keep a few staple items in your kitchen for meals commonly purchased at restaurants - I’ve included a mini suggestion list below)

Pasta

Broth

Pizza stone

Yeast (amongst other baking essentials)

Asian spices

Taco kits

Frozen fruit/protein powder (for ice cream texture smoothie)

pictures: the first picture shows the actual take-out menu :) , the second picture are the items I picked up after shopping, and the third picture is the second attempt at making the Lo Mein

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