Quinoa with black beans and peppers

Happy Friday! Have you tried quinoa before? If not, you definitely should. It’s a grain that, unlike most others, is a complete protein. It’s tasty and hardly takes any time to make.

Today’s recipe was inspired by We are not Martha’s quinoa & black bean salad. I tweaked it a bit to fit what I had on hand.

Here’s what I used:

• 1.5 cups of quinoa, rinsed
• 3 cups of water
• 3 limes
• EVOO
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed well
• red + green peppers (your choice)
• cumin
• coriander
• cayenne pepper

Chop the peppers into bite-sized pieces. For the dressing, I used the juice of all three limes and the zest of one. I added EVOO, salt, pepper, cumin, coriander and cayenne all to taste.

Quinoa is incredibly easy to cook. Combine the quinoa and water in a pot and cook until the water is absorbed. I started on medium heat, and once it began to bubble, I give it a stir and turned it down to midway between low and medium. It takes about fifteen minutes total. You can tell when the quinoa is done once the little white thing (technical term) on the grain shows.

This recipe takes about 20-25 minutes total. It makes a lot of salad, so be ready for leftovers!

Here it is all combined.

This salad is delicious and super healthy. I let mine chill before eating. I have a feeling that the longer this salad marinates in the fridge, the better it will taste. The dressing is not overwhelming, but gives a nice flavor. Red peppers are by far tastier than green so next time I might use only red. However, as Giada always says, we eat with our eyes first, and using both green and red peppers makes this salad gorgeous and colorful!

Today was a SNOW DAY! NYU never, ever gives snow days, but this is the second one this winter! I don’t even have Friday classes so it was sort of a bummer that the snow didn’t come earlier. I have no plans to leave my apartment any time soon!

My thesis is due one month from today! SCARY! I have to get a lot done this weekend. Meh. At least there is no temptation to go outside, I guess? Fortunately, I have a delicious quinoa salad to keep me going all weekend

I tried to make a Green Monster smoothie today too, but I failed. Epically. I actually had to throw it out, which I hate doing. More on that tomorrow or Sunday, when it will hopefully be a success!

HAPPY WEEKEND!

PS – The black beans and quinoa come out of the Pantry Challenge running tab! I have barely anything left!

Refried beans & avocado burrito

Despite the fact that they have yet to make an appearance here on the blog, burritos are a weeknight staple for me. They take less than 15 minutes to make, are super filling, healthy, and delicious (in my opinion)!

Lia’s Cucina Cocina Burritos (clever, I know ):

• can of refried beans
• avocado
• salsa
• lime
• tortilla
• dried cilantro
• a few tortilla chips

Check out the nutrition stats on this can. Just three ingredients and packed with protein, fiber and no fat at all. Whole Food’s brand is pretty low in sodium, which is great.

Here’s what you do:

• Heat the refried beans on the stove top until heated through
• Heat the tortilla in the oven for a couple minutes
• Layer the 1/2 can of beans, 1/2 avocado, salsa, lime and tortilla chips on the warm tortilla
• Sprinkle with salt and dried cilantro

Mangia!

This combo is so delicious. I personally love refried beans. The lime and salsa really freshen up the flavor of the beans, while the avocado is creamy and the tortilla chips are crunchy. Mmm! I save half the avocado, half the can of beans and a tortilla for another meal (dinner tomorrow). You’ve got to give this one a try.

I am planning on having peanut butter and Nutella on a slice of toast later on…can’t wait. It used to be my favorite snack in Italy.

Have a great night!

Cucina Italiana

Hey, guys! So here is the recipe I have been waiting to share with you: the ultimate, most simple, most delicious tomato sauce. My dad taught me how to make this simple sauce before I went to college and I have been making it this way ever since. Making this entire meal takes about 30 minutes start to finish and the results are so worth the time.

Here’s what you need:

• large can of tomatoes (I like ‘em crushed, and I like ‘em San Marzano)
• can tomato paste
• EVOO
• shallot (I hate chopping onions and I love a shallot’s subtlety in this)
• lots o’ garlic (I used about five cloves)
• fresh basil
• kosher salt
• pepper
• crushed red pepper (optional, however I use a lot)
• 1 pound of pasta (cross another thing off the pantry challenge list!)

Saute the shallot in some EVOO until they tenderize. I add the salt here to help “sweat out” the shallot.

Once the shallot is tender, add the tomato paste, garlic, crushed tomatoes, spices and basil. I do it in that order

After the pasta is done boiling, mix everything together. You will have one gigantic,  amazingly delicious meal.

I grated some parm on top of both my salad and pasta. Added some whole basil leaves to make it look pretty too!

Love, love, love.

My salad was Italian mix with balsamic, EVOO, pepper and parm.

I kinda devoured this. I was hungry! And it was so good! In my family, we eat the salad after the pasta

My belly is very happy.

Recap of this afternoon: I was going nuts sitting around my apartment so I decided to go for a walk. I wasn’t sure where I’d go, but once I started out, I felt some sort of…magnetic pull…towards….

…Anthropologie, of course! It wasn’t my original intention, I swear.

I tried one some really pretty things, but with $80 price tags (on most), I sadly had to leave them behind. I was a good girl.

Some shots of my neighborhood.

Okay, okay. I didn’t leave Anthro completely empty handed. I got these three little bowls ($4 each) to organize my jewelry with.

I also came home with these babies. I’m not sure if I have revealed this on the blog yet, but I am a seltzer addict.

After my first week of blogging, I have to say…I love it! It is fun trying to make my meals and recipes special to photograph them and post them here. I have also been eating pretty darn healthy all week (I think so, at least!).

On my walk, I did some thinking…I want to make some changes in my life. I think that if I post my goals here on the blog it will help me stick to them. So, here they are:

1. Be more positive.
2. Do more school work during the week so I can enjoy the weekends. I tend to save a lot of my work for the weekends and then dread not only the weekdays, but the weekend as well. I think I can better utilize my time. The pressure is on for my thesis (due in 55 days), and that, in addition to two classes, a part-time job, a volunteering gig, a long-distance relationship and trying to have fun with my friends the second semester of my senior year…I can anxious and stressed to the max. I need to stop being so lazy about school work and not let this raging case of Senioritis ruin my GPA!
3. Eat healthy. I think that I generally eat pretty healthy, but there are definitely times when I go overboard. The blog will hold me accountable and keep me in line.
4. Save money. I make enough to support myself from my part-time job (school and rent is through a loan), but this year, I have been blowing through money. Something that I am willing to splurge on, because I think quality is more important than quantity, is food. However, I have been going a little crazy with clothes-buying. I am OOC. I have a goal in mind for an amount of money I want to have saved by the end of this semester and I really want to reach it. From here on out, I am not spending any money on clothes/accessories and I will seriously limit the amount of money I spend in restaurants. That said, I have two pricey dinners coming up this week (one for a friend’s birthday and one for Restaurant Week), so I have planned to eat every other meal at home. I think I ate every meal at home this week as well, except for a trip to Karen’s and Taj Mahal. I also am not spending a dime of my tax return.

Anyway, these are my goals and I am confident I will fulfill them. Sorry for rambling on! Have a great Saturday night.

Update: I went back for another half bowl of pasta, I was still pretty hungry. Had a Twilight Delight as well.

Freezer mania…and pesto!

So, I had a super early dinner this evening. I think it was mainly because I was bored…but it was still delicious. I used up something from the Pantry Challenge! Woo! I had Amy’s Butternut Squash soup along side some cinnamon raisin toast. I doctored the soup with some pepper and cinnamon. Such a good dinner for a frigid day. It was inspired by this article by the Amateur Gourmet that I read this afternoon. I love soup!

Loooove dipping.

I went grocery shopping this evening because I had to get out of my apartment. Generally I wait until Saturday or Sunday for groceries but I was antsy from sitting around all day doing work. Here’s what I picked up:

• Ezekiel 4:9 bread (have been dying to try this for awhile)
• Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin English muffins
• 3 Amy’s Margherita Pizzas (on sale!!!!)
• Tazo Green tea
• Fennel
• Italian salad mix
• Basil
• Grapes
• San Marzano tomatoes (the best tomatoes)
• Bananas
• PB
• Garlic
• Shallot
• Avocado
• Parmigiano Reggiano

I have plans to make a little somethin’ somethin’ tomorrow (you’ll have to check back and see what it is ) that requires basil…however Whole Foods was only selling this massive container of it.

I figured I would just freeze the leftovers but then came up with a much better idea…homemade pesto!! I rarely ever use my mini food processor — I haven’t since this summer — and I am so happy I got to put it to use tonight.

My pesto: basil, almonds, parmigiano reggiano, garlic, EVOO and pepper.

Grind it up!

It came out delicious. So fresh. I love basil, it is my absolute favorite herb.

The Microplane, used here for grating the parm, is the ultimate kitchen tool, agreed upon by my cousin Mike. I don’t know what I would do without my Microplane. I have stopped chopping garlic all together now and only grate it on this baby. Makes my life a lot easier.

So yummy. I don’t have any use for it right now so I threw it in the freezer for a later date.

My freezer is a little OOC right now.

I told you guys that lentil soup made a ton of leftovers! Plus five kinds of bread, frozen veggies, rice, coffee…it’s a tiny freezer. Maybe I should have a freezer challenge as well?

I have no plans for tonight besides relaxing…maybe renting a movie off iTunes? I went to Best Buy today to search for 500 Days of Summer, which I have been dying to buy, but I couldn’t find it. Boo.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s recipe. It’s a classic! Any guesses?

Night!

Pantry Challenge

Pantry Challenge

So here’s the deal. I’m moving out of my NYC apartment in 107 days (yes, I have a countdown to graduation). By then, I want to efficiently use all the food in my pantry. Last night’s dinner was a complete pantry meal which was awesome. Here’s what I’ve got:

2 cans tomato paste
1 can black beans
2 cans refried beans
1 can butternut squash soup
1 can peas
0.5 bag lentils
1 bag quinoa
1 box couscous
2.5 bags pasta
2 bottles soy ginger sauce

I’ll be keeping a tally going of everything I use up in the next 3 months!

Got any great recipe ideas for me to use these up?