Lulu's Recipe Box

Quinoa Chickpea Salad

While we were in Iowa a few weeks ago, my sister Sarah brought this delicious quinoa chickpea salad to a BBQ at my mother-in-law's house and I immediately asked her for the recipe. It was my first time eating quinoa.  I learned that it is delicious, healthy, and pronounced keen-wa NOT key-no-ah. Since tasting and learning about quinoa, I've found several recipes I want to try, but first let's tell you about this one! The tangy dressing amazingly has NO oil. I was very skeptical of this at first but you couldn't tell at all. It was delicious! This recipe also has a lot of crisp veggies and creamy chickpeas, making it the perfect healthy summer salad! If you haven't tried quinoa yet, or if you are looking for a new recipe with quinoa, try this one! You will love it! Even my husband gobbled it up!

 

Quinoa = Keen-wa

 

The colorful veggies and chickpeas!

Don't worry, the dressing is much more tasty than it looks!

 

The finished product! Mmm...so good and guilt-free!

 

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 Ingredients:

For the salad:

2 cups cooked quinoa

1 small red onion, diced

4 cups baby spinach

1-15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 English cucumber, diced

1/2 red pepper, diced

1/2 yellow pepper, diced

For the dressing:

1/4 cup cashew pieces

2 T. chopped shallot

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. agave nectar

3/4 tsp. salt

a few pinches freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Cook the quinoa according to package directions. One cup dry quinoa will make two cups cooked. Cool the quinoa. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Add the dressing before serving. Keep chilled in a tightly sealed container for up to 3 days.

For the dressing, place the cashew pieces and shallot in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and blend for at least 5 minutes. Be sure to scrape the sides with a rubber spatula. Blend until completely smooth.

Note: Feel free to use different veggies. You could also use Israeli couscous instead of quinoa.

***slightly adapted from Shutterbean

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

One of my favorite muffins is lemon poppy seed but I've never made them from scratch, let alone a box mix. I came across this simple recipe from Annie's Eats and was very happy with the results. I had all of the ingredients on hand which made them simple to throw together, and the muffins were moist and the perfect amount of lemon flavor! I ate one for dessert last night and another for breakfast this morning. They are really the perfect snack any time of the day. I can't wait to make these again!

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Yield: about 12-15 muffins

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 T. poppy seeds

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

8 T. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

Zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup yogurt (plain or vanilla)

For the glaze (optional):

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1-2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Combine the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and stir to combine. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Mix in the lemon zest and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients in two additions alternating with the yogurt, beating each addition just until incorporated.

Divide the batter between the prepared liners, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the muffins are still warm, whisk together the confectioners sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl to make the glaze. The glaze is optional. Drizzle a small amount of the glaze over each muffin. Let the glaze set before storing or serving.

***Recipe from Annie's Eats

 

Italian Grilled Chicken with Cucumber Bruschetta

Greetings everyone! I am back from a wonderful two week Midwest trip with my husband to visit our family and friends. Our annual summer trip back home can get a little crazy busy and exhausting but it's one of our favorite vacations to take! Even after living on the East coast now for four years, we still miss the simplicity of the Midwest and our family and friends who are scattered throughout Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. This year, we split our time between Cedar Rapids, IA and Des Moines, IA where our parents are located and ended our trip in Milwaukee to visit TC's aunt, grandma and his beloved Brewers. I had never been to Milwaukee so it was fun to explore the city including trips to Miller Park for Brewers Baseball, Miller Brewery and the lakefront. Is anyone else's husband/boyfriend obsessed with baseball?? I don't mind going to games but watching it on tv is like watching paint dry sometimes. Haha. At least when I go to the games, I can people watch and eat the yummy stadium food, and that's exactly what I did at Miller Park! : ) It seriously was a beautiful ballpark and my husband was in baseball heaven seeing his favorite team play so that made me happy!

It was a really great trip, but now it's back to the reality of working out and eating healthy. I always go into detox mode when I return from vacation. We attended countless BBQ's and ate at some delicious restaurants so I was ready to get back into a healthy routine when we returned home. We grilled this healthy chicken with a delicious bruschetta topping tonight. The chicken is marinated in Italian dressing/marinade and topped with a fresh cucumber and tomato bruschetta. It was light and refreshing, but still managed to fill us up. If you are looking for a healthy and flavorful chicken dish that is easy to prepare for the summer, this is it!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far! It's hard to believe that it is the middle of July already! I promise many more recipes this summer!

 

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Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

4 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup store bought Italian flavored marinade/dressing (I used Kraft Zesty Italian dressing/marinade and be sure to get one without high fructose corn syrup)

For the bruschetta:

1/2 cup peeled, diced English cucumber (could probably use regular cucumber as well)

2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

8 basil leaves, torn or chopped

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese shavings

1/8 tsp. minced garlic (optional)

1 tsp. good quality balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Place chicken breasts in a plastic container or leak-proof food storage bag with Italian marinade. Stir to coat and refrigerate until ready to grill. I marinated the chicken for 2-3 hours which was sufficient but for even stronger flavor, marinate for longer.

Preheat outdoor grill to high. Place chicken breasts on hot grill and reduce heat to medium. Cook about 5 minutes per side or until chicken is cooked through. The time per side may need to be increased depending on the size and thickness of your chicken. Use a thermometer or cut it open to be sure you have it cooked through.

While the chicken is cooking (or you can make this ahead of time), chop up and stir together all of the ingredients for the bruschetta topping in a medium sized bowl.

Remove chicken from the grill and top with the bruschetta when you are ready to serve.

Note: I cut the bruschetta recipe in half for two large chicken breasts to serve two people.

 

***Recipe from Tasty Kitchen