Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

I have had a long-standing desire to eat healthier and mix up more vegetarian meals into the mix.  One of the best options in this environment is quinoa, a great hi-protein grain that is part of a great vegetarian diet.  I have played with a few recipes including this one for what I called Summer Quinoa Salad a few years ago.  I wanted to play with it a bit to get rid of the tomatoes for the Mrs. and add in some other flavors.  I made this the first time and it came out great.  I loved adding in the roasted red peppers and kalamata olives. These are nice parts of the Mediterranean diet - so that is how this recipe got its name. Even the Mrs. loved it!  While it does have a good deal of protein per serving (sorry I did not figure that out), but as made, the salad has around 211 calories per cup.  That might seem lot a bit much. but quinoa adds protein and calories to the mix.  Serve it on a bed of spinach for a more filling lunch or side.

Ingredients (Serves 8-10):
1 cup Quinoa (white or tri-colored)
1/2 cup Pine nuts
1/3 cup Olive oil
4 tbsp Lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp Kosher salt (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp Black pepper (adjust to taste)
1 Cucumber, peeled and finely diced (if using a seedless cuke - leave the peel on)
2 Roasted red peppers, diced
14-16 Kalamata olives, chopped
1 small or 1/2 medium Red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup Parsley (fresh), chopped

Directions
1. Rinse quinoa under running water to make sure it is clean.
2. Bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add quinoa, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for around 15-20 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Remove pot from heat and let cool in a large mixing bowl.
3. In a small saute pan over medium-low heat, toast the pine nuts (shaking the pan often so they do not burn) for around 3-5 minutes until lightly browned. Add pine nuts to the mixing bowl with the quinoa.
4. In a small bowl, add olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, kosher salt and black pepper. Mix thoroughly with a whisk.
5. In the large mixing bowl (with the quinoa and pine nuts), add diced cucumber, roasted red peppers, Kalamata olives, red onion, and parsley. Add olive oil mix and thoroughly blend the salad.

Enjoy as a side or as an entree with a bed of spinach or greens.

Baked Apple Pie Rolls

Well...this is amazing!  I found this recipe for Fried Apple Pie Rolls from Eating Well and it looked too good NOT to make.  I am not someone that has made apple pies at home - but since it is harvest season and there are apples everywhere.  I love this recipe because it is relatively low calories for a baked good.  Following one of the comments under the recipe who suggested baking it instead of frying it, I thought I would give it a shot.  I played with the recipe, lowered the sugar a bit and I have to figure this new version is probably around 170-180 calories each (the original was around 207 calories).  That is just an estimate - but it is good enough for me.  These tasted great.  I might need to put in a little less filling or spread it over to a 9th pie roll.  We heated them up in the microwave for around 15-20 seconds to give it a bit of warmth before eating.  I am sure they would be great with ice cream - but we are trying to watch calories!

Ingredients (makes 8 pie rolls)
2 tbsp Butter
4 Apples, peeled & diced (I used granny smith and honeycrisp apples)
2 tbsp & 4 tsp Sugar, divided
1 3/4 tsp Cinnamon, divided
1/4 tsp Ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp Kosher or sea salt
1 tbsp All-purpose flour
2 tsp Lemon juice
8 egg roll wrappers
Olive oil spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until melted.
3. Add diced apples, 2 tbsp & 3 tsp sugar, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg and Kosher salt. Mix thoroughly and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are softened, 8-9 minutes.
4. Add flour and cook 1 minute longer. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
5. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet - and lightly spray with olive oil.
6. Place an egg roll wrapper on a clean work surface with one corner facing you. Brush the edges of the egg roll wrapper with water. Place around 1/3 cup of the apple filling in the center of the wrapper. Take the corner facing you and fold it over the filling.  Then fold both sides of the wrapper over the filling, then roll up as tightly as possible. Place on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.
7. Lightly spray the top of the pie rolls.  Combine remaining 1 tsp of sugar and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and sprinkle on top of the pie rolls.
8. Bake for 15 minutes.  Turn over and bake for 10 more minutes.

Enjoy!

Avocado Egg Salad

So I have been really working on losing weight and eating better.  One of my favorite comfort foods is egg salad - but it can be really bad when you get it in a restaurant.  I have my recipe that I shared a bunch of years ago, but I saw a recipe that looked intriguing.  I had seen a number of recipes for pulling an avocado into egg salad (including this one) as a way to reduce mayo and get some healthy fats in your diet.  So I took a few recipes and played with it a bit.  This is my first attempt and I really like it.  It makes around five 1/2 cup servings and they clock in at around 164 calories.  Avocado gives you alot of calories, but it gives you lots and lots of nutrients.  Ditto on the Chia seeds.  So it is a good trade-off.  Anyway, I love the way this came out and will be a great lunch and snack.

Ingredients (five 1/2 cup servings at 164 calories each)
1 medium avocado, pitted and peeled
5 Eggs, hard boiled, peeled and chopped
2 Celery stalks, finely chopped
1 tbsp Mayonnaise (olive oil or light)
1 tsp Lemon juice
1 tbsp Diced onions (dried)
2 tsp Chia seeds
1 tsp Parsley (dried)
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Celery seed
1/4 tsp Black pepper

Directions

1. Mash avocado with a fork in a medium bowl.
2. Add remaining ingredients (eggs through pepper) and mix thoroughly until blended.

Enjoy!  You may need to add a bit of mayonnaise if it gets dried out.