Who ever said that you can’t eat great while detoxing? I think that when people think of ‘detox’ they think that they’re not going to be eating much the whole time. Wrong! Focus on food. Real food. Pile that plate high with veggies; there are so many to choose from that you should concentrate on what you can add to that dish, not what you ‘can’t have’.
This mentality also translates to veganism. I don’t know how many times we’re asked ‘don’t you miss meat?’. Or ‘I could never go without…’. We don’t miss it. Aside from the fact that eating dead animals really just grosses us out, we have expanded the range of food that we DO consume so much so since becoming vegan that there’s really no room to miss what we ate before. The diversity of a vegan diet is vast when you consider how many vegetables, fruit, and grains that are out there that maybe you haven’t even heard of before, but that we consume weekly.
If you’ve been reading our blog for awhile you’ve probably realized that we love Quinoa. While it is becoming much more common for people to eat, it wasn’t that long ago when many people didn’t know what it was (us included). Instead of the usual rice that we grew up with, quinoa has become our go-to ‘grain’ of choice (it’s actually a seed). Like rice, it takes on flavors of broth extremely well and the following dish is not exception. The nutritional yeast is important here as it adds so much flavor, so don’t leave it out! You can find it in the ‘healthy’ section of many grocery stores or even in bulk at your local co-op. We like it even more than quinoa so grab yourself a big bag-full of it and sprint home to make this recipe! (Maybe pay for it first…)
FYI: Sorry for the poor photo-quality. My iPhone skills could use some work.. Any suggestions or apps for it would be appreciated!
Lime Quinoa
[Serves 2]
- 1/4 medium onion, chopped
- 1 mini bell pepper, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 lime
- 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
- 1/2 tsp. Cajun Seasoning
- 1/4 tsp. Salt (or to taste)
- Pepper, to taste
– In a medium-sized saucepan, heat a small amount of oil. To that, add the onion and bell pepper, saute for about five minutes and then add the garlic.
– Stir in the seasonings, nutritional yeast, quinoa and water. Then squeeze the lime half into the quinoa to extract most of the juice and place the lime half in the saucepan as well.
I know it's not very pretty but it tasted excellent!
– Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer until most or all of the liquid has been absorbed. Note: I took the lid off after about 5 minutes and stirred occasionally until the quinoa was done.
– Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste.
Served with a baked sweet potato, roasted veggies and a portabella mushroom.
Where's the protein you ask? I sprinkled some Aduki beans on top of the quinoa and potato and ended up mixing everything together. Beans are a great addition to any quinoa dish (and quinoa is a good protein source on its own)!
Want to try another quinoa recipe? Check these out:
Twin Taste 