healthy

EATS: Anything Dressing

Something that’s always aggravating when grocery shopping

is buying a bottle of dressing that you haven’t tried before.

It’s just one of those things that if you don’t like,it will just sit on the door of the refrigerator until it  expires – and you waste around $5 each time.

As it happens, the majority of the time I end up disliking most of the ones I try out, with a select few that always get used quickly (Generally Annie’s is always a safe choice)

But alas! A solution!

Make your own dressing.

Now this can be added to – switched up – tinkered around with to your liking.

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You need only a few items:
a small bowl, measuring cups, and a whisk

ANYTHING DRESSING

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1-2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 2-3 tbsp olive oil (or grapeseed)
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • pinch of salt
  • pepper to taste

Simply whisk everything together until smooth, or very little separation occurs.

Taste, then decide if it needs a bit of adjusting

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Options to change it up:

  • Leave out sesame oil
  • Add garlic or garlic powder
  • For creamy dressing – add 2 tbsp of mayo
  • Add minced red onion
  • Add dried herbs
  • Add 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • Sweeten with sugar
  • Add feta cheese

Anything else is up to your dishes and creativity!

This tastes great on green salads, tossed with pasta, bean salads, quinoa dishes,

you can even add it to the base of a sauce to give it a little tang.

The beauty is that these are all ingredients that I generally always have on hand,
so I never need to fret when I want something quick and fresh!Roy G. Baker Food Prep Set from ModCloth

Roy G. Baker Food Prep Set from ModCloth

These are my amazing bowls by Chehoma Atelier d’Ambiances. They no longer carry them on Modcloth, but you can find retailers on the designer’s website.

 

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EATS: Keen-whaa?

Yessir that’s right – QUINOA!

It’s the food of the year – the protein – the grain – the everything nom!

QUINOA

But seriously though, it is pretty easy to incorporate into your meal

(or even base a meal around!)

It doesn’t satisfy as much a bean or meat product might, but it is surprisingly filling.

I have a recipe that can be tinkered with
(as in you can add your own spins on things)

RECIPE: QUINOA SALAD (hot or cold)

1 cup quinoa (red, white, or both – doesn’t matter)

2 cups broth (or water with bullion or just plain water if you have to)

1 cup corn (frozen – 1 ear if not – cut off)

1/2-1 diced red onion (just depends on how much you like)

2 handfuls baby spinach

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (however many you want really – or another nut would do, just not as good)

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

sprinkle of garlic powder

lots of pepper (*ground if you have it)

salt to taste

These ingredients are good enough – but if you have the rest they only add to the flavor (the cheese is recommended)

1/4 cup feta cheese or gorgonzola cheese

*if you like a little sweet add dried cranberries or raisins – but i prefer it without!

TO BEGIN:

1) Boil broth or water (for both quinoa and corn if using frozen corn)

2) Rinse quinoa in sieve and put into boiling broth

3) Turn to low and simmer until all water is absorbed (about 15-20mins)

4) While quinoa simmers – chop onion, toast pine nuts

*watch those pine nuts they burn so quickly – as soon as you smell popcorn, pull them out! =)

5) Whisk together red wine vinegar, oil, lemon juice, garlic powder and pepper

*you can add a tbsp of diced onion to this mixture if you like

6) place spinach, onion, pine nuts, and corn into desired serving bowl

7) once quinoa has absorbed all liquids – transfer to serving bowl on top of other ingredients

8) pour on vinaigrette dressing

9) add feta

10) mix all ingredients until spinach wilts *add more ground pepper if necessary

And there we have it!

If you need more dressing – just make another batch of the above recipe

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Variations would include substituting Parmesan cheese, tomatoes, chopped olives, scallions or other fresh vegetables.

Honestly, this is a very versatile dish and can have meat, beans, or any other veggie incorporated

The best part is – it’s easy and healthy!

let me know what you think or how you like your quinoa salad!