Avocado Salad with Quinoa

Quinoa is all the rage these days, and no wonder - according to HuffPo, it is high in protein, low in calories, and gluten free. It's also kind of expensive, I bought 1.5lbs for $17. I think you could get a metric ton of rice for $17. But apart from all the health benefits, it just tastes really yummy - and I find it is easier to cook than rice. Plus rice doesn't go well in a cold salad.

Anyway, SO found this and emailed me the recipe. "So what are we having with the salad?" I asked. "It will be hearty, we don't need anything else" she responded. Hmmm, we'll see about that. It took surprisingly long to prepare, but it was just chopping cooking the quinoa. I mixed all the ingredients together while I stuck the pot of quinoa in the garage to cool down. Looks good already!

The salad, before adding the quinoa. Looks colourful and tasty!

I was impatient, it was 6pm and the quinoa was taking forever to cool down even in a -10 degrees garage. I transfered it to a bowl and stirred it a few times, finally got it to luke warm temperature. So I got a bed of spinach down on the plates, sliced some lemon, got the sprigs of parsley out, and then mixed the quinoa. Just for effect, packed it in a bowl to shape it like they did in the recipe. And WOW was it delish! I think SSO hated it as much as we liked it. Well, he's nine so what do you expect.

Avocado Salad with Quinoa

Next Time: nothing

Me: 10/10
SO: 10/10
SSO: 1/10

Pan-fried salmon with chickpea salad

There are lots of reasons why I really like this recipe - salmon is so delish, the whole thing is done in 15 minutes flat, and it is super healthy. There is nothing unhealthy about it. I think we came across this (or something like this) in a Weight Watchers book, but darned if I can find it again. In any case, it is something we go back to every once in a while and once we do, we wonder why we don't have it more often.

Pan-fried Salmon with Chickpea salad

A lot of people are not crazy about chickpeas, but they are low in fat and high in fiber. Add a bit of curry powder and you have a spicy and good for you salad.
Some crazy facts:

• India of course produces by far the most, but second place in production is....Australia
• Hummous, the middle-eastern staple, is actually the Arabic word for Chickpea, and is not just the name of the dip made with tahini
• The chickpea was cultivated as early as 7500 years ago!
• Other names you may recognize are Garbanzo beans, and channa (from the Indian buffet table)

Next Time: may try switching up the ingredients of the salad

Me: 8/10

SO: 10/10

SSO: 4/10

Lemon Chicken Drumsticks with Fennel Slaw and Roasted Lemon Potatoes

Lemon  is definitely the theme of the meal this time. Unlike my other posted roasted chicken recipe however, this is a tad less "hit you over the head" lemony. It has lemon juice and zest, but that's it - no lemon slices in the oven.  The chicken part of the meal was adapted from a recipe calling it "Mediterranean Chicken", but I think that is not right at all (just because it has oregano and garlic?). Sheesh.

The Fennel Slaw is an idea from Chef Michael Smith. Wasn't the family's fav in the end, but I liked it. Any excuse to get the mandolin out.  But not just that, it is so fresh tasting and fennel isn't your everyday veg. As for the potatoes, well we roast potatoes probably once a week - but in different styles. Instead of the usual "throw on some kind of spice mix", we tossed the potato wedges in the remains of a bottle of Farm Boy lemon-garlic salad dressing. These dressings are pretty awesome. Checking the label, there is no added sugar or weird preservatives - just lemon, garlic, oil, salt & pepper.

Lemon Chicken Drumsticks with Fennel Slaw and Roasted Lemon Potatoes.
I almost forgot to take a photo before I ate it all, hence the tiny amount of everything on the plate.

This turned out to be perfect for a Sunday family meal. Was really super easy, very little muss and fuss.  Preparing the slaw ahead of time is actually better, the flavours marinate better. And plus, the chicken and potatoes can go in the oven at the same time at the same temp.

Next Time: would maybe try a bit longer at a bit lower temp

Me: 8/10
SO: 7/10
SSO: 4/10