Happy New Year to all who follow this blog. With the New Year come all our New Year resolutions and mine is going to be moderation and balance in my life.
Moderation basically means enjoy all foods but in limited amounts and be mindful of what you are eating, so that you are aware of why and when you indulge. Same with exercise, do something you enjoy and what you can sustain long term in moderation.
Balance is understanding that if you did indulge at breakfast, balance it out by eating something healthy at lunch or if you did not go for your regular work out at the gym, then do a 10-15 min workout at home, or increase your daily steps.
So now that the holidays are over and I ate out nearly every single day, I need to balance it by cooking at home for the next few days. I wanted to concentrate on plant proteins, so I decided to make a quinoa stir fry as quinoa is a great source of protein. I added some eggs to bump up the protein since I was not adding meat.
1 cup of quinoa has approximately 8 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, it has 2.76 mg of iron and 118mg of magnesium. Total calories if cooked in water is approximately 200. Quinoa may help regulate blood glucose and total blood cholesterol levels.
I added corn, peas, carrots, onions and celery. You can add any vegetables you want for color, fiber and lots of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Stir Fry Quinoa
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups vegetable stock or water
- 1/4 cup chopped onion, carrots and celery
- 1/2 cup thawed peas
- 1/2 cup thawed corn
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- 2 eggs beaten
- 2-3 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 chopped green chillie
- salt, pepper, lemon juice and chillie flakes to your preference
Method
To make life easier, I bought the onions, carrots and celery pre chopped from Trader Joe’s, its called, Trader Joe’s Mirepoix. Total time saver!!!
Rinse the quinoa in cold water and make according to directions. I used vegetable stock to make mine instead of water. Once the quinoa is cooked, empty into a long dish and put it to cool in the fridge.
In a large wok, add 2-3 tablespoon olive oil, once heated add the chopped onions, carrots and celery, sauté for 2 minutes then add the garlic, ginger, salt, pepper and sauté for another 2 minutes till the onions and carrots are soft but not mush. Add the cooled quinoa, peas and corn to the pan.
- Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil and chilli flakes and add to the pan.Mix everything well, but be careful of the quinoa sticking to the pan. Once everything is mixed, make a well in the center of the quinoa and pour the beaten eggs and scramble them with the wooden spoon. Toss everything together and add cilantro and green chillies and lemon juice for a kick.
I served the stir fry with a spinach salad and my whole family enjoyed the healthy dinner. I hope you enjoy it too.
I ate the leftovers for lunch today! My pics are not the best, maybe something I can start working on!!!!
