Quinoa With Black Beans...Guest Post from Skinny Ms.

Two weeks ago, I received an email from Skinny Ms. They wanted me to submit a healthy, clean recipe for posting in their website.
I send them my Sweet Potato Hummus recipe. It has been published last week and got nice reviews from readers. So exciting!!

Also, I received, from Skinny Ms, this nice recipe Quinoa with black Beans as guest post to publish in my blog. It’s a nice, simple and healthy dish. Please check out their website, and enjoy their skinny recipes!!

 

Skinny Ms. is devoted to providing information and tools that empower one to make choices conducive to living a healthy lifestyle. SkinnyMs.

Are you crunched for time, on a tight budget or just starving for healthy meal ideas? You will find delicious, healthy choices for you and your family at SkinnyMs.com.  Skinny Ms. offers recipes made with natural, whole food ingredients.  At Skinny Ms., we are devoted to providing information and tools that empower one to make choices beneficial to living a healthy lifestyle.   For our latest recipes, join us on Facebook.

If you are a quinoa hold out but love Mexican food, this dish will convince to make quinoa a regular part of your dinner menu. Skinny Quinoa with Black Beans is gluten free and vegetarian friendly.

Skinny Quinoa with Black Beans

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup quinoa (uncooked), rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Kosher or sea salt to taste
• 1 (4.5 ounce) can diced green chiles
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro
• 1 3/4 cup vegetable broth, low sodium

Directions

In a large skillet add olive oil, turn to medium-low heat and sauté diced onions until tender, about 4 minutes, add garlic and sauté one additional minute. Add the remaining ingredients in the order listed above. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a low boil and cook 15-20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and allow it to sit 5 minutes covered before serving. Fluff quinoa with a large spoon and serve.

Nutritional Data

Serving size: 1 cup | Calories: 201 | Total Fat: 4 g | Saturated Fats: 0 g | Trans Fats: 0 g | Cholesterol: 0 mg |Sodium: 204 mg | Carbohydrates: 33 g | Dietary fiber: 7 g | Sugars: 3 g | Protein: 7 g

Curried Quinoa Cauliflower Salad

I actually don’t have much to say about this recipe. I just made it from leftovers, roasted cauliflower and cooked quinoa, I had in my fridge.

Also I always keep cooked chicken in my freezer. So I was going to make a big salad by adding tomatoes and avocado, but then I remembered that I have a nice curry powder, I bought from Farmer’s market back in Vancouver (during our holiday).

I always wanted to make Curry dressing, so I decided to mix curry, vinegar and olive oil. It combined perfectly with quinoa and cauliflower. So let’s get sharing, shall we?

Crunchy Lemon Zest Chicken

Crunchy Lemon Chicken is a great summer dish. Lemon zest is the key in this recipe and it gives a nice kick to this chicken breast!!

For a buttery taste, I used no more that a tablespoon…so we’re staying on the skinny side :-) 

Also I used saltine crackers which are 50 calories and 1% fat per 5 crackers… not too bad!!

This chicken breast turned out crunchy from the outside and tender from the inside. I served it with hush brown potatoes, my husband's favorite. 

Ground Beef Feta inspired Turkish “Gozleme”

Every year, we like to attend different festivals in Calgary. We especially never miss the Turkish Festival in July. Nice music and great food.


Source:http://www.calgaryturkishfestival.com/

My daughter enjoys traditional Turkish food; Beef, lamb and sausage (Sujuk) sandwiches. We order one sandwich of each and then we share. So delicious!! For dessert, her favourite is Baklava.



We also had Lamb Gozleme; it is a traditional Turkish hand made fresh pastry, filled and sealed then cooked. 

Source:http://www.calgaryturkishfestival.com/

Of course I couldn’t wait to make a skinny version at home. So instead of using flour dough, I chose whole wheat tortilla, and I did substitute extra lean ground beef for lamb. For the spices, I went for Zaatar since it goes perfectly with meat and feta cheese. Also I added some mozzarella cheese to hold the filling together.

So as you can see it’s not the traditional Turkish Gozleme, looks more like a quesadilla...I just got inspired!!

Moroccan Tortilla -Omelette de Patate- with Pineapple Salsa

This is the Moroccan version of the Spanish Tortillas. In Morocco, we make it with fried potato, but not as crispy as French fries. Also spices are different; we use paprika and cumin.

To make it skinny, I boiled the potatoes and then sautéed them in a tbsp of olive oil until golden and crisp.

Moroccan Tortillas taste great weather served warm, cool, or at room temperature. During summer time, we used to make tortilla sandwiches, my brother, sister and I. Tortilla wedges into French baguette (Parisienne) with lots of hot sauce (harissa). That was our standard lunch when going to the beach. And on our way back home, we finish up with left over…so many memories!!

Summer Pasta with Zucchini, Colourful Peppers and Tuna

I am sharing with you my favourite, under 30 minutes, lunch. Whenever I’m in a hurry and don’t want to mess up with my eating, I would make this dish; It’s clean, delicious and great for using up the vegetables in your fridge; I had some small colourful peppers and two of the zucchini. And who doesn't have tuna or pasta in his pantry.

 

Garlic Zucchini Patties

If you have any extra zucchini, waiting in your fridge for a recipe, these patties are an excellent way to use them up. Make the batter with 1 egg, flour and baking powder. Add onion, parsley and garlic for flavours and then grated zucchini. Quick, skinny and delicious patties for a light summer meal!!

My Pad Thai Shrimp…Easy, Fresh and delicious

I’ve been craving Pad Thai Shrimp for days, but didn’t want to have it from outside. I know it tastes awesome in some restaurants, or even food courts. But I also know it’s loaded with fat and sugar.

So I decided to make my own healthy version, with less fat and better sweetener. I chose granulated palm sugar Sucanat over white sugar because it has that caramelly more fragrant flavour and not just sweetness.

Tamarind paste is a new ingredient to me; I don’t have it and I don’t know how to cook with it. It is said that it has a sour flavour, so I looked for a substitute. From my research, I found out that the best sub is Worcestershire or lime jus.

I also added mushroom, only because I had some in my fridge waiting to go.

My Pad Thai Shrimp turned out delicious, fresh with a light touch of sweetness; not sticky or over sweet like the prepared ones. I am so happy with my version of Pad Thai, and what's more important to me, my husband agrees with that…Yey!!!

Mussels Tagine à la Marocaine

This is one of those great one pot dishes; so quick and easy to make. You start with the sauce called Chermoula, by combining tomatoes, garlic, parsley, cumin and paprika. To that you add mussels without shell.
It’s a simple yet delicious sauce that can be used with all sorts of fish.

Spaghetti with Mushroom Pesto

Basil, garlic, nuts and cheese…yes it is Pesto, the classic Italian summer sauce.  When you add sautéed mushrooms and onions to this sauce, you insure concentrated flavours that are earthy and nutty.

The funny part about this dish is that you can hide mushroom into the sauce for non-mushroom lovers; my daughter cleaned up her plate and loved it.

Chicken Tagine with Artichoke Hearts and Peas

To recognize the wonderful work that teachers do every day helping children, my daughter’s school is organizing, today, Teachers Appreciation Lunch. Parents are volunteering by making, each, a dish for this lunch.

I prepared a Moroccan dish Chicken Tagine with Artichoke and Peas. I made it skinnier using chicken breast, artichoke and peas. Also I made Moroccan whole wheat Bread to go with it. Here is the recipe…

Moroccan Potato Patties-Maakouda

These potato patties, called Maakooda back home in Morocco, are famous as street food. For this easy and skinny version, I used boiled potatoes, sauteed onion and garlic, cumin, turmeric and olive oil. 

Originally, Maakouda is dip fried. I tried to make it healthier and low fat. I hope you like it!

Serve these Moroccan patties (Maakouda) warm as a side dish or as a filler in sandwiches.

Baked Sweet Potato & Roasted Peppers Inspired Poutine

Canadian speciality Poutine inspired me to create this dish. Crispy oven-fried sweet potatoes topped with roasted pepper and tomato “a la Marocaine”, seasoned with cumin, paprika and parsley. For some protein, I served it with a sunny side-up egg on top; you crack the egg with your fork and use the runny yolk as gravy.

It’s a special feeling when you get to create new recipes and enjoy your food.

Stuffed Aubergines

Stuffed Aubergines or eggplants is an all time favourite. It is a unique blend of ingredients: Ground beef or lamb, onion, garlic, mushroom, parsley, olive oil and cumin for a distinct flavour.

Today, I would like to share with you my mother in law's Skinny Stuffed Eggplants (Aubergines Farcies). It’s one of her ‘back up clean recipes’ when she wants to peel off some extra weight.

Skinny Fish & Corn Chowder

The sweetness of corn combines with russet potato and white fish in this low fat chowder full of flavour and nutrition.

Skinny Chickpea Patties-Falafel

Only few ingredients-Chickpeas, onion, garlic, parsley, cumin and Tahini- for a delicious and flavourful, low fat Chickpeas Patties-Falafel. Easy to make and taste great served with Yogurt sauce.

Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower - Moroccan Spices

I was looking for some skinny snacks ideas and I came across Roasted Cauliflower recipe. I liked the idea. So I decided to try it with Moroccan spices.

Actually, Turmeric, ginger, garlic powder and lemon are used to make “Cauliflower with Lamb Tagine” and it does work  perfectly with Roasted Cauliflower.

As you can see in my photo, I also tried some florets with Lemon Pepper seasonning mix and olive oil. Really you can try any spice: Thai, curry, soy sauce…etc.

Crabmeat Stuffed Potatoes

When I baked these potatoes, I was thinking of some garlic/olive oil/cheese spread. Then I taught I should use the crabmeat leftover  I had from another recipe. I added some cottage cheese (less calories & fat) and these Stuffed Baked Potatoes turned out so flavorful.

My tip for you. You can cook in advance the potatoes. Just wrap them in alumium foil and place them in a slow cooker, on high for 4 hours. Then follow the recipe for the stuffing.

Caramelized Peppers Brie Pizza

It is a melt-in-your-mouth Pizza; Crispness from the tortilla wrap crust, touch of sweetness from caramelized peppers and creaminess from the Brie.

Grilled Portobello Mushroom & Asparagus Sandwich

Skinny way to make the famous "Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwich". I used only few ingredients for lots of flavours; you can taste the mushroom, the asparagus and the tanginess of moutarde a l'ancienne.

For a quick and easy lunch sandwich, I use my panini grill. You can use the outdoor grill or the oven broiler.