Sweet Potato Quinoa with Thai Chili Dressing

Hello! I have a new recipe to share with you guys today.

Sweet Potato Quinoa with Thai Chili Dressing

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the salad:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch discs
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 2 ears of corn
• Half a red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Cooking spray

For the dressing:

• 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp thai chili paste
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F, and turn the grill on to medium heat.
2. Add the quinoa to 2 cups of water in a pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes or until done.
3. In bowl, toss the cut up sweet potatoes in the tbsp of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and then spread on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking oil. Cook for 20 minutes or until fork tender.
4. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, grill the ears of corn until fork tender, turning the corn to char on each side. In total, this should take around 8 minutes. You can cook the corn however you want (stove top or in the oven), but we chose to grill.
5. In a small bowl, mix all the salad dressing ingredients together. You could also do this step in a mason jar and shake well.
6. Once the quinoa, sweet potatoes, and corn are all done, combine in a large bowl with the pepper, red onion, and parsley, then season with salt and pepper.
7. Toss with the dressing, and enjoy!

For a cold salad, the warmth of the thai chili paste in this meal comes through pretty prominently without being too spicy. This is definitely a fresh salad thanks to the parsley and pepper, but you still get a nice hearty feel through the sweet potatoes as well.

It’s perfect for a packed lunch during the rainy week we’re having here in Boston. Plus, FIVE of these ingredients are from our CSA. Go us!

–Let’s chat–
Do you ever cook with thai chili paste? What have you been eating for lunch this week? Is it raining where you are?

P.S. Wondering how to have a healthier Halloween? Head on over to the Fitfluential site to read some tips written by yours truly. It’s a fun one. 🙂

Summer 2014 CSA: Weeks 8 and On

At one point I was posting about our summer CSA experience pretty regularly.

• Wellness At Work: Community Supported Agriculture
• Summer 2014 CSA: Week 1
• Summer 2014 CSA: Week 2
• Summer 2014 CSA: Week 3
• Summer 2014 CSA: Weeks 4 & 5
• Summer 2014 CSA: Weeks 6 & 7

Since I kind of fell off the bandwagon with keeping you guys up to date on our CSA creations, today’s post is basically going to be a photo dump of CSA meals from week 8 through the end.

Random week’s stash:

Steak and veggie wraps:

Green bean and tomato quinoa salad:

Salmon with veggies on the side:

Another random week’s stash:

Grilled eggplant and chickpea salad:

Grilled peach and cherry salad with salmon, corn, and goat cheese:

Quinoa, kale, and beet salad:

Heirloom tomato pizza with corn, greens, and pesto:

Farro and veggie stuffed pattypan squash:

Lamb stuffed eggplant rollatini:

Heirloom tomato caprese salad:

Grilled shrimp nicoise salad:

Fish lettuce wraps with cabbage and carrot slaw:

Veggie and turkey kabobs with corn on the cob:

Barley and veggie salad:

Steak and potatoes with greens:

Swiss chard pizza:

Obviously this wasn’t everything, but I wanted to delete all these pictures off my phone get caught up. We signed up for a fall share with the same farm that we partner with at work, but this time around we cut back to a small share because we were getting a TON of produce. I’ll continue to share our experience, meals, and tips with you guys!

–Let’s chat–
Did you participate in a summer CSA program? If so, how did you like it? Are you doing one in the fall? What are some fun foodie creations you’ve made recently?

If you guys have any recipe requests based on the pictures from this post, let me know!

Vegetarian Lunchtime Cabbage Stir Fry

Two ingredients that just keep coming our way in our CSA are cabbage and peppers. There is definitely no shortage of these veggies this season! I think cabbage is definitely one of the most challenging CSA ingredients to use creatively. We’re really good at making different slaws or shredding the cabbage for salads, but really there’s only so much slaw a girl can eat. This weekend, we wanted to try something new with the cabbage, and we threw together this cabbage stir fry for lunch.

Vegetarian Lunchtime Cabbage Stir Fry

Serves 4-5

Ingredients

• 1 small cabbage or 1/2 a head of a large cabbage, shredded
• 1 pound bell peppers, chopped (about 4)
• 6 celery sticks, diced
• 1 small yellow onion, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp white wine
• 1 cup farro
• 1/2 tbsp crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp ground ginger (we used dried, not fresh)
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Cook farro per package directions. Feel free to substitute a vegetable broth to add extra flavor instead of just cooking it in water.
2. Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic, and cook for an additional minute.
3. Add the chopped peppers along with the crushed red pepper, ginger, turmeric, and salt and pepper. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the celery, and cook for another 2 minutes while stirring occasionally.
4. Add the cabbage along with the splash of white wine and cooked farro. Stir everything in the pan until the cabbage starts to wilt. Remove from the heat, let sit for 3-5 minutes, and enjoy!

There’s no real reason that I’m calling this a lunchtime stir fry other than that I’ve eaten this for lunch for the past couple of days. I find that most stir fry meals taste better straight from the stove top to plate, but I thought this dish was tasty served both hot and cold. The stir fry isn’t only about the cabbage, because it has enough other different competing flavors with the spices used and other ingredients. The peppers and celery really highlight the cabbage with a nice crunch, and the farro provides some added texture. Overall, this was a really clean tasting meal! Perfect for detoxing after an indulgent weekend.

–Let’s chat–
If you participate in a CSA program, what items do you repeatedly receive in your shares? Besides for slaw, how do you like to use up cabbage? Do you like stir fries better hot or cold?

Catch you guys later!