To make dinner tonight, I pulled the most colorful things I could find out of my refrigerator: red cabbage, a corn cob, and a green pepper. Color is one of the best indicators of healthy foods. Think of some of the healthiest foods you know of: fruits, vegetables, grains, salmon. Now think of more unhealthy foods - anything you'd pull out of a bag from McDonalds. Pretty brown and dull, yeah?
When plants are growing in the dirt, they need to protect themselves from insects, fungi, bacteria, and animals. To do so, they produce chemicals called "phytochemicals" (plant chemicals). There are estimated to be more than 5,000-10,000 phytochemicals, most of which we haven't discovered yet. Phytochemicals are the reason for plants' colors and odors. When we eat phytochemicals, our cells benefit from the same antioxidant protection they offer the plants! Moral of the story: follow your nose and eyes to bright, smelly foods!
Sooooo here it is... Husky quinoa. So named for it's purple-and-gold color. This recipe isn't anything especially pretty, but it is quite tasty. Especially for an experiment!
1. Boil 1c of rinsed and drained quinoa in 2c water until all the water is absorbed, much like rice. At the same time, boil one stalk of corn in a large pot of water. Once the water has been boiling for 1-2 minutes, turn off the stove and let the corn sit in the hot water.
2. Mince 1-2 cloves garlic and 1/2 an onion, and saute' in olive oil.
3. Add bite-sized pieces of 1 green pepper.
4. Cut the cooked corn off the cob into the green pepper mixture.
5. Add 3/4 of a head of red cabbage (that's all that fit in my pan), 1/4 cup water, and cover the pan until the cabbage softens.
6. Add salt and pepper to both the quinoa and the veggie mixture. Add an additional ~1 tsp ginger to the quinoa.
7. Once the cabbage/pepper/corn mixture is soft, mix 1/2 cup with 1/2 cup of the quinoa.
Om Nom Nom!
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