Once the weather starts to warm up, we, like most probably, adjust how we eat. Our thoughts turn to the light and fresh and we move further away from the rich and heavy. Of course, this doesn’t mean we are any less time or energy constrained than at other times of the year – and lighter and fresher doesn’t necessarily mean quicker! Sure a bag of salad, some dressing, some protein is easy – but I can’t eat that way every night, especially as this is what often passes for lunch. So my compromise the other night was a warm salad – warm as in ‘not cooled off yet’ really. I put 3 cups of quinoa and 6 cups of water in the rice cooker while I was thinking about what I might do and by the time it was finished, I had a plan….I divided the quinoa into two bowls (since there was so much!) and gave both a toss with extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. (Key cooking tip - things like grains, beans, legumes, potatoes etc. absorb flavours much better when they are warm.) Into each bowl went a generous handful of chopped sundried tomatoes and a drizzle of the oil they were soaking in.
I added to the first bowl shredded courgette that had been sautéed in olive oil and garlic, steamed french beans (chopped into thirds), some chopped fresh green onion and a handful of chopped toasted hazelnuts. I used two medium sized courgettes – courgette is always a favourite vegetable for us. This was an excellent accompaniment to some very thin pan fried turkey breast steaks (seasoned with Zatarain’s Creole Seasoning for a bit of kick) and dash of moisture from a quick deglaze of the pan with some white wine. Even better (almost) was having this for lunch the next with a big dollop of soy yoghurt and a bit of extra oil and vinegar.
The contents of the second bowl went into the freezer. A week later it turned into a very similar meal – without the courgettes this time. This time I took turkey breast chunks and sautéed them with onion, garlic and olive oil, tossed them with the defrosted (and warm from the microwave) quinoa with some chopped green onion, more hazelnuts and a dollop of soy yoghurt. And again, there was enough left for a yummy lunch with some additional yoghurt and handful of sunflower seeds.
