I've tried to do the salad thing. And the conclusion I have come to is that I LOVE salads in restaurants and HATE them at home. I can never get it right. So I have moved on... to quinoa.
Quinoa has become quite trendy. It's carried in large grocery stores and I quickly discovered it is much cheaper if you buy it from the bulk section. It is an incredible grain full of good things for you but I have often struggled with how to prepare it. Until now.
For now it is my solution to the lunch dilemma. I can make a big batch of it and it lasts all week. I can eat it alone or with left over meat from last nights dinner or if I am really motivated I can cook up a salmon steak to have with it.
Here is the recipe. Check out how simple it looks:
Rinse one cup of quinoa with cold water (rinsing is really important)
Add one cup of rinsed quinoa to two cups of water.
Add 1 teaspoon cumin, 3/4 teaspoon coriander, a dash of salt and a dash of ground ginger.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low. Cook 10-15 minutes until all the water is absorbed.
Then you can mix in peas, spinach, carrot. Any vegetable you have on hand. You can eat it warm or cold. I store in the fridge and eat it for days.
The recipe really is simple. However here is how it went in my house today:
We had a wonderful playgroup this morning and luckily my cousin decided to stick around for a while afterwards. I decided a while ago that amongst family and friends I would try not worry about how my kitchen looked or feel ashamed if I needed to do some household chores while we were hanging out. I love having company but I also sometimes have to multitask.
Today I rinsed the quinoa while we were having an important, passionate conversation. I love easy recipes that don't take much brain work because I can do them while my mind is focused on something else. I got my daughter lunch and then rinsed the quinoa. Today she didn't reject lunch but was so hungry I needed to prepare second and third courses. I decided the quinoa could just wait because right or wrong I've learned that most of the time if I meet my toddlers needs first everything else just seems to go better.
Usually I just half-hazardly add spices to the pot with out measuring, but today I measured... some of it. I used 1 teaspoon of cumin and 3/4 teaspoon of coriander. I added a dash of sea salt and a dash of ginger.
To finish off her lunch my daughter ate yogurt with a spoon. Unlike yesterday, today she wanted to do it all on her own but that meant each bite ended with half in her mouth, half on her plate and a loud, impassioned "Oops" along with an insistence that it be wiped up. I was going back and forth between spices and wipes and am grateful it all made it into the pot and onto the burner. I brought it to a boil and reduced it to a simmer.
I then decided it would be a good idea to unload and reload the dishwasher. Why? I am not sure. Multi-tasking, over-achiever maybe? Or just the reality that there is a lot of stuff that needs to be done and not a lot of time when my daughter is preoccupied so I can do them. Luckily my cousin stepped in to help each time there was another delightful "Oops I made a mess" and I was close enough to the stove to keep checking on the quinoa since I had forgotten to set a timer as I often do.
The quinoa is done when you can fluff it with a fork and there is no water left. I then quickly heated some frozen peas in the microwave, mixed them in and it was done.
Best part was I had a sense of accomplishment. I cooked something healthy, my daughter ate a good lunch, I did the dishes and I had a great conversation. Some times it just works out this way. If only I could end all mornings feeling this accomplished! Since most days I feel a little crazed and not sure if I've accomplished much I am grateful for days like today.
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