WIAW 8/24: Southwestern Quinoa Salad

Posted by Lauren

Time for another installment of Jenn‘s weekly What I Ate Wednesday!  WIAW is a great way to explore other blogs so definitely follow the link below for the complete WIAW round-up!

I started my morning off with the best tea concoction at Starbucks… China Tip green tea misto with sugar-free vanilla and nonfat milk. (Again, thank you for the suggestion Fran!)

My first sip was glorious. The last time I ordered this, something was off. Today’s barista hit the money spot though! And what better way to show thanks than to head to twitter?

p.s. Kyle: avert your eyes

I drank 1/2 on the way to work in the Vanpolio and refilled with hot water x10 throughout the rest of the day. I cannot get myself to drink plain water (plus, I worry about remnants of unexploded ordnance in our water supply at work), so green tea refills help keep me hydrated. The flavor isn’t as strong around 4 pm, but that’s okay :)

Look at that! It was actually SUNNY in Seaside when I got to work!

p.s. Miranda: I hope you LOL a little at the above picture… I wish you were still in the van and could keep a look out when I try awkward self-timer pictures!

Breakfast: oatmeal/oat bran with flax seed, chia seed, brown sugar, blueberries, and bananas (just expect something like this every M-F)

I <3 my Fuji apple!

Lunch was another version of yesterday’s southwestern quinoa salad. It’s my “lunch of the week.” In case you’re new to the blog through WIAW, every Sunday night I make a huge meal for lunch leftovers throughout the work week. Yesterday I ate the quinoa by itself, but today I mixed it up with a bed of spinach + balsamic vinaigrette.

I’m loving the bold flavors in the quinoa!!

My vansnack was a container of Oikos greek yogurt (click for a free coupon!!) with some PB2 mixed in for oomph!

After another Pure Barre class at 7 pm, I was more than ready for dinner!!

p.s. All of you: the more pure barre classes I attend, the more I fall in love with the workouts. I only have one left before my groupon expires. Sad!

Dinner was 1/2 of a spaghetti squash cooked to perfection a la Nicole’s directions. I topped it with Newman’s Own Sockarooni sauce, dried parsley, dried oregano, fresh ground pepper, and tahini! Tahini makes my world go round :)

It’s about time for that quinoa recipe, wouldn’t you say?

Southwestern Quinoa Salad

Spice things up with three types of pepper, perfectly cooked quinoa, and flavors of the Southwest in this easy, healthy summer salad that is as tasty cold as it is hot!

Serves: 4 – Prep Time: 5 minutes – Cook Time: 20 minutes

1 cup quinoa
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable broth
1 12 oz. bag frozen “steam in bag” sweet corn
1 can black beans, drained
1 anaheim chile pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 jalapeno pepper
1/2 white onion
1/2 cup salsa, your choice!
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Fresh cilantro

1. Follow Ashley’s instructions for perfectly cooked quinoa. I prefer to use a cup of water and a cup of vegetable broth instead of two cups of water.
2. Steam the sweet corn using the microwave instructions. If you want to cook fresh corn on the cob, go for it! This was a time saver, though.
3. While your quinoa cooks + corn steams, remove the seeds and chop the anaheim pepper, bell pepper, and jalapeno. Place into a skillet and let cook on medium-low heat until cooked to your liking.
4. Chop the white onion and toss with the lemon juice.
5. Once the quinoa (1) has fully cooked, add steamed corn (2), black beans (3), chopped peppers (4), lemon-coated onions (5), salsa (6), and stir (7) it up!
6. Finely chop cilantro and mix in to the quinoa, to taste.

Enjoy!

My lunches for the week are all packed up!

Question: The American Southwest includes Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada (debate still goes on if Texas, California, and Oklahoma should be included)… if you could travel to any of those states, which one would YOU choose?

In two weeks I’m going to Nevada (LAS VEGAS!!) with college friends, but if I had to pick somewhere other than Sin City, my list would include: the Grand Canyon, Tucson, Park City, Fort Collins, and a million of the national monuments down there…

Question: WYAW? What’d YOU eat Wednesday?

-Lauren