Southwest Quinoa Salad

I'm on a Quinoa kick right now and love to find new ways to eat it.  That little powerhouse grain is so good for you.  Here's a quick and yummy recipe that I love, and wanted to share.

 Southwest Quinoa Salad

In  bowl combine:
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained
1/2 can black olives sliced
1 cup cilantro chopped
2 avocados diced
1 bell pepper, color of your choice, diced
1 small can green chiles
1 bunch green onions chopped
1 cup grape tomatoes sliced
1/2  purple onion chopped
Toss to combine.

 Cook 1 cup quinoa as directed on package.



I served mine with a drizzle of Cafe Rio Tomatillo Dressing.  Here's how.


Cafe Rio Dressing

1 small buttermilk Ranch Dressing package-prepared as directed
2 tomatillos, peeled and washed, and cut into quarters
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno (optional) use the seeds if you want it spicy.
Blend well in a food processor or blender.  Chill and serve.

You can toss the all 3 ingredients or just layer on the plate and serve.

So good and yummy!

Artisian Cheezy Bread Sticks

I am so loving Artisian Breads right now.  Super easy!  Super yummy!

The latest is a Savory Brioche dough that is made into Cheezy Bread Sticks.  Heavenly!

I even snuck in some cooked Quinoa to increase the healthy factor.  No one knew except me and they were gobbled all up!  Hooray for sneaky nutrition! So here's the how to:

Savory Brioche

In a container that has a sealable lid combine the following:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 Tbsp yeast

1 - 1 1 /2 Tbsp kosher salt

6 eggs lightly beaten

1 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

6 1/2 cups flour

1 cup cooked quinoa (optional)

Mix until just combined in container with wooden spoon.

 It shouldn't have any dry patches, but don't work too hard.  Just enough to combine the ingredients.

At this point you can use this dough right away, but I'm going to let it rise for a few hours.

 Cover the container with it's lid but don't seal.

 After about 2 hours, seal the lid and put container in the fridge until ready to use.

 When ready, pull out about a 1 lb section of dough.  This batch made 3 - 1 lb pieces.  Roll out on floured surface.  I put mine on parchment to save on clean up.  Roll out to a rectangle or as close as you can.  Mine's kind of oval-ish.

Brush top with olive oil then sprinkle with Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Press cheese into dough.  Flip the dough over and repeat oil and cheese.  Cut with pizza cutter into strips.

 Twist each piece to make sticks.

 Cover with plastic wrap while you pre-heat the oven.  About 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

I baked mine on my pizza stone.  You could also use a cookie sheet, adjust cooking times as needed.

 Bake for 20 minutes, Turn breadsticks over and bake for another 5 minutes.
You could brush with melted butter again if you want, but they can stand on their own.

Let cool slightly and serve.

Light. Flaky. Perfect!

Sneaky Pizza Night

My family loves homemade pizza. They would have it every day if I'd allow it.

So since we have this often, not every day mind you, but often, I needed to make it a little more healthy so I have some secret weapons to increase the nutrition.

First is Bob's 10 Grain Cereal.

I make a batch of this at the beginning of the week. I add it to my bread, or eat it for breakfast. When I cook it up, I add Quinoa.

Quinoa is pronounced Keen-Wa. I'm not sure where that pronounciation came from but there you go. It is the most healthy grain in my opinion. It is a complete protein. No other grain can make that claim. It also adds a nutty flavor to your foods.

So good!

Next is my Garlic Powder. A must for pizza.

So here's the recipe:

Sneaky Pizza

Makes 2 large pizzas, or 2 medium pizzas and 2 bread sticks.

In your mixer combine the following, layering the ingredients:

2 1/2 cups warm water

3 Tbsp honey or sugar

1 1/2 cups cooked grain cereal or oatmeal

3 cups flour

2 Tbsp yeast

Mix well. It will be runny. Cover and let sit to "sponge" for 10-15 minutes. Then pulse to release air.

Next add the following:

4 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup flour to separate sponge from salt.

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

(Feel free to adjust salt and garlic powder amounts to your taste. I have also used sea salt or kosher salt in place of the iodized table salt with excellent results.)

Mix adding flour until dough cleans the sides of the bowl. Add about 1/4-1/2 cup more flour. Knead for 10-15 minutes.

Separate dough into 1 3/4 to 2 lb size balls onto floured surface. Let rest for 5-10 minutes.

After it's done resting, you can shape your pizzas. It's great for the kids to help.

Be sure to add flour as needed to keep it from being too sticky.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Next get out your parchment paper. Sprinkle semolina flour on parchment to keep pizza from sticking.

Assemble your ingredients. We recently discovered how good real bacon is on pizza. It was an accident because I forgot I didn't have any Canadian Bacon.

I must say, Real Bacon is much better!Roll out your dough and cut with a pizza cutter to make breadsticks.This batch I added a little cheese.

Bake for 8-9 minutes. I bake mine on my Pizza Stone. If you don't have one you can put the parchment directly on the wire rack in your oven. When the breadsticks are done, brush with Olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt.

Top your pizzas with sauce, cheese, and your favorite toppings.

After baking, let cool slightly to make cutting easier.

Enjoy!

PS. You can use this dough to make pizza roll-ups or calzones. I've done both and they are super yummy!