Toasted Quinoa Avocado Salad

Toasted Quinoa Avocado Salad

Posted by Brit

This is one of my absolute favorite quinoa recipes!  It is a fresh, healthy and full of flavor.  Quinoa (keen-wah) is a grain-like seed.  You can find it in either the health food section of your regular grocer, at many health food stores, and sometimes along with rice or other grains in your regular grocer.  Be sure to read the package to determine whether your quinoa has been pre-washed!  If so, you are good to start in on any recipe you desire, if not, dump the amount of quinoa you need into a wire mesh strainer and rinse thoroughly with room temp water.  Quinoa is naturally coated in a bitter substance to prevent things (birds) from eating it.

I got this recipe from one of my favorite food blogs, and adapted it a little for my taste.  Here is the original at Ezra Pound Cake.  You could easily go back to that one, or work from mine and add or subtract ingredients.  My main difference is that I add a can of black beans and a second avocado.

Toasted Quinoa Avocado Salad

Salad:
1.5 C. quinoa
1 Tablespoon. olive oil

1 C. fresh corn kernels (if corn is not in season: frozen sweet corn works great, don't use canned)
1 C. halved cherry tomatoes
1/2 C. sliced green onions (both white and green parts)
2 ripe avocados (should be a bit soft to the touch, if they are rock hard they will not work)
1/2 C. cilantro
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinse in mesh strainer until water runs clear

Lime Jalapeno Dressing:
3 teaspoons ground cumin
5 Tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1/2 C. fresh lime juice
1 T. finely chopped and seeded jalapeno (I always buy two, if the first one isn't hot enough I add part or all of the second)
3 garlic cloves shredded or finely minced
1 teaspoon coarse salt

Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in skillet, then add quinoa (either pre-rinsed in package or that you've already rinsed).  Continue to stir and let cook over medium heat until it is light/golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Bring two Cups of water to a boil in a sauce or soup pan.  Cook the toasted quinoa over medium-low (so that it's simmering) heat for about 20 minutes, or until you see the quinoa "uncoil".  At this point the quinoa will look translucent and will have tiny coils detaching from the middle.  After this, but cooked quinoa back in mesh strainer and run cold water over it for about a minute.  Then put quinoa into a large bowl (this will be your salad bowl) and let it continue to cool.

Add diced avocado, tomato, corn, black beans and onions to quinoa, but wait to mix together until dressing is complete.

Dressing: Sprinkle the cumin in a small skillet, and toast over medium heat, stirring, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. When the skillet is cool to the touch, add the oil, lime juice, jalapeño pepper, garlic and salt. Transfer to a small bowl, and whisk to blend.
 

Buy this if you can because it's amazing.  I was lucky and got it on super sale, but regular kosher salt or salt flakes will do!.

Put the blended dressing on top of salad, then mix salad together so everything is well distributed.   Cool in the fridge for at least half an hour before serving.  Flavors will develop more the longer the salad cools.

 Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Farewell Summer...

Farewell Summer...

Posted by Brit

So I only wrote once this summer... I am not always so good at this.

Summer has been great... I kicked off summer with two great trips to Colorado and Arizona and ended it with a trip to Florida where I met up with my dear friend Ashley.  Here are a few pics from that Labor Day Weekend trip, and then more pics from this summer will follow.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Washington Redskins pre season game.  8th Row up.

Daiquiri Deck

Beach Time. aka #hotdoglegs

Rain moved out and we moved in.

_________________

I drank a lot of these, gin and tonics.

Spent time with some Ezell crazies in Lawrence.

Drank gift beer from Oregon's Rogue Brewery

Spent more time at the Clements Stone Arch Bridge

View from atop the bridge.

One of my favorite bands, The Harmed Brothers, rolled through town. (Check them out by clicking the link!)

Somebody backed into my bumper at work.  My dad fixed it with a hammer and a 2 x 4.

I spent a lot of time with this guy.  He rolled hard all summer long.

Spent more time with this nut.

She made me take this pic.  Outside of Gaslight Gardens in Lawrence.

OMG.  Adorable.

This is one of six new friends I've gained by having awesome neighbors with free range chickens.

Our sunsets beat all sunsets.

Found this on the way to Hutchinson's Third Thursday event.

Super Class Showdown got super classy.

Made some crafty crafts.

I am in the beginning stages of putting together my new guest bedroom.

Also, here are a few good memories I recently came across from last summer.

Lauren, myself, Tia and Ezra watching Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy perform at McPherson's summer music series in the park.  Someone for the McPherson paper graciously sent me this photo when I requested it after seeing that the photo was used on the music series' promotional pictures for this year!

Watching the wiffle ball competition at the 2012 Farmageddon Festival

On our way home from Farmageddon Fest.

Winfield is coming up this week!! I can't wait.  And Tia and Landon are coming down!!

More soon...

Rural Kansas

Rural Kansas

Posted by Brit

I took a mini detour south off of highway 50 and found some really cool things.  For a long time I've wanted to drive through the tiny town of Cedar Point, KS.  It is on my route to and from Lawrence; it's about 15 miles east of Florence on Highway 50.  To the north of 50 on the side of the hill are some stones arranged to spell out Cedar Point, so it's always caught my eye.  I've always had a love for historical sites and thought there had to be some interesting stuff in this town of 28 people (according to Wikipedia).

A few miles further east on highway 50 is the unincorporated Clements.  As I slowed down thinking this was my turn off for Cedar Point I noticed a sign for the "Clements Stone Arch Bridge historical marker, 1886" and had to go ahead and turn off.   I got over the tracks and passed the few houses on the winding road that makes up Clements, and continued on into the countryside for about a mile.  On my right I saw another small sign and took the turn.  Wow!  This limestone bridge is amazing.  You could drive up to it, but no further as the road is now closed.  I parked and made my approach.  The bridge crossing the Cottonwood River was much bigger than I thought it would be.  Grass growing over the top; I doubt many make the stop to visit this wonder anymore.  The limestone bricks were so wide that even my clumsy self could climb aboard the edge over looking the river.  After some time with the local birds and deer I was back in the car and headed on to my next stop.   (To find out more about the Clements Stone Arch Bridge click here for it's application to the National Historical Register.)

Walk up approach to the Clements Stone Arch Bridge

Cottonwood River

At the entrance of Cedar Point you are greeted with the backside of the old mill.  I turned right on to main street and realized quickly that this little town is all but abandoned.  The post office is still operation, but not another single building on their main road was inhabited.  The homes that were still lived in were mostly well kept.  I circled around a few blocks and found the broken windowed old school, built in 1918.  I decided to continue heading south out of town instead of heading back north to highway 50.  I passed an old cemetery and stopped to take it all in.  Most of the headstones dated back to the 1800's with a few present from recent decades.  It was interesting to consider how this aging community has shifted, as have many rural Kansas small towns.  Currently the 18-24 demographic makes up exactly 0% of Cedar Point's population.  The majority of the town (60%) is over the age of 45, and the largest category is 65 and older.  The town's population continues to decline and the town becomes more and more desolate.  From here I continued south and west down windy, narrow roads some made of gravel some of dirt, grass and limestone.  I only encountered one other vehicle on my trek past ranches and pastures.  As I headed back north to meet up with highway 50 again I winded down a hill to another great bridge.  The Pratt through truss bridge also crosses the Cottonwood River.  I stopped and took some time with this bridge too, taking in more lush green vegetation all of this rain has provided us with.

Cedar Point School

Roads so narrow and desolate I considered the fact that I may be on private drive

Shell of an old limestone building

Pratt through truss bridge

I can't imagine a better morning, and only wished I would have had more than my iPhone camera.  I plan on taking Brandon on this little detour to do a little more exploration and will take it along next time. 

Grilled Chicken Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

Grilled Chicken Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

Posted by Brit

Tonight I threw together this enchilada casserole from scratch.  I love cooking Mexican food because it's so easy to just wing it.  I've been craving enchiladas for a while and I usually make spinach and cheese enchiladas, but this time wanted to try something different.  I came home to a boyfriend who had done practically ALL of our laundry (and trust me, that was quite a job because that's a chore that we've both neglected for a while), and so I thought I'd make him this easy dinner.  I didn't plan to blog this, but it was so good!  So, I only have one picture of the finished casserole.  I make it in an 8x8 dish, so basically just double it if you want to make a 9 x 13.  An 8 x 8 is the perfect size for soft taco size tortillas, and the perfect size for two (with some lunch time left overs for both of us the next day).  Instead of rolling tortillas with the filling I layer the ingredients like a casserole, which really cuts down on prep time.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, though it was more mild than I would have liked.  Next time I'll add more jalapeno or red chili pepper.

Grilled Chicken Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

5 Soft Taco Size Tortillas (I use Mama Lupe's 98% Fat Free tortillas)
1 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (a little more than 1/2 a pound)
1 Can (10 oz.) Green Enchilada Sauce  (next size up if you like 'em saucy)
1 Can (15 oz.) Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 Cup Frozen Corn, thawed
8 oz. All Natural Sour Cream
1.5 Cups Mexican Blend Cheese
1/2 a Large Yellow Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 Jalapeno
Seasoning for Chicken (I used Kosher Salt, Fresh Cracked Pepper, Garlic Powder and Red Chili Pepper Powder)


Rinse Chicken Breast, then drizzle olive oil and add seasoning, let sit to absorb flavor.  Heat Grill to a medium-high heat, and once hot grill the chicken thorough, but don't overcook.

While the chicken cooks, dice onion, garlic and finely dice jalapeno and saute in olive oil until onion until onion is browned and tender.  I usually dice onion and throw it in, and then dice the rest of my ingredients.  When done, throw veggies into medium sized mixing bowl.  Along with your thawed corn.

Preheat oven to 350.

Place chicken on cutting board and using two forks, one to hold the chicken in place and one to "tear" it, and shred chicken, tossing it into your mixing bowl as you shred.

Add sour cream, half of your cheese and a quarter of your can of enchilada sauce to the bowl and mix with a rubber spatula until combined.  This will be your filling.

Spray your casserole dish lightly with cooking spray and spread a little enchilada sauce in the bottom of the dish.  Place a tortilla on top, add more sauce and sprinkle with cheese, and then add about 1/4 of your filling mixture and spread on tortilla.  Continue layering your sauce, cheese, tortillas and filling; your final layer should be a tortilla with the remainder of your sauce, and more cheese on top. 

Bake for 30-40 minutes until enchiladas are bubbling, then broil for a few minutes to brown up cheese and make the top layer crispy.

Enjoy!

Spring Travels

Spring Travels

Posted by Brit

What a month!  I feel like I haven't been home most of May, but I've had the opportunity to spend time with lots of cool people this month.  Over Mother's Day weekend my mom and I took a trip to Colorado Springs to see our Aunt Pat and stay with her for a long weekend.  On Friday we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and on Saturday we went to the Denver Botanical Gardens where we got to meet up with Brandon's sis, Andrea!  I had a great time visiting my aunt; we ate really great food and had good conversation.

Mom and Aunt Pat

My new favorite animal, the Okapi, from Africa.  It's closest relative is the giraffe; you can see they have similar shaped heads.

The masked bear

The wallabys get to roam free, except they mostly just lounge in the sun.

View from the Zoo - You can see for miles

Daffodils in bloom at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

The zoo has a very open outdoor area for elephants, but also has a large indoor care facility to bathe and take care of sick elephants.

Tulips at the Denver Botanical Gardens

Andrea and I

An atrium I wouldn't mind having...

Mom and I

Aunt Pat and her friend, Jen

For Memorial Day weekend I was off to Phoenix.  Andrea lives in Denver now, but used to live down there.  We stayed at her friends Kel and Drew's place.  It was definitely a go-go-go weekend, but I had such a good time with Andrea and all of her friends that I got to meet.  We went down to Tuscon for brunch on Saturday, and except for some brief problems with my sinuses due to the dry Arizona air, it was another great day.  On Sunday we had a party at Kel and Drew's; we cooked up food, played yard games, and hung out all night.

Mimosas in Tuscon

Kel and Drew's backyard, Tiki Bar included!

(Stolen from Andrea) Jen, myself and Andrea

My friend, Anna, and I went to visit the Keeper of the Plains in Wichita during her last week in the states.  Despite being a Wichita native, I've never been down to the actual statue.  It was a gorgeous night and several people gathered to watch the lighting of the flames surrounding the statue.

Now I'm back home.  Brandon and I made a last minute quick trip to Lawrence on Friday and came back yesterday.  He had a tournament, and I got to hang with my grandma and Tia.  My grandma and I went to my grandfather's grave site.  This was the first time I got to see his recently finished headstone.  I got teary-eyed as we stood there, but soon smiled with memories of such a great man.  Couldn't ask for more.

Disc golf gallery

Brandon nails a putt

Tia obsesses with Instagram

Drinks at Gaslight Gardens!