Good morning! :)
So what was this fabulous dinner I was alluding to last night?
Let me show you…
Protein, grains, veggies…OH MY.
and healthy fats to boot!
This was one of my favourite dinners in a long time…
You simply cannot go wrong with caramelized sweet onions.
..
It totally had a Fresh Bowl feel to it which is always a good thing!
Hey chick!
Rocking the bird food.
1 cup of quinoa has over 8 grams of protein and 5 grams of fibre…you wouldn’t expect that for such a light and airy grain!
Protein Power Bowl
Adapted from the always fabulous 101 Cookbooks.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups uncooked quinoa + 4 cups water 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups chickpeas, canned
- 1 large sweet yellow onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 cup sunflower seeds, toasted if preferred
- 2 cups asparagus, cut into 1/2-inch segments
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds per bowl
- 1/4 cup Better Than Bottled Balsamic Vinaigrette, to taste
- Black pepper and sea salt, to taste
Directions: Cook 2 cups quinoa in 4 cups of water in a medium sized pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes. While this is cooking you can sauté the chopped onion and minced garlic in a lightly oiled pan on medium heat. After a few minutes, add the chopped asparagus to the onion mixture and cook for another 5 minutes or so, or until lightly browned. Fluff cooked quinoa and pour on some Better Than Bottled Balsamic Vinaigrette– use as much or as little as you want. I probably used about 1/4 cup to lightly toss the quinoa and then I used a bit more of the dressing to pour over top of the bowl when I was ready to eat. Scoop quinoa as the base for the bowl and then start adding your toppings in each section- asparagus, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, chickpeas, and onions. Serve and enjoy the leftovers for days to come!
I love sneaking in chia seeds whenever I can! Hint- My new Raw and Gluten Free Glo Bar is loaded with chia seeds!! I’m so excited to show you this bar!
The bunny sure loved it, but was sad there were no carrots. :(
This recipe made a ton of leftovers too (it serves about 6 people). I’m not complaining…leftovers for lunches! Eric gave it two thumbs up. He said, ‘I love all the crunchy textures.’ There is something for everyone in this dish.
In other news, I can’t stop eating Vegan Overnight Oats. My next batch is coming up on OSG! Clue: Carob powder and pumpkin were in the mix. I love carob powder because it is so sweet and means that you don’t need to add much sweetener at all. By the way- if you have made a batch of my Vegan Overnight Oats and posted about it on your blog, send me the link and I will post the link.
Today’s question- What is your approach to cooking on weekends? Do you use the extra time to cook more or to do food prep for the week to come?
I tend to cook more on the weekends since I have more time and I rarely feel like cooking much during the week after a long day of baking. I love cooking big batches of things and then having leftovers or freezing things like my ‘Neat’ Sauce. On Sundays, I usually spend about 30 minutes chopping veggies that I put in Tupperware so they can be grabbed for quick snacks during the week.
Here’s to a healthy and glowing weekend!
Mm that sounds fabulous!! I think I cook more during the week too- I get lazy on the weekend!
i just started pre-chopping veggies, and it is so much easier! i always thought because i have plenty of time that i didnt need to, but when you’re standing hungry in front of the fridge its so much nicer when the vegs are all ready to go.
That looks so YUMMY! Can’t wait to try it!! :)
I don’t cook a whole lot on the weekends, we sometimes BBQ – especially if it’s gorgeous out like today. If I do cook though, I cook double the amount and save half for leftovers during the week. With 3 kids and lots of busy nights, it really helps from a time standpoint.
Enjoy the sunshine today!
Wow. Really nice Angela.
That bowl looks ah-mazing! Thanks for sharing!
Angela that looks awesome, I can’t wait to try it!
its a nice visual too to see the balanced food groups layed out like that. i bet it was super satisfying. nom nom nom delicious.
holy yum, that bowl sounds absolutely YUMMY! i can only imagine how fabulous is tastes :) i’m working on trying to do prep work more often on the weekends but haven’t mastered it just yet!
I love incorporating chia seeds in as much as possible too!
I tend to experiment with more recipes on the weekend as well as do more elaborate ones that take more time. Goodness, I love weekends :)
Yum yum!! As always, beautiful food photos. I use the weekends to cook something new. Meditation in the kitchen is the best kind. Then on Sunday I cook up my staples for the week. :)
Looks great! Now craving a delicous bowl…going to go hunting in the cupboards!
I prefer to spend some time on the weekend to prep food for thte week. I also like to menu plan and take that with me grocery shopping. For me, to not make the time my life gets stressful, so to plan is to have a good week in my house!
i love the line about bird food. one of my friends in high school used to make fun of me because “all you eat is BIRD FOOD!” i took it as a compliment :)
Yummmm looks good! I was just wondering how many servings this recipe makes?
The picture of that bowl is seriously making my stomach growl.
I think I would use hummus instead of the chickpeas. I also like the idea of doing a Mexican bowl… chunky homemade salsa, crushed blue corn tortilla chips, chopped chives, tomatoes, jalapenos or chillies, guacamole, maybe polenta? I can think of a bunch of yummy combinations!!
Definitely trying this out soon :-) Do you think red quinoa would work too? That’s all I have and it was super expensive so I want to try to use it up before I buy white.
I love how you said ‘bird food’ too… my bf always tells me all I eat is “air”. bahahaha. I love it. I LOVE AIR! ;-)
That looks delicious! My cooking only changes in that I tend to make bigger breakfast or brunches. I also prep veggies, fruits, and make lunches for the kids on Sundays so that everything is easier to put together during the week.
When I was working two jobs, I did all my cooking on the weekends and lived off the leftovers during the week. Now that I am working like a normal person, we are tending to go out more on the weekends and less cooking… just cuz we can!
I definitely cook less on the weekend, we often will eat out, or grab something to-go somewhere while we are having fun doing other things! I enjoy cooking during the week. That bowl looks FANTASTIC! I’m totally going to make that :) Have a great weekend!
That looks delicious! I love anything involving chickpeas – I’ll definitely have to jot down the ingredients for next week (now I’m kinda sad that I’ve already bought groceries for this week!)
On the weekends I always take more time to cook (if we are not going out with friends). My breakfasts are always better on the weekends, lunch is usually something basic like soup or a sandwich, and then dinner is elaborate, or we go out to a restaurant.
That’s one amazing-looking bowl! Definitely going to be making this soon.
I try to cook a big soup or stew on the weekend, on top of whatever else I make, so that I can freeze it and have it for the week to come. I need to chop veggies and store them for the week, like you do–I’m trying to eat more crudites but just can’t handle peeling and chopping in the mornings :-)