Protein Power Bowl

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!