use real butter

I first read about quinoa three years ago in a food article and I tucked it away in my head. It is a great Scrabble or Tiles word to use up that Q, and everyone around you who isn’t a food dork declares it isn’t a word. What do they know? Quasar is another good one, but that has nothing to do with food. I only sampled quinoa a few times in restaurants, but lately I’ve been trying to work more grains into my diet because I love them and it is really a lack of exposure that has kept me from experimenting in the kitchen more than anything else.

dried quinoa

Most recently I whipped up a batch of leftover soup - all of the frozen and fresh vegetables I could find tossed in with some chicken, in a half beef half chicken broth (ran out of one, had more of the other…). Fiona told me she pours a cup of quinoa into any old soup and it’s great. She was right. I loved it. Jeremy loved it. Loved it. Feeling more familiar with this tiny complete protein seed, I next thought of a sweet take on it.

fresh fruit - one of the many joys in my life

There was a terrific fruit and nut salad I used to order from Aladdin’s in Ithaca, New York. Loads of fresh fruit topped with yogurt, honey, and walnuts. Perfect for those low energy times - a true pick-me-up. It’s an easy recipe to reproduce, mutate, improve upon.

a few walnuts add extra texture

I figured I could set the entire fruit and nut salad on a small bed of cooked quinoa for a powerhouse meal. I had a bowl of this after a 2-hour cardio workout yesterday and it was incredibly satisfying. Now that I think of it, there are a lot of things that would have been satisfying after my workout, like a bowl of chili cheese fries, or sticky cinnamon buns, or some pad thai… But I’m talking about satisfying in the “I am feeling superior for not delivering all of the calories I just burned straight back to my ass” sense.

cooked quinoa

While cooking the quinoa, I noticed the smell of it was similar to the smell of cooking Chinese sweet red beans (aka azuki beans) or sweet green beans (they are similar to the red ones, except they are green and smaller). It’s a pleasant odor that is both nutty and tea-like. The quinoa is a breeze to cook and I am a huge fan of the flavor and texture. It works well with this salad.

a bowl of healthy goodness

Quinoa, Fruit, and Nut Salad

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
dash salt
plain yogurt (I use non-fat)
honey
fruit, washed, peeled, diced
chopped walnuts

Rinse the quinoa for a minute or two under cold water. Bring the quinoa, 2 cups of water, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce to simmer and cover. Cook for about 20-25 minutes until tender. Spoon 1/2 cup of quinoa into a bowl. Top with fruit and plain yogurt (the amounts are up to you). Drizzle honey over the salad and top with chopped walnuts.

When I saw my grandma at Elena’s house a few weekends ago, she made some interesting Chinese dishes. I was familiar with all of the ingredients except for one. She called it a Chinese potato (or a Japanese potato). I thought, “What on Earth could a Chinese potato be?” Well, she showed me, and prepped it, and I ate it - it’s delicious!

On our drive home, we passed through Super H Mart where I used that matching function in my brain - the one that says, “this image in your head is the same as that image before you now”. I found the potatoes! They were labeled as Japanese potatoes. Upon some quick research, I found that these are in fact called Okinawan Sweet Potatoes.

i think they look more like sweet potatoes than potatoes

I must confess something… my obsession with these sweet potatoes has little to do with the flavor and far more to do with the appearance. You see, these unassuming tubers are purple on the inside. Have a looksee.

what a surprise, no?

I had to try it out for myself. It’s part of my redemption for not being able to read Chinese. My mom’s reaction was, “Haven’t you ever had that before?” And this is why I choose to document everything - because between my mom and Grandma, there are a gazillion recipes and foods that I don’t know about. I’m not sure if it’s generational or not, but they always seem surprised that 1) I just discovered something they grew up eating and 2) I didn’t know it existed beforehand. Honestly, their reaction is a combination of amusement and disbelief at my lifelong ignorance.

Mom said I could boil or steam the potatoes. Grandma prepared them steamed with these lovely Chinese ribs on top. My web research came up with sweet potato pie (a purple pie!) and tempura sweet potato (purple tempura!) and mashed sweet potatoes (purple mashed sweet potatoes!) and sweet potato gratin (purple sweet potato gratin!) and… you get the point. Since I only dared to buy two for fear of screwing up a recipe and wasting food, I thought I’d just peel, boil, slice, and try them straight. The water turned blue.

as pretty to behold as they are tasty to eat

These sweet potatoes are good for you. I read they are full of vitamins A, B6, and C. They taste like… sweet potatoes, but they are purple!

Purple!

I just love that.

purple!

I had told my physician that I worried about getting enough calcium because I am lactose intolerant. She asked what I normally eat and I gave her a rundown of a typical week. She told me that dark leafy greens were a good source of calcium and that some asian cultures have shown to have better calcium intake in their diets because they ate foods high in a vitamin I have since forgotten which helps calcium absorption. All I remember is that, yes, I eat plenty of that too.

I picked up some lovely organic kale the other day at Whole Foods Paycheck. Growing up, I remembered seeing kale as a garnish. One curly sprig with some pathetic half-dried cherry tomato or orange slice on the side… My mom was a wonder with vegetables. She not only cooked a ton of them, but she cooked them so they retained a brilliant healthy color, great flavor, excellent texture, and were totally nutritious. Boiling To Death was not an option in her kitchen.

fresh kale

washed and ready

I like to sauté my kale in a little vegetable oil. It’s like a thicker cousin of spinach and cooks down to a fraction of the raw volume. I usually saut&eacute spinach with garlic and a little salt, but I tend to prefer my kale with just a touch of salt. The flavor is subtle, but delicious and it doesn’t leave a gritty film on your teeth like spinach does. Of course, you have to chew on it longer because it is tougher. I like to pretend that I am a manatee munching on seaweed when I eat kale…

it’s good for you and it tastes great too

I served that alongside some angel hair pasta with mushroom, zucchini, and italian sausage tomato sauce. I love me some vegetables.