Quinoa Mango Tabouleh

Is it just me… Or is the name of this recipe something Jay Z and Beyonce would name their child? I think Blue Ivy and Quinoa Mango Tabouleh would get along well except during long road trips. But Jay Z and Beyonce don’t take road trips so we’re fine there.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 Tbsp fresh parsley
• 1 Tbsp fresh mint
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 mango, chopped into small cubes
• 5-6 thick slices of cucumber, cut into fours
• Black pepper and salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. I suggest rinsing the quinoa and combining it with 1 cup of water in a small saucepan. Allow it to boil then simmer for 12-15 minutes until a little germ ring forms around the grain (like in the picture above).

2. Toss all ingredients with the quinoa and serve chilled.

Yields: two servings

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Red Pepper Hummus      Falafel

Creamy Red Pepper Hummus

When my friend Lauren and I lived together last year, we dedicated our lives to perfecting hummus. And to work, and friends, and stuff, but mainly hummus. We ate it often and eventually decided to start making it at home. It was a fabulous idea. We could make it taste better at a cheaper cost and without wasteful packaging. Win. Win. Win. With just a food processor and ingredients that we typically had on hand anyway (had to purchase the tahini!), we were able to make hummus whenever we ran out. And we ran out often. After each delicious batch we licked our fingers clean. Meanwhile our other roommates (the two who never helped with rent) licked each others’ ears. To each their own.

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas
• 1/3 c tahini
• 1/4 c lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1 tsp parsley
• paprika for garnish

Directions:

1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.

2. Add the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, salt, garlic, oil, and pepper to a food processor. Process until smooth.

3. Garnish with chopped parsley and a sprinkle of paprika.

Pasta Primavera

Spring is here which means it’s finally time for lemon, asparagus and pasta primavera. This pasta is light, refreshing and packed with colorful vegetables. It was the perfect complement to my 5 mile run today. I unexpectedly ran the last 2 miles of my 7 mile run yesterday in the pouring rain. There’s something about running in the rain that just feels carefree and fun. And then the reality sets in that you are soaked from head to toe and your iPhone might be damaged beyond repair. Since my run yesterday, both my clothing and my phone have survived to tell about the April showers. Despite the rain, I’m glad it’s springtime because the weather has been mostly perfect for running. And the running gives me an excuse to carb-load, which is always ok in my book.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium-sized zucchini
• 10 stalks of asparagus
• 10 baby carrots
• 1/4 of a red onion
• 1/2 of a red pepper
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp Italian herbs
• 2 cups uncooked whole wheat penne pasta
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup parsley
• 15 grape tomatoes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Cut zucchini, asparagus, carrots, red onion and red pepper into bite-size pieces.

3. In a large bowl, toss veggies with oil, salt and pepper, and herbs. Arrange veggies flat on a baking sheet.

4. Bake veggies for 20 minutes. Stir halfway through.

5. Cook pasta until penne is al dente. Drain and rinse the pasta.

6. Toss veggies with pasta, lemon juice, parsley and grape tomatoes.

7. Season with salt and pepper as needed.

Serves 3

Adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pasta-primavera-recipe/index.html

Hummbuzz

First off, Welcome to the Sweet Sixteen, Indiana! First time in like ten years but whatevs. Secondly, I’m watching a show right now on Animal Planet about kittens and it’s adorable and I want kittens now.

And now on to the real post. Anyone who knows Bloomington well knows Bloomingfoods well. It’s like Whole Foods but you’re not supposed to say that aloud because Bfoods would be offended. Whole Foods will *probably* never set up shop in Bloomington because of Bloomingfoods. It is a fantastic local chain of grocery stores and the community would riot in the streets if the stores’ existence was threatened. However, Bloomingtonians also once rioted in the streets when we got our first Starbucks and that had a huge impact on the mega chain for about ten minutes. Six Starbucks coffee shops later, Bloomington has mellowed out a bit over big chains hampering our local stores.

Bloomingfoods has a wide variety of pre-made food items such as salsas, salads and cookies. Every time I visit I pick up an item called Hummbuzz. It is delicious but I’ve never really understood what’s in the bottom of it. It has hummus and cucumber stuffed in the pita which is easy enough to figure out. At the botttom is a red-colored grain. The label refers to it as bazarghan. Quick googling doesn’t give me much more information about it. I know it’s an Israeli-inspired dish and it tastes good and that’s about all I need to know. Here is my interpretation of the dish. Bazarghan is historically made using bulgur but doesn’t everyone like quinoa more than bulgur?

Ingredients:

• 4 pita pockets
• 20 cucumber slices
• roasted red pepper hummus

Ingredients for bazarghan:

• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/4 cup parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook the quinoa according to the package directions. I suggest adding the 1/2 cup quinoa to a 1/2 cup of boiling water in a medium saucepan. Lower the heat and cover. Simmer for roughly 20 minutes.

2. Once the quinoa is cooked, add the remaining bazarghan ingredients to the saucepan.

3. Split the bazarghan evenly amongst the pita pockets. Add 5 cucumber slices to each pita. Top with hummus.

Serves well with sweet potato fries and an Israeli salad.