BBQ Chickpea Quinoa Salad

This recipe is adapted from a BBQ Quinoa Salad recipe given to me by my friend Nicole S. No left overs made it in the fridge. It was a "Are you gonna eat that? Cause if not, I'm gonna eat it." kind of meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. cooked quinoa (about 1/2 c. dry)
• 1/2 c. grilled corn (or frozen and cooked)
• 1/2 c. black beans
• 1 can BBQ roasted chickpeas
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 4 Tb BBQ sauce
• 2 scallions, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rinse and drain the chickpeas and pour into a bowl. Add 1 Tb. olive oil and 2 1/2 to 3 Tb BBQ sauce. Mix well. Pour chickpeas on a pan (you can line it with foil for easier clean-up) and roast for 15 min. Stir, then cook 10 min. more.
2. While the chickpeas roast, cook the quinoa. Put the 1/2 c. dry quinoa and 1 c. water in a pot. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer about 15 min. until quinoa has absorbed all the water.
3. Toss the quinoa, corn, beans, chickpeas, avocado, scallions, and BBQ sauce together. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Roasted Chickpea and Avocado Salad

Roasted chickpeas add a fabulous bit of crunch to this salad. Roast a batch and you can use it on various salads for the week.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cucumber, sliced
• 1 roma tomato, sliced
• 3-4 large handfuls of chopped romaine lettuce
• 1/4 c. to 1/2 c. roasted chickpeas

Roasted Chickpeas

• 1 can (14.5 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed.
• 1 Tb olive oil
• 1 1/2 Tb lime juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp oregano

Directions:

1. Start by roasting your chickpeas. Mix the olive oil, lime juice, salt, chili powder, cumin, and oregano together. Put chickpeas in a bowl and pour mixture on top. Stir to coat. Then pour the chickpeas onto a pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Stir on pan, then put back in the oven for 10 more min. Stir again, and do 5 more minutes in the oven. Take them out and let cool.
2. Put romaine lettuce in a bowl, and top with the cucumbers, tomato, and roasted chickpeas.

Bean Tostadas

(Left: without the lettuce, Right: with the lettuce)

These are delicious and super simple to prepare! 

Ingredients:

• Tostada shells
• Avocados, diced
• Tomatoes, diced
• Romaine lettuce, chopped
• Cheddar cheese, shredded
• Cilantro, chopped
• Mushrooms, sliced
• Onions, diced
• 1 can refried beans

Directions:

1. Saute mushrooms and onions in a little olive oil until onions are translucent.
2. Meanwhile, heat oven to 400 degrees. Place tostadas on a pan and heat for 3-5 minutes.
3. Microwave refried beans until hot.
4. To assemble, spread refried beans on tostada, then top with all the toppings (whichever ones you want, that is).
5. Enjoy!

Naan Bread Pizza

 

(Left: Pesto version; Right: Pizza sauce version)

So this month has been pretty busy with the arrival of our 2nd baby, which is why there has only been one new post a week for over a month. My mom came to town to help us get adjusted and she made us this fabulous dinner.

Ingredients:

• Pesto or pizza sauce, whichever you prefer
• sliced mushrooms
• onions, diced
• tomatoes, sliced (cherry or small roma are my recommendations)
• black olives, sliced
• artichoke hearts, canned in water (not the marinated kind), sliced
• avocado, sliced
• any other veggie you like eating on pizza
• Pre-made naan bread (can be found at grocery stores such as H.E.B., or Harmon's)

Directions:

1. Saute the sliced mushrooms and onions in a tiny bit of olive oil.
2. Spread the pesto/pizza sauce on the naan bread.
3. Add the toppings, except the avocado.
4. Place on a baking sheet and broil for 3-5 minutes.
5. Add sliced avocado.
6. Cut into pieces and serve!

Notes about this recipe:

1. There are no measurements because it's all about how much you like on your pizza. Add as much or as little as you want!
2. You could add cheese if you want. The pesto already has cheese in it, and the pizza sauce version makes for a great lactose-free recipe.
3. If you can't find pre-made naan bread you could always make your own. The pre-made makes for a super easy meal, though.

Avocado-Tomato Melt Sandwich

This recipe was sent in by Vanessa H. She found it at What's Cooking America.

Ingredients:

• 4 English muffins, split
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced
• 1 to 2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced thin
• Coarse salt
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven broiler to high. Under the broiler, toast English muffin halves on a baking sheet until golden brown. Remove from oven.

Top each muffin half with sliced avocados and sliced tomatoes; lightly salt the tomatoes.

Sprinkle chopped basil leaves over the tomatoes. Put a layer of mozzarella cheese over the basil, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, and top with black pepper.

Broil prepared muffin halves for approximately 2 to 3 minutes or until cheese has melted. Remove from oven and enjoy!

Makes 4 servings.