Hibachi-Style Quinoa

Adapted from Skinny Taste

I am amazed at all the things you can do with quinoa! It has great texture and it's so versatile. We have already used it for Italian, Mexican, and seafood dishes, but tonight we cooked it with an Asian twist. This recipe is a lot like the fried rice you might get at a Chinese or Japanese restaurant with lots of flavor and veggies. Next time we hope to find the fish sauce that it calls for, and we might even add shrimp to boost it up a bit.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups cooked quinoa
• 8 scallions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 red peppers, diced small
• 1 tomato, diced small
• 4 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp fish sauce (Food Lion didn't have this so we used 1 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp lime juice, 1/2 tsp chicken broth)
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• cooking spray
• 3 egg whites, scrambled
• 1 whole egg, scrambled
• salt, to taste

Directions:

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Scramble the eggs on medium heat. Add salt and cook for 2-3 minutes or until done. Set aside.

Add the vegetable oil to the same skillet followed by the scallions, peppers, and garlic. Saute on medium heat for about 3 minutes, then add the tomato and stir in all the quinoa. Add soy sauce and fish sauce (or substitute) and stir to mix all the ingredients. Continue stirring a few minutes, then add cooked scrambled eggs. At this point you may need to add more soy sauce, to taste, and then mix well for another 30 seconds.

Yield: 4 servings

Tilapia with Honey & Ginger Dressing

Adapted from: Cooking Light.

It's been awhile. We know. Lauren and I successfully made it through our first round of midterms for the semester. Unfortunately, that meant our heads were really in the books and we had to sacrifice recipe-searching, planning new meals, and blogging for a couple of weeks. We did make time to cook some past meals, but there were certainly a few dinners that had to wait until 9pm or consisted of boxed pasta, frozen veggie burgers, blueberry pancakes, and even (cringe) bowls of cereal. Now we're on the up side of things, with an exciting week of meals planned before we head out for spring break this weekend!

Our first meal back was wonderful. Oriental-inspired tilapia over a bed of spinach and romaine lettuce with shredded carrots. The sauce was full of flavor and easy to make. We're already brainstorming things to add for the next time we cook this, like mandarin oranges and crispy noodles.

Ingredients:

For the Dressing:

• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp chopped green onions
• 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1/8 tsp dark sesame oil

For the Fish:

• 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
• Salt, to taste
• Ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups salad greens

Directions:

For the dressing, simply combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and stir well.

For the fish, heat e.v.o.o. in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season fish with salt and pepper and add to skillet; cook 3 minutes on each side or until tilapia begins to flake. Place greens onto plates and top each serving with 1 fillet; pour dressing evenly over each salad.

Yield: 2 servings