Gourmet dinner for one... in just 30 minutes!

Oh if only I'd thought to take a picture of my dinner before I was half finished. I would love to have shown you it's beautiful deliciousness. Well, chances are I'll be having it again soon, so if I do, I'll add a picture.

So here's what I had:

• a starter of fresh figs with goat cheese
• Sesame baked chicken breast - juicy and flavourful
• a side of beets on beet greens with pine nuts and fresh parmesan
• oh and since I had started out my cooking this evening making the Spicy Carrot & Lentil Curry that I posted a few days ago, I had a 1/2 a cup of that to try it out too and it was delicious!

Yep, all just for me. Would have been really lovely with a glass of red wine. What brought on this occasion? Absolutely nothing remarkable. I found some recipes that sounded good, and had the ingredients that I needed to use before they started to spoil. It was such a treat! And, yes, it really only took 30 minutes, 25 of which was the chicken baking in the oven while the beet boiled on the stove. I prepared the other ingredients while those parts were cooking, then took a few minutes to put it all together on a plate.

My point in telling you about my meal is to demonstrate, for all those who say that healthy eating takes too much work, too much time, and there's no point when it's all just for yourself (I often hear singles saying that they can't be bothered to cook just for themselves). It doesn't have to take a lot of time at all. And aren't you worth the effort and the nutrition? If you could have super nutritious and super delicious food like that every night while still spending less than an hour in the kitchen, isn't that a heck of a lot better than any fast food burgers, chinese food, pizza, or whatever other delivery place you have on your speed dial? Those foods only leave you feeling greasy, gassy, and gaining weight.... not to mention triggering your brain and biochemistry to drive you to want more and more, insatiably.

If you're under the impression that healthy eating has to be a time consuming chore, I challenge you to give it a try. Certainly as you're building new habits you have to be more conscious about what you're doing, but practice enough, and before you know it, you're whipping up nutritilicious meals in less time than Pizza Pizza can get to your door!

To get you started, here's the recipes for what I had tonight:

Fresh figs - cut in half and sprinkle with feta/goat cheese
Beet Carpaccio on Sauteed Greens
Simple Sesame Grilled Chicken

Enjoy!

Extra Delicious Vegetarian Birthday BBQ Burgers!

I attended my dear friend Kerry-Ann's birthday BBQ party last night (great seeing/meeting everyone and all the cutie-patootie bambinos too! Thanks to Blake & KA for being the hosteses with the mosteses), and contributed these Black Bean & Quinoa ("keen-wa") burgers to the mix. They were a hit and since several people wanted the recipe, I thought where better to make it available to one and all but here! So here you have it, break out the ol bar-b! See some serving suggestions below the recipe.

Black Bean Quinoa Burgers

from Nettie Cronish, New Vegetarian Basics

Makes 6 burgers

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 can (14oz/398 mL) black beans, drained and rinsed*

1/2 cup grated red onion, squeezed dry (keep your eyes closed, and wash your hands before touching your eyes!)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

2 cloves garlic, minced

half a jalapheno pepper, seeded and chopped (or use red pepper flakes)

3/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/3 cup dry bread crumbs

*I recommend Eden brand for all canned beans - they use cans that do not contain BPA's in the lining like cheaper brands, there are no preservatives/additives, and they use sea-vegetables in the water in many products which adds a pile of wonderful minerals making them extra nutrtitious. They do cost more, but if you can manage it, it's worth it.

Directions

Prepare the Quinoa - bring 1.5 cups of water to a boil; add quinoa and allow it to return to boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes or until the water has been absorbed.

Meantime prepare the other ingredients so they're ready to go.

Add all ingredients into food processor and puree until smooth. You may need to do this in batches if your food processor isn't large. If you do that, just mush it all together with your hands to ensure even distribution of the ingredients.

Form into six 1/2-inch patties (each takes about 1/2 cup). Press patties into crumbs on both sides.

To cook, you can do in a nonstick skillet, using a bit of olive oil or coconut oil in the pan (med-high heat, about 8 minutes turning once, or until browned), or grill it on the BBQ like we did last night, it turns out great! You can make a batch of these and put some in the freezer to pull out later if you like, in which case you can reheat on the stove but I find they sometimes fall apart upon reheating so I prefer to bake in the oven to reheat.

Serving suggestions:

You can have these on thin burger buns if you like, or just eat them with a fork and no bun. They are great with tomato slices, salsa, and especially yummy with a bit of hoisin sauce! Honey mustard is also really great.

Have a side spinach salad, and maybe a small serving of sweet potato baked "fries" (Alexis brand are delicious and come out nice and crispy) for a full meal deal.

Nutrition:

258 calories, 9g protein, 9g fat, 37g carbohydrates, 5g fibre

Excellent source of iron, folacin, fibre.

Quinoa is an ancient gluten-free grain that is high in protein. In fact it is a COMPLETE protein supplying all essential amino acids (very unusual for plant source protein!). In particular it is high in lysine (an Amino Acid) which is essential for tissue growth and repair. It is also high in several important mineral (manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, and phosporus). People with migraine headaches, diabetes, and artherosclerosis can benefit from making quinoa a staple in their diet.

Black Beans, like all beans, are very high in fibre (keeps ya pooping!), excellent for lowering cholesterol levels and keeping blood sugar steady and even. They are loaded with antioxidants, and very high in tryptophan, an amino acid that acts as a precursor to serotonin (the feel good neurotransmitter that plays a part in regulating mood, sexual desire, appetite, sleep, memory and learning) and promotes relaxation. All that and virtually fat free!

What more could you ask for from your food? You're regular, full of energy, feeling good, relaxed. They're environmentally and animal friendly... And don't forget delicious! That's good stuff!