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Healthy Eating: Quinoa Chickpea Salad

quinoa chickpea saladHow many times have we eaten a light meal consisting of a salad or a fruit only to feel hungry later and end up eating some junk? Ideally, a salad is a meal by itself. It can fit anywhere between your lunch and dinner. If salads have not been giving you the satiety you need, try this power-packed Quinoa Chickpea Salad to fill your tummy with high fiber and protein content but still make you feel light. 

What You Will Need 

  • Quinoa – ⅓ Cup (soaked for 30-60 mins) 
  • Chickpeas – ½ cup boiled 
  • Garlic – 1 tsp chopped 
  • Capsicum – ¼ cup chopped 
  • Onion – ¼ cup chopped 
  • Cucumber – 1 
  • Tomato – 1 
  • Green Chilly – 1 tsp chopped 
  • Coriander – 4 tbsp
  • Ghee – 1 tsp 
  • Jeera – ¼ tsp 
  • Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp 
  • A pinch of Hing 
  • Water – ½ cup 
  • Lemon Juice – 1 tsp 
  • Salt to taste 

How To Prepare

  1. In a pan, add  1 tsp ghee and jeera. As the jeera starts crackling, add hing & sauté garlic for a while. 
  2. Now add water. Let the water boil. Add salt, turmeric powder  & quinoa (washed & drained). Cover it for 10 minutes and stir 1-2 times in between. Your quinoa generally gets cooked in 10 minutes, turn off the stove and let it cool to room temperature.
  3. In a big bowl, add cooked quinoa, boiled chickpeas and rest of the ingredients. Give everything a good mix
  4. Your healthy and filling Quinoa Chickpea Salad is ready! 

Tips For The Quinoa Chickpea Salad Recipe 

  • Don’t forget to scrub the quinoa grain a little before rinsing as it helps in removing the natural coating of saponins which can make it taste bitter or soapy
  • You can add a little cheese or paneer as well over your salad to make it more tasty and increase the protein content 
  • Try this recipe especially when you have leftover boiled chickpeas 

 We hope you try this delicious Quinoa Chickpea Salad recipe. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below. You can check out more recipes from Healthy Reads or tune in to cooking sessions on GOQii Play. 

Stay home, stay safe, eat healthy and #BeTheForce 

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Healthy Eating: Vegetable Quinoa Pulao

vegetable quinoa pulao

Quinoa is a gluten-free superfood that has been gaining a lot of popularity in the past few years, and it is actually pronounced as Kveen Vaa. Quinoa, though popular as a grain, is actually a seed. It has a nutty flavour and lacks the sweetness & stickiness of the rice. It is easier to cook than rice and you will love the taste. Although it is not as economical as rice, it is definitely worth a try! So let’s learn how to prepare super healthy and simple Vegetable Quinoa Pulao!  

What You Will Need:

  • Quinoa (wash and soak for 30 min) – 1 cup
  • Onion (chopped) – ¼ cup
  • Cauliflower (chopped) – ¼ cup
  • French Beans (chopped) – ¼ cup
  • Carrots (chopped) – ¼ cup
  • Corn Kernels – ¼ cup
  • Green Peas – ¼ cup
  • Spinach – 2 tbsp
  • Coriander – 2 tbsp
  • Ginger Garlic Paste – 2 tbsp
  • Bay Leaf – 1
  • Cinnamon Stick – ½
  • Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
  • Turmeric, red chili powder, coriander seeds powder, garam masala as per taste
  • Salt as per taste
  • Oil – 1 tbsp

How to Prepare:

  1. In a pan, heat oil and fry the bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Then, allow the cumin seeds to sizzle.
  2. Add the chopped onion along with ginger garlic paste and roast it well until slightly brown.
  3. Now, add all the other vegetables along with turmeric, red chili powder, coriander seeds powder, garam masala and salt. Sauté them well for 4-5 min.
  4. It is time to add the soaked quinoa (discard the water), give it a quick stir and cook it for 2-3 minutes. Now add 1.5 to 2 cups of water.
  5. After a boil, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 5-10 min until done. Mix the contents using a fork and not spatula to give it a Pulao consistency.
  6. Serve it hot with curd or raita.

Highlights of the Vegetable Quinoa Pulao

  • This absolutely easy recipe gives you everything required for a balanced meal.
  • It is high in protein and contains sufficient amount of all essential amino acids.
  • 100% satiety with the fibre content it has in limited portion size.
  • Fun Fact – a cup of Quinoa will provide twice the protein and about 5 gm of more fibre than the same amount of white rice.

Hope you try this awesome Vegetable Quinoa Pulao recipe and share your experience in the comments below! For more healthy recipes, tune in to LIVE cooking classes on GOQii Play. 

#BeTheForce 

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Winter Recipes

Millet Vegetable pan bread

Winter has set in and it is that time of the year when our body experiences tremendous changes in energy levels, metabolism and our food preference also changes. Winter is also the season which is full of colorful veggies and fruits in market. Our body needs extra vitamins and minerals to help combat cold weather, illness and to maintain your good health.

Let me share with you some nutritious food ideas that will help boost immunity and maintain energy levels through the day.

Here are 5 healthy dishes which will help you to keep warm on cold days-

  1. Millet Vegetable pan bread (Bajra Dudhi Thepla)-

Millet Vegetable pan bread

Ingredients–

  • (Bajra) Millet flour – 1 cup
  • Wheat flour – 1 cup
  • Bottle gourd (Dudhi)- 1 cup (grated)
  • Curd – 1/3 cup
  • Oil – ½ cup (to add in flour and roast theplas)
  • Green coriander – 2 tbsp (finely chopped)
  • Green chilly – 1-2 (finely chopped)
  • Ginger paste – 1 tsp
  • Asafoetida – 1 pinch
  • Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
  • Red chilly powder – ¼ tsp
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  • Sesame seeds – 1 tsp (optional)
  • Salt – ½ tsp (as per taste)

Preparation

Take out flour in any big utensil. Mix wheat flour in the same bowl. Also add bottle gourd, ginger, green chilly, green coriander, Asafoetida, cumin seeds, red chilly powder, turmeric powder, sesame seeds, salt, 1 tbsp oil and curd. Add 1-2 tbsp water or as per requirement and knead soft dough. Keep aside the dough for 10-15 minutes so that it gets set.

Grease your hand with some oil and knead the dough. Pre-heat the pan (tawa). Take little amount of dough (lemon size) and make a round ball. Take one ball, dust it with dry flour and place it on rolling plate and roll into 6-7 inch diameter bread (thepla).

Place the rolled bread (thepla) on pre-heated pan (tawa) and when color of the bread (thepla) turns darker from surface then flip the side. Spread 1 tsp oil on the upper surface. Flip the side and spread some oil on this side as well. Roast the bread (thepla) on medium flame until it gets brown spots on both sides. Take it of the pan and place it in a plate.

Serve the Millet Vegetable pan bread (BajraLaukiTheplas) with curd (yogurt), Corainder paste or pickle or with any vegetables of your choice.

 Suggestion: Mix finely chopped spinach in the flour for making Millet Spinach Breads (Bajra spinach thepla) and add finely chopped fresh fenugreek leaves for making millet fenugreek breads (bajramethitheplas).

  1. Winter special Fenugreek seeds and edible gum sweet balls

Fenugreek seeds and edible gum sweet balls

Fenugreek seeds gum balls is a traditional recipe which can also be used as an Ayurveda treatment for various ailments, especially during winters. These sweet gum balls are not only known for their medicinal properties but also taste delicious.

These are prepared with Fenugreek seeds mixed with wheat flour and Jaggery. New mothers can have these sweet balls as dietary supplement or to overcome any post-delivery problems. People suffering from joints pain, especially in winters, can have this sweet.

Ingredients-

  • Fenugreek(methi) seeds- 100gms.
  • Milk- ½ litre(2-1/2 cup)
  • Wheat flour-300gm(1-1/2cup)
  • Ghee- 250gm(1-1/2 cup)
  • Edible gum (Gond)-100gms- (1/2 cup)
  • Almonds-30-35.
  • Black Pepper- 8-10.
  • Cumin powder-2tsp.
  • Dry ginger- 2tsp
  • Green Cardamom- 10-12
  • Cinnamon-4 pieces.
  • Nutmeg-2
  • Jageery-1-1/2cup

Preparation:

Clean Fenugreek (Methi) seeds properly(wash seeds then put them in a thick cotton cloth and leave it in the sun to dry, cloth can be washed and used again). Put clean seeds in a mixer and make a thick paste somewhat similar to flour. Boil milk.

Put the grounded Fenugreek (Methi) in milk and let it soak for 8-10 hours.

Cut almonds into small pieces. Gently crush black pepper(break 1 pepper into 4-5 pieces), crush cinnamon and nutmeg into fine powder. Peel Cardamom (Elaichi) and crush it as well.Pour 1/2 cup clarified butter (Ghee) ina pan, fry soaked (Fenugreek) on a medium flame till it turns light brown and smells good. Remove the mixture in a plate.

Put the remainingclarified butter(Ghee) in the pan and heat, fry Edible gum(Gond) and take it out on a plate(fry Gond on a law flame). Fry flour in leftover Ghee in the pan till it becomes light brown then take it out.

Put 1 tspclarified butter in the pan followed by the pieces ofJaggery(Gur), melt Jageery (Gur) into liquid form (Chashni) on a low flame. Add Cumin (Jeera) powder, Dry Ginger(Sauntth) powder, cut almonds, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, Cardamom in the Liquid syrup of Jageeryand mix well.

Take little amounts of the mixture, shape it into small balls similar to a lemon and put it on a plate. Keep Fenugreek seeds and edible gum sweet balls (MethiLadoos) in open air for 4-5 hours.

The sweet is ready, keep them in an air tight container and eat one sweet ball every morning or evening with warm milk. This prevents pain in joints, back and pain due to the cold.

  1. CARROT CAKE SNACKS BITE-

high-protein-snacks-by-Green-Blender-carrot-cake-bites-600x404

Ingredients-

  • 21/4 cups shreddedcarrots
  • 3/4cups date (about 10 large dates)
  • 2/3cups coconut (shredded or flaked)
  • 1/2cups walnuts
  • 1/2cups sunflowerseeds
  • 1 teaspooncinnamon
  • 1/4teaspoons groundginger
  • 1/8cups toasted sesame seeds
  • 1/8cups shreddedcoconut.
  • 1/8cups chopped almonds

Preparation

In a food processor, blend all the snack bite ingredients together.Scoop out full grinded mixture in a bowl and roll it into a ball.

Roll the balls in sesame seeds, coconut, or chopped almonds for additional crunch. Use the listed optional ingredients to determine the amount of sesame seeds, coconut, or almonds you need.

Store refrigerated or in an air tight container.

  1. Spinach with Chickpeas Green salad-

Spinach-Salad

Ingredient–

  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ onion, diced
  • 300g frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
  • 400gtin chickpeas and green peas, drained and boiled.
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation: Take 400gm of chickpeas and green peas in a pressure cooker. Add half a litre water to it and cook till 4 whistle blow. Let it cool for some time. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add and Cook the garlic and onion in the oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add and Stir in the spinach, chickpeas, green peas, cumin and salt. Use your stirring spoon to lightly mash the beans as the mixture cooks. Allow to cook until it getsthoroughly heated. Serve it hot. 

  1. Green Greek Smoothies-

Green Greek Smoothies

Ingredients-

  • Cup freshly cut pieces of kiwi.
  • A bowl of Greek yogurt.
  • ½ cup of milk.
  • Pinch of grounded cardamom.
  • 1 tsp of (water) soaked chia seeds
  • Fresh Mint Leaves

In a blender,place kiwi, yogurt and milk and blend it for about 1 minute or until smooth.Pour into the glass, and sprinkle with cardamom. Garnish with mint leaves and add 1 tsp of soaked chia seed on it. Serve immediately.

Tip- You can also try other winter fruits and veggies– like oranges, apple, spinach, Beets instead of Kiwi.

Try these healthy and delicious winter warming recipes. And, don’t let the cold weather keep you from enjoying fresh homemade foods. Let’s Enjoy!

 

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The Right Way To Include Superfoods In Your Soup

soupWhether you’re a confident cook or a kitchen newbie, a little advice is always helpful. So, here I am with these need-to-know soup-making tips and techniques to make your soup healthy and nutritious. Soups make an excellent choice for snacking, a light dinner recipe or post workout meal. You can easily fit it in your meals in various ways.

Homemade Soup vs Packed Soups

Canned or dried instant soups contain lots of salt, hidden sugars, fillers, and preservatives to increase shelf life of the product. As with almost anything, home-made is better. Making your own soup takes time, but it gives you complete control over the ingredients and how you prepare them.

Know Your “Superfoods”

Superfoods are all around us but we seldom take note of them. Incorporating superfoods into your bowl of soup can load your meals with nutrition, antioxidant properties and low amount of calories. Some of the popular choices of super foods to consider are Moringa, Drumstick, Pumpkin, Barley, Bell pepper, Sprouted legumes and pulses, Broccoli, Mushroom, Spinach, Sweet Potato and all herbs and spices. Cinnamon, Cayenne peppers, Pepper, Rosemary, Oregano, Lemon grass, Basil, Thyme, Parsley are a boon for our digestive and Immune system.

How Do You Use Superfoods? 

  • Garlic is used widely as a flavouring in cooking soups, but also has been used as a medicine to treat various ailments. Add 5-6 peeled, cracked garlic cloves and cook, tossing them around occasionally, until they are golden brown.
  • Basil is well known for its medicinal properties. The most commonly known pairing of basil is with tomato, broccoli, parsley, oregano, rosemary and thyme. The best way is to puree it into the soup.
  • Oregano is an effective natural antibiotic and antifungal. It may also help you lose weight and lower your cholesterol levels. Half teaspoon is good to go.
  • Rosemary/Thyme is traditionally used to help alleviate muscle pain, improve memory, boost the immune and circulatory system, and promote digestive health. 1 teaspoon is enough to avail its benefits.
  • Cinnamon is one of the most delicious and healthiest spices on the planet. It can lower blood sugar levels, reduce heart disease risk factors and has a plethora of other impressive health benefits. Add ½ teaspoon depending on the quantity of soup. Ceylon cinnamon is better quality.
  • Vegetables are packed with fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The recommended daily amount of vegetables for men is at least 3 cups a day and for women at least 2 1/2 cups.  Adding them to soups increases the serving of vegetables in a diet. Steaming and boiling caused a 22% to 34 % loss of vitamin C. Pressure-cooked vegetables retain 90% of their vitamin C.

 NOTE: Add fresh herbs towards the end as the flavour diminishes with heat.

Tips To Choose Your Ingredients

  1. Include seasonal Superfoods that are readily available in the market and your own kitchen. Refer to the above list.
  2. Good Fats: Choose fats that your body needs such as Virgin Coconut oil, homemade pure ghee and olive oil are preferable options to add taste and enhance absorption of fat soluble Vitamins from your vegetables.
  3. Right Base: In order to cut saturated fats like cream, you can replace your creamy base with vegetable broth, tomato puree, coconut milk, tomato puree or vegetable puree.
  4. Pick Seasonal Veggies: Pumpkin, tomato, spinach, onion, beetroot, moringa, mushroom, sweet potato, or mixing three or four vegetables not only enhances the taste but also increases the nutritive value.  Garlic is common. Use whatever you like from what is available.
  5. Herbs & Spices: Sea salt and black peppers are your two most basic spices. You can experiment with various herbs as all are beneficial for your gut health. Popular flavour combinations are Basil and oregano pair well with tomato-based soups, Parsley, and rosemary go well with potato-based soups, Parsley and thyme are a nice addition to cream soups.
  6. New Age Superfoods: Handful of boiled barley, quinoa, oats, microgreens, boiled sprouts, Tofu, cooked lentils and legumes adds proteins as well as increases the satiety value and health quotient of the soup. They are perfect because it thickens the soup as it cooks; creating an irresistible, slightly sticky broth that coats your spoon beautifully.

Simple Technique To Cook Any Type Of Soup 

  1. Take vegetables of your choice. Wash it and chop in big pieces.
  2. Take a pressure cooker and add 1 teaspoon of extra virgin or unrefined coconut oil/ olive oil. Add chopped vegetables and mix well.
  3. Add 1 glass of water and give a whistle.
  4. After cooling, separate vegetables from water (vegetable broth) and grind them with a handful of boiled quinoa/ sprouted dal or any other protein source to get a thick paste.
  5. Mix it again in the same vegetable broth and give it a boil adding sea salt and herbs at the end. 
  6. Optional: add coconut milk to give a nice colour, pieces of tofu or beans/ bell peppers for crunchiness.
  7. Serve it hot! Your healthy protein rich, immunity boosting soup is ready!

That’s it!  You can make any soup using the ingredients you have at hand with the flavours you prefer, without any recipe. Some examples of healthy soups are tomato basil soup, bell pepper soup, red pumpkin soup, broccoli soup, moringa soup and sprouted soup.

Do try your own variation and let us know your recipe in the comments below. For more healthy recipes, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to cooking sessions on GOQii Play. 

Stay home, stay safe, eat healthy and #BeTheForce 

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