Vegetable Quinoa Faux Fried Rice + a Pinterest Workout

Last night, I had my neighbor over for wine, cheese and…Chinese food.

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Sure, that sounds like an odd trio, but really, Chinese food pairs well with anything. Beer, wine, cheese, ice cream, candy…whatever. Cold, hot, lukewarm…Chinese food always tastes delicious.

The problem is that Chinese food is incredibly unhealthy, whether it’s fried or not. There’s a reason that take-out always hits the spot, and it’s about 20 tablespoons of vegetable or sesame oil. You see, unlike when you prepare your own food, the chef in that kitchen doesn’t care so much about the health factor. It’s all about the taste, and if it takes buckets of oil and salt to get there, so be it.

That’s why I love to recreate the flavors of Chinese food in my own kitchen. Fried rice is one of my favorite Chinese takeout past-times, so last night I had plans to fine-tune a Vegetable Quinoa Faux Fried Rice dish that I had made for dinner on Wednesday. I was very excited (and surprised!) when my neighbor seemed enthusiastic about the dish as well.

The result was a flavorful dish packed with vegetables and protein power-houses, quinoa and tofu.

Vegetable Quinoa Faux Fried Rice
Serves 4
A savory, flavor-packed healthy alternative to a classic Chinese comfort food.
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Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
40 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
40 min
Ingredients
  1. 1.5 cup quinoa
  2. 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  3. 1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
  4. 10 baby carrots, finely chopped
  5. 1 small onion, chopped
  6. 1/2 cup broccoli, chopped
  7. 3 peppers (red, green and yellow), chopped (pepper colors are optional)
  8. 3/4 cup frozen edamame, thawed
  9. 3 garlic cloves, minced
  10. 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
  11. 1 package Lite Firm Tofu (14 ozs)
  12. 3 scallions, chopped (optional)
  13. 1 tablespoon olive oil
  14. non-stick cooking spray
  15. 1/4 cup soy sauce
  16. 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
  17. 1/4 cup toasted sesame marinade
  18. 1/2 cup egg substitute
Instructions
  1. In medium saucepan, bring quinoa and stock to a boil and reduce to simmer.
  2. Bring quinoa and water or chicken stock to a boil in a medium saucepan, and then reduce to a simmer.
  3. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until quinoa is cooked through; remove from heat and fluff with fork.
  4. While quinoa is cooking, chop mushrooms, carrots, onion, broccoli, peppers, ginger and garlic.
  5. Spray large sauté pan or wok with non-stick cooking spray and heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over high heat; add onion, carrot and peppers - cook about two minutes; add broccoli, mushrooms, edamame, garlic and ginger - cook about 5 minutes until all vegetables are softened
  6. Add in tofu and pour in soy, teriyaki and toasted sesame sauces - stir-fry for two more minutes.
  7. Add in the remainder of the olive oil and the quinoa- stir-fry for two minutes until sauce is distributed well; move mixture to one side of pan and pour in egg substitute, scramble.
  8. Toss everything together for another few minutes.
  9. Serve in bowl and add chopped scallions to top (optional).
The Sometimes Healthy Living Blog https://www.sometimeshealthylivingblog.com/
Let’s have one more close look at this “faux” masterpiece. Continue Reading →

WIAW: French Toast Roll Ups and Pink Muddy Buddies

Monday night was a BAD night for sleep, as in I didn’t get a wink of sleep. I remember how I used to pull all-nighters in college all the time like it was nothing, and now, my old bones definitely don’t function right without those Z’s.

Since, I couldn’t sleep, I decided to do something productive….like increase the content of all of my Pinterest boards. For the record, if you’re ever having trouble sleeping, I don’t recommend playing on Pinterest. I got so excited about all of my “pins” that it was impossible to get back to bed. I have had a major craving for Muddy Buddies (or Puppy Chow as some call it) lately, so I must have pinned about 15 Muddy Buddy recipes alone. Then, I decided to make a special Girls on the Run Muddy Buddy Mix for their last practice today.More on that later.

Let’s dive into Tuesday’s eats for “What I Ate Wednesday” (WIAW). Apparently, being tired causes one to make poor food choices. Let’s see how my lack of sleep affected the day’s eats.

Around 5 AM, I decided that it was time to get up and make some breakfast. It was a Pinterest find from just a few hours before I got out of bed: French Toast Roll Ups

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Do I really need to explain why I had to make these immediately after I saw them? Sometimes the simplest ideas are pure genius. This is one of them. Take pieces of white bread, flatten them with a rolling pin, slather on some delicious fillings, like marshmallow fluff and PB, dip in egg/milk mixture, cook ’em up in a skillet and coat in cinnamon n’ sugar. Then dip in maple syrup.

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After one dip in the syrup, I thought I had died and gone to french toast heaven.  Continue Reading →