Eating vegan is a trend that is on the rise. People decide to eat vegan foods for several reasons including animal rights and religious reasons. While I am not a vegan there will be times that I eat vegan foods. I will stress that just because you are eating vegan does not mean that you will be healthier as foods such as potato chips, French fries and Oreos are all vegan foods. Also, if you choose to eat a diet containing animal products, you can eat a very healthy diet. The key here is whatever type of diet you choose to consume whether it is vegan, vegetarian or including animal foods, the choices you make within that diet are the answer to staying healthy.
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 cup multi colored dry quinoa
- 5 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- ¼ cup pepitas
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp Kouzini olive oil
- 2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli
- 3 cups fresh spinach leaves
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup Kouzini olive oil
- ¼ cup Kouzini balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- To cook quinoa, bring quinoa and low sodium vegetable broth to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until all liquid is evaporated.
- To roast the pine nuts and pepitas:
- Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Toss pine nuts and pepitas with ½ tsp salt and 1 teaspoon Kouzini olive oil
- On a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, spread pepita and pine nut mixture in a single layer
- Roast nut/seed mixture in oven for, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes
- Boil broccoli and spinach to tenderness of your liking, let cool and chop
- To make dressing whisk Kouzini balsamic vinegar, Kouzini olive oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard and salt and pepper together
- Toss cooked quinoa, roasted pine nuts and pepitas, chopped broccoli and spinach, dried cranberries, and dressing together.
- Serve warm or chilled
A note on Kouzini Olive Oils and Vinegars. I am always in search of the highest quality ingredients to use in my cooking and after a long search for the purest olive oil, I came across the Kouzini brand. Why is Kouzini such a good product? Kouzini’s olive oil is single origin, 100% Greek never mixed, blended or adulterated and they only sell current years harvest to ensure maximum quality and freshness. They also have Premium Balsamic vinegars with NO preservatives, NO added Sugars, NO colorings and all natural. Click her to check their products out!
To use this recipe in my downloadable meal plans count it as 2 fats, 2 starches and 1 protein.
Nutrition Facts:
- 318 calories
- 17 g fat
- 33 g carbohydrates
- 8 g protein
