Recipe: Refreshing Quinoa Salad (THM E)

Happy Friday! 

Whew - is it just me or was this a long week? Either way, TGIF for sure.

On my to-do list was grocery shopping but kind of fell to the wayside. My son is no longer in preschool every morning and today we had a park play date with some friends. Since I was out of grilled chicken or deli meats (and pretty much everything else) I opened the pantry and fridge to see what I could make last minute.

Enter this refreshing quinoa salad - oh it doesn't disappoint! Each bite is a burst of sweet, crunchy, lemony goodness. I promise!

I' m just going to throw it out here now - I'm a culinary genius. Just for today. Seriously.

Grab your grocery list and add this ASAP since I'm totally making it again for next week, too! 

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked quinoa (cooled)

1-2 tbsp olive oil

1 lemon juiced

1 can garbanzo beans

2-3 stalks celery diced

1/3 cup diced red onion

1/2 large cucumber diced

6-7 stalks of kale (with stems removed and leaves chopped)

1/4 cup craisins 

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to directions and set aside to cool. (Since I was in a rush I threw the pot in the fridge!)

2. Drain and rinse garbanzo beans and set aside.

3. Dice onion, celery, cucumber and kale and throw them in a large bowl. 

4. In a smaller bowl, add the olive oil Amd lemon juice and whisk together. 

5. Once quinoa is cooled, add it to the diced items in large bowl, add garbanzo beans and toss together.

6. Last, pour lemon/olive oil over mixed items and stir gently to coat or combine.

Then, enjoy!

I'm going to admit I wasn't sure how this would all turn out as far as taste goes - but yum! This could easily be eaten without anything else (like I did today at the park) or it would be fantastic as a side dish to grilled chicken, a white fish or even over a bed of lettuce or spinach! 

You can add, change or omit ingredients to your specific tastes. Green apples could be added for some extra crunch too! 

I would say this recipe makes about 4-5 decent sized portions. You could easily double the recipe. In fact, this would be a great side dish to bring to a summer barbecue or just to make and keep in the fridge. I actually can't wait to have some more possibly with dinner tonight.

For THM, this recipe would be considered an E meal because of the quinoa, beans and limited amount of fat from the olive oil.

Let me know if you do decide to make it and if you make any tweaks!

Have a great weekend!

~Carly

May Updates and PiYo

It's finally spring here in Connecticut! Although we really don't have seasons anymore here in New England. I'm able to finally be outside more, run on our local trail and walking the dog. 

I'm of course still following the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle and in addition to my walking and running I started a beach body program called PiYo.

I'm loving it so far! It's a combination of yoga and Pilates (hence the name) and you use your own body to sculpt your body. While I haven't necessarily lost any weight (I'm still maintaining), I feel like I'm definetly stronger and leaning out a bit. It's hard to tell right now since I'm feeling bloated with my monthly thang - but time will tell for sure.

Hope all is well in your world - will have some more updates and posts for you soon.

~Carly