Shrimps Quinoa Salad

After reading several blog posts from Tigerfish-Teczcape about quinoa, and said several times this is something I wanted to try, I finally bought the quinoa and made my first quinoa dish.  Oh yeah, it took me a long time but better late than never right?  I made this after a week trip to San Francisco and San Jose areas and back home with no mood to cook.  Haha... Who can blame me as I was so spoil with choices and easy excess to authentic Chinese food while in SF and SJ.  Now back home and back to cooking!

My shrimps quinoa salad and I hope you like it.  I wanted a flavorful quinoa so I cooked it in chicken stock.  Added frozen peas and carrots because I wanted more veggies (cook it with the quinoa).  After it is done,  I added fresh romaine lettuce, sunflower seeds, raisins and pan-fried spiced shrimps and mixed all together.  Later, I regretted that I didn't add a can of black beans into the mix.  So, feel free to add some beans (whatever bean you like).  This makes a great picnic food too as it's good eaten at room-temperature. 

If you are still thinking of what to make for 4th of July, this can be a great healthy recipe for you!

Summer Pesto Rotini

I made this summer pesto rotini for a picnic, I named it summer because this made a great summer picnic food, also great for potluck.  I wanted something easy to make and tasted good at room-temperature and this dish was created with what I had at my house at that time.  I made some cilantro walnut pesto for this dish, it was easy to make with a food processor.   If you are thinking of what to make for your 4th of July BBQ or picnic, give this dish a try!

Homemade Cilantro Walnut Pesto

Vietnamese Noodle Bowl

We loved Vietnamese food and we probably go there once a week.  In cold weather, we really enjoy a big bowl of hot pho, it warms us up and tastes delicious.  On hot summer days, I prefer the cold noodle bowl, it is so refreshing as it is fulled of vegetable and herbs.  We also like the rice plate and their fried egg rolls and fresh summer rolls.  Since some restaurants charge $2 for one summer roll, I prefer to make it at home.

Actually I had no intention of making this noodle but I only left with half of a English cucumber and a little romaine lettuce and I had to think of dinner for my family.  Luckily besides kimchi, my fridge also has some pickled radish and carrot at most times.  So, this dish was born.  I also always have some ground toasted peanuts in the freezer for emergency like this.  Since I finished all of it, it's time to make a new batch to freeze.  I served it with leftover spicy hot wings that my husband bought.

This noodle would be great with leftover Hawaiian BBQ chicken too!

Granola Hemp Seeds Yogurt

While shopping at World Food recently.  I came across a Hemp seeds sample booth.  Truthfully I am not familiar with hemp seeds but I am interested in anything healthy.  Haha... The salesgirl served the hemp seeds with 365 organic vanilla yogurt and I was impressed with the yogurt.  The hemp seeds didn't taste bad but couple with the yogurt, it actually tasted pretty good.  So, I picked up the yogurt to eat with the sample bag of the Hemp Hearts raw shelled hemp seeds that was given.  With my no-bake granola bar, this was indeed made a delicious breakfast.

Flaxseed, chia seed and now hemp seed.  I read that hemp seed is one of the "Super Food" and one of the nutrient dense food that we should be eating.  Compare to flaxseed and chia seed, hemp seed is more well-rounded as it has fiber, proteins, essential fats, some vitamins and essential amino acids and other nutrients necessary for promoting good health.  It is said to increase energy, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, improve memory, control blood sugar, lose weight and an antioxidant food.  About 4 to 5 tablespoons a day is enough to get the benefits.  Google it to learn more!  Compare to chia seed and flaxseed, hemp seed is soft, easily digestible
and great in eating it raw.

No-Bake Granola Bars

No-bake granola bars!!  Who wouldn't love it?  When I saw this easy no-bake granola bars, I just had to try it.  A healthy more natural piece of granola bar is selling for $1.80 or more in a grocery store.  That was pricey if you asked me.  With this easy recipe, you can make a batch and grab one on the go or as a snack, nothing beat homemade.  This would make a healthy school snack for my girls in the coming school year too.

These granola bars are delicious.  Soft and chewy with the taste of peanut butter and all the goodies I put in there.  I added chocolate chips because my girls loved it, but you can certainly omit it.

Lotus Root Cold Dish

Root vegetables are really good for us, so make sure your diet consists of some root vegetables.  I bought a small lotus root recently but instead of making soup with it, I wanted to try something else.  I saw a Chinese cooking show before and they used lotus root to make a cold dish.  I never tried that before and really interested in giving it a go.  There are few recipes in my blog containing lotus root, such as in soup, stir-frying, simmering and even deep-frying, but not a cold dish.  The minced ginger, green onion and toasted sesame seeds gave this dish a great flavor and it was really fragrant with crunchy lotus root.  I loved this way of enjoying the lotus root too.  Give it a try if you haven't tried it this way!