Bruschetta Quinoa Salad

I made a version of Anna Olson’s Bruschetta Quinoa Salad this weekend and it turned out so lovely I had to share! For the original recipe check out the bulk barn website here.

Ingredients
1/2 cup Quinoa
2 cups water
2 ripe tomatoes diced
1 TSP garlic powder
1 TBSP each red wine vinegar and pesto
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook Quinoa in lightly boiling water until tender, about 6 minutes. Drain. Add rest of ingredients while quinoa is warm. Allow to cool. Adjust seasonings once cooled. Serve cold.

Spicy Black Bean Lettuce Wraps

I love the ease of a wrap. Tasty and good for you, without having to cook and heat you up even more than you are already! But have you ever seen the sodium levels on some of these tortilla wraps?! It’s pretty high. So as a substitute, sometimes I like to use large lettuce leaves. Romaine or bibb lettuce works well, but really as long as its large enough for filling, any lettuce will do. And hey, it helps you get even more veggies in your diet!

Ingredients
1 can low sodium black beans, rinsed
1 can low sodium canned diced tomatoes, or two fresh ones diced
1 handful fresh basil, finely chopped
1 TBSP cayenne pepper, or to taste if you don’t love spicy food
1/2 TSP garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
Juice and zest of one half a lemon
2 TBSP olive oil
Lettuce as wraps

Mix all ingredients, minus lettuce in a bowl. Allow to sit for 1 hour in fridge. Serve in wrap form!

Grilled Corn And Black Bean Tacos

These tacos are served cold, so they are super easy to put together ahead of time for a quick dinner, or make a great lunch the next day. Feel free to grill the corn the night before when you are BBQ or just used cooked corn from frozen or salt free corn from the can.

Ingredients
2 cups grilled corn, cut off the cob into kernels
1 cup black beans
1 avocado, cubed
1 lime
1 TSP cumin, ground
2 TBSP olive oil

Mix all ingredients together and allow to sit in refrigerator for at least an hour for the flavours to meld. Serve with taco shells, salsa, cheese and lettuce.

Lime Coconut Sweet Potato Bites

A great little appetizer that is low in fat and high in vitamin A!

Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes
2 TBSP butter
1 small clove garlic sliced
2 TBSP toasted coconut
1 TBSP lime juice
1 TSP zested lime peel
Dash of hot sauce
Salt to taste

Peel potatoes and cut into 1/2-in (1 cm) cubes. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold salted water. Bring to a boil and simmer until almost fork tender, about 3 minutes. Drain well and pat dry with paper towel.

In a skillet set over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove garlic and discard. When pan is hot, add cubes of potato and cook, turning until golden on each side, about 8 minutes.

Add coconut, lime juice, lime peel and hot pepper sauce to pan; toss potatoes to coat evenly. Taste and add salt if necessary. Skewer each potato cube with a toothpick and arrange on a platter. Serve at room temperature

** From Dana McCauley of Homemakers.com