Quinoa and Bean Salad

Quinoa was one of the best discoveries I made when I first gave up wheat.  Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a complete protein source, and can be eaten anywhere you'd have rice.  It cooks just like rice but in a fraction of the time, which is especially nice when you want a grain with dinner but don't have an hour to cook.  It can be found in bulk and health food stores.

This recipe is great year round, but is especially nice and light for summer.  I like it instead of a pasta salad at a barbeque, or as a light lunch on it's own.  Plenty of substitutions can be made as well.  Use black or kidney beans on their own if you don't have mixed beans, and if you're avoiding dairy leave the feta out or substitute avocado cubes.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. olive oil
4 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper
1 cup quinoa
1 can mixed beans (or use black or kidney beans if you don't have mixed)
1/2 can chick peas
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup each green, red and yellow pepper slivers
1 cup green peas, cooked
crumbled feta cheese

Put quinoa in 2 cups water and bring to a boil, then stir, cover with lid and turn heat down to low.  Cook until water is gone, approximately 15 minutes.  Mix cooked quinoa, beans, vegetables and feta in large bowl.  Combine oil, lemon juice, oregano and salt and pepper, and shake in a bottle to mix.  Pour over salad and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.

Tamari Baked Salmon

This salmon recipe is one of our very favourites for so many reasons.  It's fast, easy, and it's good enough to serve to company.  My brother once told me that if I wanted to impress a date that this is what I should cook. I've also cooked rainbow trout this way and it was great too.

If you're not familiar with tamari, it's a type of soy sauce you can find easily in health food stores or the healthy section of some grocery stores.  There is a wheat-free type, which is what I use.  If you don't have a problem with gluten you can substitute regular soy sauce.

The recipe was published in a booklet put out by the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition called Healing Leaky Gut.  Doesn't sound too appetizing, does it?!  But trust me, this recipe is fantastic!

Ingredients:

4 salmon filets
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup tamari sauce
1 tbsp. olive oil

Place washed salmon filets in baking dish.  Mix remaining ingredients and pour over salmon.  This dish works best if the dish fits snuggly around the filets, so the fish is "swimming" in the sauce.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 min on each side.  Put it in for longer if the fish still looks shiny inside.  As soon as it's opaque though, it's done.  It will be very tender and delicious.

Serves 4.