Veggie Quinoa Pilaf

Happy Tuesday! How is your week treating you so far?

Yesterday I told one of my co-workers to have a good weekend as I was leaving for the day ~ yep! That pretty much sums up how my week has started out.

So what do I do when I'm having a bad day? Head straight to the kitchen my friends! Nothing says bliss like some amazing and delish comfort food :-) The old Andrea would have reached straight for the Doritos or KitKat bars, but this new gal cooked up an awesome quinoa pilaf full of delicious fresh veggies. It was HEAVEN....and I didn't have any 'morning-after' regret from over-indulging ;-)

Veggie Quinoa Pilaf
Serves 4 as a side dish

2 tbsp coconut oil (or canola)
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
12 baby carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1/2 c chopped crimini mushrooms
1/2 c broccoli, diced
2 c vegetable broth
1 c uncooked quinoa
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Heat the coconut oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onions. Sprinkle with sea salt and garlic powder.

After about 5 minutes, add the veggies to the onion and cook an additional 5 minutes. Once the veggies are softened, add the quinoa and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for approximately 15 minutes or until all of the water is absorbed. Squeeze the juice from 1/2 a lemon over the entire dish. Remove the skillet from the heat and let stand covered for 5 minutes. Remove lid, fluff and serve.

This is such a tasty dish! I had to resist the temptation to eat it right out of the skillet with a spoon!

I've been craving lemon on everything lately!

It really added a little pizazz to the pilaf! 

I served my quinoa pilaf with a side of roasted sweet potatoes. It was definitely a mood boosting meal!

Have you ever tried quinoa before? What's your fave way to cook it?
What do you do to unwind after a loooonnnggg day at the office?

Have a great day!

Andrea

PS - what do you think of my nail polish colour??

Balsamic Gnocchi with Garlic Butter & Roasted Butternut Squash

Have you ever eaten gnocchi before?

If your answer is no, you better go out to the grocery store right now and pick some up - it's the bombdigity!

I hadn't had gnocchi until recently. I've seen it and always thought the cute little potato dumplings looked appealing, but never got around to trying them. That was until the day I saw a recipe on How Sweet It Is for Balsamic Gnocchi.  This recipe is easy, delicious and Derek said that he would eat this meal every single day ~ this says alot considering no meat was involved.

I am not going reiterate the recipe for Balsamic Gnocchi because I pretty much stuck right to Jessica's recipe. The only changes I made were that I added lots more veggies (sorry Jessica, that might ruin the recipe for you).  I used one pepper, 4 green onions, 1 small zucchini and a handful of crimini mushrooms and I used Earth Balance instead of butter for the basil garlic butter.

This recipe is to die for. It only takes 20 minutes to whip up and would be a great meal to wow your guests with.

As a side, I decided to roast a butternut squash (ok, I admit it....I cheated and I bought a pre-cut squash). Squash is one of my all-time favourite foods in the winter and there is no other way to make it other than slow roasting in the oven. I just wish they would peel like an orange - my wrists are so sore by the time I finish the peeling and chopping, I can hardly use my stirring hand to finish the meal! I could eat a whole roasted squash myself....in fact I probably have :-) At least squash is good for you; that's better than eating a whole cheesecake by yourself .. er, not that I would know or anything.

Roasted Butternut Squash

1 butternut squash

2 tbsp olive oil

1 - 2 tsp sea salt

sprinkle of pepper

Peel and cut the butternut squash into bite size pieces. Place in large bowl. Add the olive oil, salt and pepper and stir to evenly coat the squash. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 for approximately 15 minutes.

 Flip the squash pieces and cook for an additional 15 minutes. I like my squash to come out crispy and starting to brown - the pieces are so sticky and sweet you will understand why I could eat the entire squash myself. If you are like me and you don't time all the components of your meal quite right, you can speed up the baking time by putting the broiler on for just a few minutes per side.

Perfection!

...and in as easy as 1, 2, 3 you have an amazing meal that will wow your family and  friends and even your meat lovin' husband.

Right about now you're wishing you were my friend aren't ya?? :-)

What's your favourite type of squash?

Do you have an awesome recipe of gnocchi you'd like to share?

I hope you all have a relaxing Sunday evening and to my Canadian friends, Happy Family Day tomorrow....and to my American buddies, Happy President's Day! I hope your day off is filled with family, friends and lots of good eats.

Andrea