Cranberry Citrus Quinoa recipe (and a commentary on the cookie selection at Target)

January 16th, 2012

cranquinoa Cranberry Citrus Quinoa recipe (and a commentary on the cookie selection at Target)

Sweet tastes good. End of story. I’m reminded of this each day when Danny accepts his spinach or his beef but really lunges for his sweet potato. It’s a built-in craving.

Ok, so on that note I was in Target yesterday and decided we probably needed some cookies (oh geez, here we go Michelle). Since I wasn’t going to make it to Whole Foods, I figured I’d see what Target had. Like, a bag of good ol’ Fig Newtons must be fairly natural? Not too many weird ingredients, right?

Wrong! Fig Newtons are made with high fructose corn syrup, as are just about every other cookie on the shelf. Including the homemade-looking Archer brand I almost got fooled into buying. Only Kashi cookies were made with regular sugar.

(Which, of course, does not make them healthy by any stretch of the imagination. But I still bought them. I’m human.)

Anyway, the reason I’m talking about sugar and corn syrup is because we are all human, and we love our sweets. This is a recipe you will therefore love. All 3 of us did!

Cranberry Citrus Quinoa

For quinoa:
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup orange juice
1 cup water
big pinch of salt

2 Tbl. olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
1 cup butternut squash, diced
1 pear, diced
5 oz. fresh cranberries, chopped (although I suppose you could use dried)
1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
1 handful fresh mint, chopped
1 handful fresh basil, chopped
1 lemon, juiced
Big pinch cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

First, rinse and drain quinoa. Then combine with OJ and water in a pot, bring to a boil and simmer until water is absorbed.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a big pan and add onion. Add a bit of salt and pepper. Cook until translucent. Add squash and pear. Mix and cover until they are soft (about 5 min). Mix in quinoa, then add herbs, lemon, and more salt and pepper.

*At this point, take out a portion for baby and set aside. At least, that’s what I did. Though in retrospect I think he’d have liked the cranberries if they were chopped smaller.*

For the adults, add cranberries, walnuts and cayenne. Mix well.

Serve over cooked or raw greens.

For the record, here are other things that Danny likes to try and eat:
Deodorant, christmas tree ornaments, my leg, the couch, his coat, my nose, the cat’s tail.

You’d think natural selection would have knocked out this dangerous need to eat everything by now! Or else natural selection is what gave mothers eyes in the back of our heads. Sometimes.

pixel Cranberry Citrus Quinoa recipe (and a commentary on the cookie selection at Target)

5 Comments baby, recipe, Sugar, vegan, vegetarian, winter

  • http://twitter.com/RickiHeller Ricki Heller

    Just enough “sweet” in this to make it crave-able! Sounds delicious. How can you go wrong with quinoa as a base, right? :)

  • http://www.thrive-style.com Lisakthrives

    That looks yummy! I always love a bit of sweet in my meals….and well, things that are all sweet really do attract me most…I’m blaming it on that built in thing you mentioned!
    It is so frustrating—the ingredients in foods, the misuse of the term “natural” …and that people who want to make good choices (and who think they are) often really aren’t!

  • http://www.findyourbalancehealth.com/ Michelle Pfennighaus, CHC

    Sometimes I fear I’m quinoa-ed out. But then it turns out, I’m not. :-)

  • http://www.findyourbalancehealth.com/ Michelle Pfennighaus, CHC

    I know, I think most people DO want to make a healthy choice but find it nearly impossible to figure out.

  • http://www.fakefoodfree.com/ Lori

    This salad sounds amazing! I just bought a big bag of quinoa so I’m in business. I’m always amazed when I look back at some of the cookies I used to buy, not often, but often enough. Even those that I thought were okay, or mildly healthy are now shocking.

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