How to make Quinoa ... the easy way!

The first time I ever made Quinoa at home was when I was doing my 1st Arise & Shine cleanse last October.  The cleanse is basically an alkaline diet excluding salt.  Now, you would think the week where we had to fast (meaning no eating at all) for 7 days would be the hardest part of the cleanse but actually, the hardest part for all of us who did the cleanse was not being able to use salt.  You don't realize how much salt we eat until you have to remove it completely from your diet.  Not matter how many spices I put in my veggies, there was always something missing.....salt!

Anyways, so as I was running out of ideas of what to eat and getting bored with bland dishes...I got curious about this "quinoa" that I was allowed to eat 3 times a week.  I bought some quinoa from the bio store and went home to give it a try.

I followed the instructions on the box and ended up with a huge pot of sticky lumpy quinoa (note: opps, i made way too much! remember that 500g of Quinoa is enough to feed a family of 8!!!) Out of desperation and hunger, I ate it with some roasted vegetables that night and threw out the rest of the batch.  I made a mental note to never make it again....it was definitely a failed attempt!

Then months later, I found GlutenFreeGoddess's post on how to cook quinoa with a rice cooker (http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-to-cook-quinoa-super-easy-way.html) and decided to give this Quinoa a second try.


Wow, it turned out fluffy like rice and absolutely delicious.  I now eat it about once a week.

With the rice cooker, cooking quinoa is really a no-brainer.  Just remember that the Quinoa to Water ration is 1-2.  If you want to cook 1 cup of quinoa (enough for 3-4 people), you would need to add 2 cups of water.

A little trick I use to give the quinoa more flavor is to cook it in vegetable broth instead of water.  YUMMY!

Quinoa is super good for you and if made correctly, it is absolutely delicious! So don't give up on that little grain! Try it with a rice cooker!

Here's some RED quinoa made with my rice cooker!  Great for salads!

French inspired Tofu Quiche

A quick weekend trip to Paris filled with Ladureé macarons, lorraine quiches and baguette bread smeared with salty butter left me very inspired to make my own alkaline versions of these delicious French dishes. 

Yes, I know…I will be the first to admit that none of those foods are alkaline!  However, a big part of living alkaline is finding the right balance of acid-alkaline foods and not feeling deprived from foods you love.  Because in the end, if you are using will power to stay alkaline, the chances of you finding yourself in the middle of the night stuffing yourself with all the worst acid foods you can find in your kitchen is very likely since will power can only take you so far (umm, I know this from personal experience…). 

I went to Paris knowing that the chances of me finding alkaline dishes are low so I ate whatever I wanted in moderation.   Remember the balance should be 60-80% alkaline and eating a few acid dishes is not the end of the world so don’t beat yourself up about it.   Just remember that moderation is key and according to Anthony and Sage Robbins, who are both huge advocates of alkaline living, a little “zig zagging” keeps you satisfied and happy (see Anthony and Sage Robbins’ 3 health tips here). 

Today’s recipe will be a French inspired vegetable tofu quiche that’s extremely light and tasty.

Spelt Crust Tofu Quiche

Preparation time: 20 minutes + 20 minutes in oven

Serves 4

• Olive Oil
• 1 leek chopped
• 2 zucchini chopped
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 block of firm silken tofu
• ¼ cup of soymilk
• 2 tsp of cornstarch
• 1 packet of Spelt filo pasta
• Vegetable broth powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

1)     Turn the oven on high (approx 200 Celsius degrees) and put in the red pepper whole and roast while you prepare the other ingredients.  If you are lazy or short in time, you can always just chop up the red peppers finely and cook it with the zucchini. 

2)     While the pepper is roasting, chop up your leek and zucchini in small thin slices.  Heat up the olive oil in a pan and sauté the leeks and zucchini until they become clear.  Season with vegetable broth powder (normally I use vegetable broth but since the filling should not be too liquid, it’s best to use dry seasoning) and put aside.

3)     In a mixing bowl, blend up the firm silken tofu with a hand blender.  It is important to use the firm silken type as it gives a egg-custard texture to the quiche

4)     Check the pepper in the oven.  If the skin has blackened, take out and chill for a few minutes.  Peel the skin off and get rid of the seeds.  Chop up the pepper into small sizes like the zucchini.

5)     Mix the leek and zucchini mixture, roasted peppers and tofu together in your bowl.  This mixture is so tasty it can even be a dish on its own.

6)     Add the soymilk and cornstarch to the mixture and your filling is ready! (go easy with the soymilk as you don't want the filling to be too liquid.  if you feel it's too liquid, adjust by adding more cornstarch)

7)     Pour the filling mixture into your crust and bake for 20 minute or until set.   Let sit for 10 minutes and serve with a nice green salad!

“Bulgar” Kamut, Grilled Tofu with Spinach

“Quinoa” “Kamut” “Spelt” “Millet”….a few months ago, these words were as foreign to me as “testona” or “pappato” which are two new Italian words I learned this week.

Now, these grains are like my new best friends.  Whenever I see them listed on a food package, I get soo excited because honestly it’s not very easy to find alkaline foods in Switzerland where people live off of cheeses and chocolates.

I was recently in Torino, Italy, for a weekend and amazingly, the restaurant we went to had kamut on their menu.  It was actually the first time I’ve ever tried kamut and I was pleasantly surprised.

I had a nice conversation with the chef who shared with me some tips of making kamut.   

So what is Kamut?  Kamut is a high protein grain (30% more protein than wheat) containing a high mineral concentration (especially in selenium, zinc, and magnesium) and provides the body with more energy in the form of complex carbohydrates.  

 

 

In this recipe, I used Kamut Bulgur which is a quick-cooking form of the whole grain as it has been parboiled, dried and grounded into smaller sizes.  The advantage of this kind of bulgur is that not only does it cook much faster, I actually prefer the taste of its softer texture (similar to brown rice).  Feel free use it in replacement for any rice or cous cous recipe.

Kamut Bulgur, Grilled Tofu with Garlic Spinach
Preparation - 30 minutes
serves 2

• ½ cup of Kamut Bulgur 
•  1½ cups of vegetable broth 
•  1 block of firm tofu 
• 1 bag of pre-washed spinach (prewashed…sure, why not? It saves time!) 
•  1 garlic 
•   Olive oil 
•   Himalayan salt and pepper to taste 
•   soy cheese if you want

1. Cook ½ cup of Kamut Bulgur in the rice cooker with 1½ cups of vegetable broth.  This was enough for two people but feel free to add more kamut.  Just remember the ratio should be 1:3 (kamut:water).  Once the kamut bulgar was cooked, I added some soy cheese to spice it up a bit.  Of course, you can cook kamut in a pot over the stove but I highly recommend using a rice cooker.  It really makes cooking any type of grain a no brainer and makes life that much easier.   
2. Cut the tofu in 1 inch thick slices and grill them on a griddle pan.  Season freely with salt or your favorite seasoning.  I always use Himalayan salt which is alkaline and is considered one of the purest form of salt we can use. 
3.  Chop up the garlic.  Fry them in a pan with some olive oil til golden brown 
4.  Add your spinach to pan and stir it up.  Add a pinch of salt.  Don’t walk away! Spinach takes literally a few minutes to cook.  

Buon appetito!!!

Sweet Alkaline breakfast - a Cappucino and Chocolate Croissant.....just kidding!

Living in the Italian region of Switzerland makes life a bit difficult when it comes to finding sweet alkaline breakfasts since a typical breakfast here is a cup of cappuccino accompanied with a chocolate croissant.   As much as I can handle green veggies for breakfast, sometimes I miss having a sweet breakfast.

I always read that quinoa makes a great oatmeal but since I already take too long choosing what to wear for work each morning, cooking quinoa in the morning is out of the question.  Last week, I discovered Quinoa FLAKES.  I couldn't believe that I've been eating alkaline for 5 months and I never knew this!  I was sooo excited!  You see, I am all about finding shortcuts and cheats when it comes to cooking healthy food.  I find it a pity that most people turn away from healthy diets because they have this idea that it's too time consuming to make. Not true!

Here’s what quinoa flakes look like:

Here’s a super delish sweet alkaline breakfast that’s perfect for starting your day right and the great thing is it can be made in MINUTES!

 

Quinoa Oatmeal
cooking time: 4 minutes
Serves 2

• 1 cup of quinoa flakes
• 3 cups of almond milk or water if you prefer
• agave nectar to sweeten
• optional: add alkaline toppings to spice things up a bit!
  
  

1)   Mix the quinoa flakes and the almond milk in a pan and bring to a boil (add less almond milk if you prefer thicker oatmeal)

2)   Once the liquid boils, take it off the stove and stir til all liquid is absorbed (or just leave it there while you finish your morning routine)

3)  Add agave nectar to sweeten to your taste

When I cook normal quinoa in my rice cooker, it takes about 20 minutes but with these rolled quinoa flakes, it literally takes minutes for it to soak up all the almond milk.  Because it’s the same texture of oatmeal flakes, it really does taste like oatmeal!  

Remember you can always pimp up your oatmeal with your favorite alkaline toppings like dates, almonds and cinnamon!l! 

you see, alkaline eating can be super easy and fun!

Who says that soups can't be sexy?

I was never a big soup person.  Soups were meant for sick days, light lunches, and old people who can’t chew.   But after living in city where the ladies bust out their fur coats as early as late October and temperatures of below 0 Celsius are nothing special to report about.   I’ve somehow grown to enjoy a steamy cup of soup on a snowy day.

When I did my 30 day alkaline cleanse, it was in July, right after my Unleash the Power Within event with Tony Robbins in Rome. It was the perfect season to start the cleanse, especially one that promotes raw eating.   I filled my stomach with endless Gazpacho soups and rocket salads and felt completely content.  

Now that it’s winter, I just can’t get myself to make a raw soup…my tummy needs something warm and hearty.  A lot of people get the wrong idea that alkaline is a raw diet.  As long as you are eating the correct alkaline foods, your body will maintain that correct PH balance.  Of course, the more raw foods you eat the better but, hey, I ain’t perfect and I don’t try to be.

A lot of lentil recipes will take much longer but my version is super duper quick and easy cus I got my beloved pressure cooker.  When I was shopping for my pressure cooker, I read a bunch of horror stories of pressure cooker exploding, etc.  PLEASE do yourself a favor and get yourself a pressure cooker.  With the latest technology and your common sense, pressure cookers really should be the last thing you are scared of.   It’s saves you so much time and the tenderness of the food makes your guests believe that you've labored over the pot for hours!

Winter Lentil Soup with Butternut Squash

Cooking time: 25 minutes

• 2 tbs of olive oil  
• 400 g of green lentils (any type would do, I just prefer the green ones cus I like the color)
• 1 butternut squash, peel and cut into bite sized squares
• 1 clove of garlic 
• 1 large onion , chopped into small cubes
• 2 cups of veggie broth
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop up onion, garlic, and butternut squash
2. Heat up olive oil in the pressure cooker
3. Sautee onion and garlic for a few seconds (most recipes for pressure cooker says to sautee the onions til brown and soft but by the time the lentils are cooked, the onions would have melted away into the broth so it really doesn’t make a difference)
4. Add green lentils and butternut squash.  (lentils need no pre-soaking)
5. Add 2 cups of veggie broth and cover with enough water to cover at least twice the height of the lentils.
6. Seal the cooker and cook at high pressure for 10 minutes. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, cook in a pot until lentils are soft, about an hour.  (10 mins vs 1 hour, do the math…..buy the pressure cooker)
7. Remove from heat and let cool naturally
8. Once the pressure has been completely released, open the cooker and season with salt and pepper as you please.  Add more water/broth if you would like the soup to be more soupy.

This hearty delicious soup is so filling it can be a one plate meal for dinner or lunch.  

400g of lentils will make you enough soup to feed an army (of 6 ppl) so if you got left overs, just save them in the freezer for another cold day.

This recipe is so versatile.  You can add carrots and potatoes instead of butternut squash, or spice it up with some herbs......yeah, go ahead, you got my permission to get creative and make a sexy soup!

Sunday Brunch: Scrambled Tofu? Why not....

One of my biggest challenges in living alkaline is deciding what to eat for breakfast.  The typical sweet breakfasts (pastry, toast with jam, cappucino, milk tea and even fruit) are out the door as they are all considered acid foods(don't worry, I'll be posting some equally yummy sweet alkaline recipes soon).  When I first did my 30 day alkaline cleanse, I was extremely hardcore and strict with myself.  Everyday, I would wake up early and prepare myself a veggie breakfast such as sliced avocado, tomatoes, cucumbers with a squeeze of lemon, olive oil and salt to taste.  To add variety, sometimes I would even steam some broccoli the night before and add lemon and salt for flavor.  You should see the confused faces of my Italian coworkers when they saw me eating steamed zucchine at 9 am in our break room.   Knowing that it would be useless to explain the concept of eating alkaline to a group of people whose culture praises of al dente pasta, espresso, and tiramisu, I simply reply with “I’m Taiwanese” and smile.   They politely smile back accepting my explanation and return to their whispering. 

For 30 days I have to say it wasn’t hard to eat steamed veggies for breakfast but now that I’ve decided to live alkaline on a daily basis, I need to come up with some more interesting breakfast recipes.  Having lived in Los Angeles for 8 years, I am a huge fan of big hearty American style omelets.  So today I decided to make a tofu scramble with the usual steamed broccoli that is now a regular stable in my fridge.   I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how similar the texture of the firm tofu was to real scrambled eggs.  Like with any scrabble egg recipe, you really can create any type of variation you like.  If I had some alkaline ketchup available, I would definitely have it on the side.

Scrambled Tofu with Broccoli
preparation time: 20 minutes

-       1 block of FIRM tofu (important to use FIRM tofu so that it crumbles and creates the texture of scramble eggs)

-       1 head of broccoli, cut into small pieces

-       2 tps of olive oil

-       ½ cup of veggie broth

-       tsp of sesame oil

-       salt and pepper for taste

1)   Heat up your pan with some olive oil

2)   Sautee the broccoli until soft and season with some salt

3)   Once the broccoli is seasoned and cooked, remove the broccoli off the pan

4)   Add some more olive oil to the pan and crumble the firm tofu into small pieces. As tofu doesn’t really have a taste, I prefer to cook and season it separately to get all the flavors in.  Firm tofu can be a bit dry so add the veggie broth to moisten it and give it more flavor.

5)   Once you are happy with the taste of the tofu, mix in the broccoli and mix it up.

Serve it up with some fresh tomatoes to give the plate some freshness!