Embarking on my journey to eat healthier is challenging. My desire is to eat very minimal meat to no meat at all. With that said, pescetarian is on my mind! ‘Wondering what pescetarian is? It’s vegetarian diet but it includes fish and shellfish. It’s a challenge to stick to pescetarian diet, especially because I grew up eating lots of meat. Meat temptation is everywhere—market, restaurants, magazines, Internet, and television. And my love for watching food shows and reading food magazines doesn’t help at all. But tonight, I am saying no to meat (hopefully tomorrow night and the following night to, in hopes of making this a habit).
What’s on tonight’s menu? Salad! I love salad. You can do so much with salad. This is my version of the Superfood Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette recipe from Iowa Girl Eats.
Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
1/2 cup dry quinoa, cooked and cooled
1/3 cup red onion, chopped
1 orange, peeled and segments chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup peaches, chopped
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
For the Lemon Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
sweetener, agave
salt & pepper to taste
6 tbsp olive oil
Directions:
For the Lemon Vinaigrette: Whisk together lemon juice, garlic, dash of agave, salt and pepper in a bowl. Drizzle the olive oil while whisking constantly. Combine quinoa with red onion, orange, avocado, beans, peaches, red bell pepper, cilantro, salt and pepper.
Pour Lemon Vinaigrette over the salad and stir. The original recipe calls for pomegranate arils and corn. I used peaches, since it’s in season right now, and red bell pepper instead.
You can add chicken or shrimp, or any meat you like in the salad. Since I’m avoiding meat, I topped my salad with sauteed shrimp. I marinated shrimp with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and chili flakes. You can marinate the shrimp with your favorite herbs and spices. Cook the shrimp with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Don’t over cook the shrimp! Take the shrimp out of the pan as soon as it feels almost firm. You want the shrimp to stay juicy!
Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
It’s a healthy and delicious meal. As my dad would say, “it’s chow time!”
Quinoa Salad topped with Sauteed Shrimp
Spoontaneous.Grub 