OPA! Greek Fajitas!

by Anita


So long story short, I had a great meal all planned out. Ingredients bought and everything. Minor detail...I forgot to read the recipe which called for a slow cooker to be set for 6-8 hours. OOPS! So at 7pm I decided to improvise since I was a tad hungry at that point in the evening.


One quick look in my refrigerator and I found inspiration: cucumbers, feta, Greek yogurt, limes, spinach & feta chicken sausages, bell peppers, pitas...see where I am going here?! OPA! Greek Fajitas night! You could use any type of meat or choose to make this purely vegetarian as well using chickpeas for the protein and other veggies. This quick meal took around 30 minutes to prepare and included: Greek Fajitas, homemade Tzatziki sauce and quinoa. 

Save time while prepping items when other things are cooking

LIME-CILANTRO QUINOA (servings  4 - 10*)


Make this first since it cooks for about 10 -15 minutes and there are items to prep/chop/mix before it is done cooking. *

Lime-Cilantro Quinoa with bell peppers, feta, and pine nuts

   *I made a HUGE batch of the Lime-Cilantro Quinoa that I have made a few times before now. It is such a versatile side dish and topping that I knew if I made 3 cups of dried quinoa versus the 1 cup, we (2 people) would finish it within a few days. 



For this Greek inspired dish, I opted to not include any dried fruit and added crumbled feta instead. This has been a part of my lunch to work all week and I am not sick of it yet so try it out if you have not already!


Quinoa can be served hot or cold.


TZATZIKI SAUCE (servings: 4 - 10)


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 Cucumber , grated with cheese grater/Microplane
• 1 Garlic clove, minced; OR 1 Tblsp pre-minced garlic in a jar (that's what I used)
• 1 tsp of dried Oregano (or dill); or 1 Tblsp of fresh
• 1 Tblsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tblsp red wine vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl that can be sealed to store later.
2. Can be served right away or even better to let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. 

The finished and homemade Tzatziki sauce

GREEK FAJITAS (servings: 2)


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 or 2 Chicken sausages, chopped (w/ feta/spinach or any type of added vegetables)
• 1 Tblsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 Cucumber, diced
• 1 cup or more Spinach
• 2 whole wheat pita pockets
• OPTIONAL: 2 Tblsp of hummus, crumbled feta cheese, tomatoes, red onion 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat a saute pan on medium high heat with 1 Tblsp of oil. Once it is nice and hot, add your chopped chicken sausages to the pan. Stir and cook thoroughly for about 6 minutes.
2. While the chicken is cooking, chop the cucumbers and set aside.
3. Get your assembly line ready with plates, open pita pockets, hummus, spinach, chicken sausage, cucumbers, feta and top with your homemade Tzatziki sauce.

Assembly ready for Greek Fajitas

Add hummus, spinach and a tasty amount of Quinoa

Add sauteed chicken sausage on top -- only a little is necessary

Top with Tzatziki sauce, cucumbers, and feta

Leftovers Galore: 

• The Quinoa and Tzatziki sauce were phenomenal the next day at lunch with a side spinach salad all tossed together. 
• The next day I rolled the Quinoa, Tzatzki sauce and sliced turkey breast into a whole wheat tortilla. 
• AND the following day (yes, I made my meal stretch!) I rolled yet another whole wheat tortilla filled with Quinoa, cheese and leftover Texas Caviar (multi bean, tomato, corn dip from a 4th of July party) and warmed it up for another delicious lunch!

Quin--WHAT?! Lime-Cilantro Quinoa Salad

by Anita


Some of you may be familiar with quinoa and some of you may run from it since you may not even know how to pronounce it. Well, it's a basic grain. Yup, just that simple.


So here's the foundation for you to get to know quinoa (per Wikipedia): "a species of goosefoot, is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds."


Now that that is out of the way, I must say that I make quinoa just as I would when I crave pasta, rice, or potatoes (except for mashed potatoes, nothing compares to those). So hopefully that gives you a background if you are still nervous about the grain. It's much lighter overall than pasta or potatoes and it is packed with fiber, protein, magnesium, iron, and it is also gluten free. Pretty damn awesome if you ask me! 



Since I have been attempting a "Real Food" challenge to remove processed foods from my diet, quinoa fits the bill for a great go-to recipe item. I found this great recipe for the power packed grain from the blog I have been following and created the dish for an Easter brunch. It stuck out like a sore thumb on the counter in the mix of the buttery, meaty, eggy, casserole dishes alongside the sweet and gooey breads galore on the remarkably glutenous day that it turned out to be for my extended family. However, the crowd was pleased with the dish...or that's what they told me.


This recipe is also easily doubled for a big BBQ, pot luck, or for your own selfish devouring. 


LIME-CILANTRO QUINOA SALAD 


Ingredients:

Salad

• 2 cups water or chicken/vegetable stock 
• 3 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup dry)
• ¼ pine nuts, toasted
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 bell pepper of any color, diced
• OPTIONAL: 3/4 chopped dried fruit like raisins, apricots, dates, etc.

Dressing

• ¼ cup fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Pinch of salt
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (better quality than regular olive oil)

Directions

1. Boil water or chicken/vegetable in a sauce pan to cook quinoa. Cook per directions on package.
2. Toast pine nuts in a saute pan for 5 minutes or less on low to medium heat.
3. Chop and dice cilantro and bell peppers.
4. Mix all salad ingredients together with the cooked quinoa.
5. In a separate, bowl or food storage container whisk together all dressing ingredients, slowly adding the extra virgin olive oil while whisking.
6. Add the quinoa and added ingredients to the bowl with the dressing and mix thoroughly.
7. Ready to eat? Serve as a side dish, add to a spinach salad, stuff into a pita with lettuce, or have as light snack. Keep stored in refrigerator up to 7 days for freshness. 8

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients for the quinoa salad: bell pepper, pine nuts, cilantro, and optional dried fruit.

Ingredients for the zesty and simple dressing: Extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, Dijon (honey if you want) mustard, garlic, salt.

Bell pepper slices...always good for snacking at every time of day.

My rough dice

The final "salad": cooked quinoa with a lime-cilantro dressing and tasty Mediterranean ingredients

I got so excited with the tantalizing flavors of this quick dish that I had an impromptu porch party with a few friends and made a 2nd batch within 30 minutes since I had everything already out. Let me know what type of fun items you use to change up your quinoa! Go and conquer the quinoa!