Greek Style Quinoa Salad

We likey a lotta salads around here! My daughter Madeline's favorite salad, by far, is a Greek salad! She is all about the tangy kalamata olives, the salty, creamy feta cheese, and the bite of raw onions.

I am trying to mix it up in regards to school lunches... My girl's bring a cold lunch, since school lunches have much to be desired. There are some rare decent choices, but you know if you are eating away from home, you are likely consuming GMO (genetically modified organisms) foods, and most certainly pesticides, etc.

So, adding another fun salad to the arsenal. Since Madeline favorite cold lunch is Quinoa salad, I decided to do a fun Greek Style Quinoa Salad!

Greek Style Quinoa Salad


1 C uncooked quinoa
1 cucumber diced
1 tomato diced
1 medium onion diced
1 avocado diced
12 or more kalmata olives chopped
raw feta cheese to taste
1 C of  my Greek Style Salad Dressing

Cook quinoa as directed on package. Usually it is 1 C quinoa, to 2 cups water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer, and cook approx. 12 - 15 minutes. Uncover, fluff like you would rice, and allow to cool! This will make approx. 4 cups of cooked quinoa.
Add all ingredients into a bowl, then toss gently. Avocado breaks apart easily so be careful!

*You could easily double the veg here. I make it more quinoa ratio to the veg ratio here. You could make it more chopped veg to quinoa if desired!
*With all the raw vegetables, you are getting all of the nutrients and enzymes present in raw food! Your daily goal should be at LEAST 50% raw.
* I don't know if avocado is in the vein of Greek style, but I don't care. Avocado makes everything better... and it is a SUPER FOOD!
*I only use raw sheep's milk feta. Pasteurized milk products, pasteurized ANYTHING is damaging to human health! It ruins anything that may have been beneficial in the milk, and is denatured. Sheep's milk is also and A2 milk, which isn't harmful to humans like A1 milk most often found in our dairy products in the U.S.. Those with dairy allergy, can often consume raw sheep and goat milk products.

This is delicious and nutritious! Quinoa is a superfood in so many ways! As is the delicious, creamy, heavenly avocado! Onions have antibiotic properties, and are powerfully antiviral, and anticancer too! Cucumbers are a misunderstood, and underestimated vegetable! They are also a superfood! It is highest of the alkaline scale of vegetables! An alkaline pH won't allow disease or illness. Kalamata olives are a source of essential fats, their deep rich color offers phtyonutrients, and are just dang tasty! Raw sheep's milk Feta cheese also has SURPRISING health benefits, like being powerful against food born illness/ or food poisoning. Wow.

Yours in health,
Natalie

Grandma's Creamy Cucumber Salad (dairy free)

It's still very warm outside... Well, it is literally summer until the 21st! So, I plan on making a side dish my family really loves. Creamy cukes it is!  This is definitely a THROW-back dish, that most of us would remember. Certainly peeps from my neck of the woods.

My sweet grandma, made this dish often in the summer, due to her may cucumber plants. My grandma and grandpa didn't have a big garden, but they really utilized their small plot of land, in the city of Milwaukee on 65th street. They planted cukes along their back fence, that enclosed their yard from the alley. The cukes climbed up the fence, and they would grow on both sides of the fence! They also planted tomatoes and peppers on the side of the garage, and along the back of their little home.

They used the area very well! I speak for myself and siblings when I say, going to grandma and grandpa's in the summer, and picking cukes and tomatoes right off of the vine, was one of our favorite memories.... My grandma with her sun hat, and very tan, farmer tanned arms from working outdoors.

So, this is my take on my grandma's creamy cukes. I know she used sour cream, and I know she used vinegar, and dill. I make mine dairy free, and sub with mayo- my favorite condiment! I use Bragg's raw apple cider vinegar, instead of white, because it is so darned good, and good for you! The cucumbers I use in the summer now, are from the farmer's market... good, but not like grandma's;)

Grandma's Creamy Cucumber Salad

2 large cucumbers, ( peels on if from your farmer or garden) very thinly sliced
1 medium onion,  cut in half, very thinly sliced
1/4 C Bragg's raw apple cider vinegar
1/4 C vegenaise, or good quality mayo
1 Tbl raw agave nectar, raw honey, or palm sugar
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon dill
1/4 tsp sea salt

I make the dressing in a blender, blending last 5 ingredients. I then
use my mandolin, to make light work of slicing the cukes and onion paper thin! Toss veg into dressing! Cover, and chill for at least 1 hour, but longer is better.

Pour dressing into the bowl over veggies!

Cool & creamy goodness!

*Today I used Penzeys Sunny Paris  blend. It was a gift from my friend Meg! It is a blend of purple shallot, chives, green peppercorn, French basil, French tarragon, chervil, bay leaf, and dill weed. It was perfect for this salad!
*Cucumbers are a very healthy vegetable! It is the most alkaline of all vegetables! A body that is of alkaline pH, cannot become ill. Cool as a cucumber? That's because they quell inflammation in the body!

So, thank you grandma for this inspiration! I don't ever remember her using a cook book... So, I guess that's where I get wingin' it from. However, I wish she wrote some of her recipes down. I would've cherished them.  Maybe I should... in my own handwriting, instead of just on the blog.  Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Yours in health,
Natalie

Summer Quinoa Salad

It's been a gorgeous summer... Sometimes a salad is in order as your main dish!

With summer being here, my daugthers and I love to kick it to local farmer's markets! It is a win/win/win. We have fun shopping together, we support local farmers, (local economy) AND we get to eat fresh local produce!

Quinoa is a fantastic, versatile product, that is used like a grain, but is really a seed! It is nutritious, is gluten and grain free, and is considered a SUPER food! Plus, it tastes great.

I normally throw together my salads, but in case anyone asks what I did, what is the recipe, I decided to measure, and to pay attention!

Summer Quinoa Salad

2 C quinoa uncooked
1 cucumber diced
1 zucchini diced
1/2 C sweet corn
1 lg tomato diced
1 avocado diced
1 pepper diced

Dressing
1/4 C raw apple cider vinegar
1/4 C olive oil
2 garlic cloves chopped or pressed
1 tsp raw honey
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Cook quinoa as directed. I put 2 C quinoa and 4 C water in a sauce pan, brought to a boil. Then turn down and simmer for approx. 12 minutes. Allow quinoa to cool.

Put all of the ingredients of the dressing in a jar, and shake well, and put into the fridge. Alternatively, you could blend ingredients in a blender. But why clean the blender? The dressing will meld flavors, as your quinoa cools.

Dice your veg, and put into a mixing bowl. When quinoa is cool, everything goes into the mixing bowl except avocado. Mix avocado in last, as it breaks apart easily... and voila! Summer salad, using a super food, and magically healthy produce from the market!

*Today I used a 10 oz. can of diced Mexican tomatoes. We ate all of our fresh tomatoes!
*I normally would dice an onion and have that in the salad. This might the first time ever, I didn't have onion in a quinoa salad or side dish.
*You could use lemon juice in lieu of vinegar as your acid in the dressing. 1/4 C lemon juice, or 1 lemon freshly squeezed.
*You could throw in 1/4 C chopped nuts of choice.
*Omit the corn for a grain-free salad. That would make it Paleo for those who are interested!

This salad could be made with veggies of choice. I used what I had on hand!

Yours in health,
Natalie