I've slowly been reducing the amount of red meat in my diet and it feels pretty good. I rarely buy it now, but I usually cave and order something with it when I eat out, which is rare. In other words, make me a steak if you invite me over for dinner. I found out about quinoa (pronounced 'King-Wah') in a magazine - it's actually cool because it's not really a grain even though it looks like one. It's high in protein, low in fat, and for you poor people who are allergic to wheat, it's gluten free. I significantly modified an allrecipes recipe, and it turned out pretty bomb:
Ingredients:
Set 1:
1 1/2 cups of red quinoa (Trader Joes, near the pastas and rice)
3 cups of chicken stock
2 cloves of minced garlic
Set 2:
2 Costco chicken breasts, cubed or torn, whatever (or 2 chicken breasts cooked however you want - I used a lemon pepper garlic marinade and baked them at 400 for 45 minutes, covered for the first 30 and then open for the last 15)
1 purple onion, diced
2 small bell peppers, diced
1/2 cup of chopped olives (I used the canned kind)
1/4 cup of chopped parsley (substitute with basil, if you hate parsley)
1/3 cup of chopped green onions
1 can of whole corn kernels, drained
1 can of red kidney beans, drained
3/4 tsps of salt
Set 3:
Juice of 2 limes and 1 lemon
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
Directions:
1. Bring the chicken stock and minced garlic to a boil in a big sauce pan that has a cover.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the quinoa, and cover. Let it simmer for about 20-22 minutes (this was the first time I cooked the stuff, so I opened the cover and tasted every 5 minutes or so after 15 to assess tenderness. Then I turned the heat up and boiled off excess water while stirring when the texture suited me). Or you can follow the general cooking directions on the box.
3. While the quinoa is cooking, cube the chicken, dice the veggies, open the cans, and juice the lemons and limes. Efficiency.
4. When the quinoa is cooked, remove the saucepan from the heat, and gently stir in the 'set 2' ingredients.
5. When the stuff above is well mixed, add the ingredients of 'set 3' and do one last quick stir.
This made and estimated 5 servings, about 1 cup each.
