A New View of Healthy Eating: Healthy Plant-Based Recipes by Melanie Albert: Spring Hemp Seed Quinoa Tabouli

by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

This week during our Whole Food SOUL (Seasonal Organic Unprocessed Local) cooking class at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, our focus was on whole grains and the students prepared Quinoa Salad and Hempseed Tabouli.

It had been awhile since I’ve used fresh mint in my dishes, and I loved both the fresh quinoa salad and hemp seed tabouli, that I very intuitively prepared a tabouli with the mint, hemp seeds, and quinoa.

I guide people to cook intuitively very often. The key is to know a few simple culinary skills, and then cook with what’s available at your farmers market or kitchen. Plus, with intuitive cooking, we listen to our body for foods we might be craving and also notice what foods we’re attracted to, with color, textures, and aromas.

Today’s tabouli was intuitive in several ways:

• Listening to my body: My body was looking forward to a grounding grain and I had about a cup of the tri-color quinoa in my pantry.
• Aromatherapy: The fresh aromatherapy and bright tasting mint.
• Looking for a variety of color and textures: Red tomatoes, yellow pepper, green onion.
• Spring garlic: Just love the cross between garlic and onion, when spring garlic is in season.

Two Simple Culinary Techniques

• Cook Whole Grains: Cook quinoa with 1 cup quinoa, 2 cups previously-made veggie stock. Bring to boil on stove, cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Rest the quinoa. Fluff with a fork. Use in recipe.
• 3-Ingredient Salad Dressing: 1 part lemon, 2 parts organic extra virgin olive oil, pinch salt.

HEMP SEED QUINOA TABOULI

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups veggie stock
• ½ cup hemp seeds
• Several tomatoes, rough chopped
• Orange pepper, rough chopped
• 1 green onion, rough chopped
• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• Organic extra virgin olive oil
• Handful mint, minced
• Handful parsley, minced
• Pinch sea salt
• Handful pea sprouts

SIMPLE STEPS

• Cook quinoa with veggie stock
• Rough chop all veggies
• Gently toss all ingredients
• Plate with sprouts
• Enjoy

 

I have recently created the Simple Plant-Based Eating Group on Facebook, where I share daily tips around plant-based eating, and the community shares ideas. Please join us: www.facebook.com/groups/DailyPlantBasedEatingTips/

Interested in addtional simple culinary techniques and recipes with real whole foods, Melanie Albert’s book, “A New View of Healthy Eating” is available.