If you're new to the land of quinoa and shit like that-this dish will be wayyyyy daunting for you. This is typically something you have to work your way up to, unless of course you freakin' love veggies like I do.
What inspired this for me was produce needing to be eaten soon, and feeling a bit tired so wanting a punch of protein. I do allow myself an egg a week, either like this-or hard boiled. It's part of my 10%. I am not convinced that eggs are evil, on the contrary, they are a complete protein and do have some nutrients in them that are truly vital for health, and difficult to harvest from other places, like lutein and zeaxanthin. For this reason I believe in moderation here. Yes, the yolks contain cholesterol but studies have also indicated that it doesn't affect the cholesterol levels in our bodies. That is, you'd have to eat a hell of a lot of eggs in order for that to happen. Personally, eaten like this-not fried in butter, not in an omelet with cheese-well I'm going to take my chances that it's okay. (Even my cardiologist admits he is vegetarian, not vegan.)
For the purist-leave the egg out. I'm not hard core at all. The transition-which I'll write about in my next post-for me was a process. Some people suggest it should be an event, like ripping off a band-aid but I disagree. I think it should be whatever a person is comfortable with, can handle and will maximize their potential for life-style changing success. Remember, this isn't a 'diet.' It's a way of eating for life. That said, this here bowl can't get much more healthier. Maybe-but I doubt it.
Garlic, minced
small yellow onion
one stalk celery
one carrot, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
chopped cabbage, green and purple (pre-made coleslaw mix great here)
handful of kale, chopped
few springs of parsley, minced
1 can mexi corn (rinsed to get rid of salt and sugar)
1 8oz can lima beans (rinsed)
1/2 cup brown lentils
1/2 cup quinoa
vegetable broth
tumeric, to taste
coriander, to taste
paprika, to taste
black pepper, to taste
4 heaping teaspoons of tomato sofrito
1 egg, cooked how you like it
Start cooking the quinoa and the lentils....like rice, 1:2. So for 1/2 cup, use 1- 1/3 cups water or broth to cook.Once mostly done, set aside. Saute the garlic, onion, celery and carrots in some veggie broth until soft in a dutch oven (soup/stew pot.) Add the cabbage and the chopped kale.
(quinoa and lentils are cooked just like rice. Once to a bowl, simmer, cover and when the water is absorbed, it's done. Typically around 15 to 25 minutes, depending on how big the batch.)
Add the spices, and stir until well blended. Add the lentils and quinoa, and then enough vegetable broth to cover and make soupy/stewy, but not completely soupy. Add corn and lima beans. Stir. Add the sofrito. Cook, simmer on the stove covered for at least 15 minutes. Spoon a bowl out, and then cook your egg. It is not necessary to use oil or butter if you have non-stick pans, but for additional taste you may want to use a vegan butter to fry the egg. Not necessary but sometimes its hard for people to reconcile not cooking an egg in SOME sort of 'fat.'
Of course, you can always poach an egg in either water or more veggie broth, or use a hard-boiled one. I like the yolk running into the broth here, it adds a richer, creamier tastier dimension. On the egg itself I use pink salt and pepper.
*tomato sofrito is a latino condiment in a jar, click here (can be found in all grocery stores in the latin foods section) Sofrito-scroll down a bit
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