Quinoa with Pate a La Shamah

No, I have no idea what the name of this dish means. I’m sure something very exciting and sexy. Tonight’s dinner came from my friend Tracie (the yogini). She’s been in the process of doing a 5 day cleanse called the Super Cleanse. It sounded interesting to me because it actually allows you to eat plenty of foods. It’s more about cutting out things you probably shouldn’t be eating anyway like refined sugars and flour, genetically modified food, soda, etc. There are multiple “cleanses” you can choose from in the book. So, you can choose one that best fits your needs. The plan Tracie chose went something like this: freshly made juice in the morning, salads or soups for lunch or dinner. To me, that actually sounds doable (not that I’m gonna do it…just sayin’). I’m not sure how people go weeks on liquid cleanses…I’m pretty sure I couldn’t go a day.

Anyway, she sent me a recipe from the book that she said was good and sounded interesting. It’s sort of a “pesto” mixed with quinoa. So first…the pesto. Here are the ingredients I needed:

• 1/2 cup pine nuts- I didn’t have pine nuts, so I used walnuts instead.
• 1/2 cup hemp seeds- Also didn’t have that so I used chia seeds. Apparently, I’m unprepared.
• 1 cup arugula. Had that.
• 1 cup chopped cilantro. Love cilantro.
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 3 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 red pepper chopped
• pinch of sea salt

After everything was chopped and ready….I put all of it in the food processor and pulsed until it looked similar to pesto.

I realize it looks a little funky….but that usually means it tastes good right? I find that to be true in most cases…except when I tried Uni…looked gross, tasted gross.

Alright, pesto was done. Next, I started to cook the quinoa. While that was cooking, I sauteed some chopped onion, spinach, and chickpeas…The original recipe only adds green onion, cilantro, and lemon juice to the quinoa and pesto. I decided a few more veggies wouldn’t hurt.

Finally, it was time to mix everything together!

Now stir!

This turned out better than I thought. I’m glad I added the chickpeas, I think they work really well with all the other ingredients (I get a pat on the back for that one). I’m sort of intrigued by these cleanses that involve actual meals. Personally, I think it’s a much better idea than a liquid cleanse or something else that’s not realistic. So, maybe someday if I’m feeling up to it, I’ll give it a whirl.

Have you ever tried a cleanse? How did you feel after?