quinoa | Fitness on Toast

Posts tagged 'quinoa'

QUINOA + CHIA PORRIDGE !

14/10/2015

Fitness On Toast Faya Blog Girl Healthy Recipe Workout Nutrition Health Diet Breakfast Ideas Porridge Quinoa Chia Vanilla Strawberry Coconut Delicious Inspiration-3

Despite its unstoppable rise to world domination, I remain a massive fan of quinoa and have featured it multiple times on Fitness On Toast – My recent ‘Quinoa Granola‘, this ‘Festive Grilled Salmon & Quinoa‘ dish, and this ‘Quinoa Bean Salad‘ to name just a few. It’s a powerhouse seed which provides all 9 essential amino acids (a complete protein – great for veggies), plus it’s cholesterol-free, very low in sodium, and it’s almost always organic! Chia seeds (another ‘limelight’ superfood) grow to 9x their original size upon encountering water water which helps you to feel fuller for longer and keeping you hydrated too, plus they’re antioxidant rich, are high in protein, and a densely packed source of Omega 3. Blend it all together in a breakfast bowl with some coconut milk, yoghurt, grated apple, vanilla etc… click MORE to get the full recipe!

(more…)

TOFU, QUINOA AND CARROT STIR-FRY DISH !!!

09/01/2014

When you hear “high protein”, the mind naturally plays a stereotyped little game of word-association, & you come up with things like ‘barbecue’, ‘chicken breast’, ‘juicy steak’ etc. You certainly wouldn’t think ‘vegetables’. But certain plants, grains and seeds are vast oceans of protein; quinoa & tofu, are two such oceans, making them the a fabulous dietary ingredients to complement your training regime, and to accompany a healthy lifestyle. My quick and easy 320-calorie stir-‘fry’ pictured above shouldn’t take longer than 15-20 minutes to throw together, it’s significantly lighter than a traditional stir-fry, full of nutritional goodness and I think it tastes just as yummy! For extra protein-factor, I’ve added some egg as well. Click MORE to get the low-down on the ingredients, and the ‘how-to’. Hope you enjoy it! Faya x (more…)

MY HEALTHY CHRISTMAS DINNER !!!

20/12/2013

Christmas is infamous for overeating indulgent sugary, fattening foods. This post is my attempt at a healthier alternative – it’s a tour-de-force of the same foods but with a bit of a lighter twist. Perhaps you can just pick and choose a few ideas from it, and as you can see from the picture above, ‘healthier’ needn’t look any less inviting and ‘Christmassy’ 🙂 ! Click MORE to see lovely pictures of the rest of my meal & get the ‘how to’ 🙂 Faya

(more…)

FESTIVE GRILLED SALMON, LENTILS, QUINOA AND AVOCADO !!!

08/12/2013

OK, so it’s hardly festive-themed food, but in my calendar, we’re not quite there yet. In the meantime, I’m staying on the straight and narrow with this immensely nutritious ‘Grilled Salmon, Quinoa, Lentils Avocado and Almond’ dish. Weighing in at a reasonable 480 calories with just 20 minutes of low-intensity preparation time, it ticks so many healthy boxes and leaves me feeling totally contented… though obviously a Selfridges mini mince pie (my personal kryptonite) complements it beautifully for dessert 🙂 ! Read more here… (more…)

MY PICNIC POWER-SALAD !!!

28/07/2013

In a rare turn of fate, London is experiencing a very long summer (6 days in a row). To celebrate this unlikely occurrence, it was high time for a little picnic in the park, and for the occasion I decided to make my nutritious ‘Quinoa, Rainbow Trout & Pomegranite salad‘ which I think was a smash hit given the empty plates! The salad is pretty straight forward to make and only takes c. 30 minutes to make from start to finish, (or c .15 minutes excluding the time it takes for the quinoa to cook and fish to bake) and serves a sociable party of 6. All-in, 100g of the salad provides c. 31g of high quality protein, and c. 280 healthy calories. I often use Quinoa in my recipes, as it tastes just a good cold in a salad as a it does steaming hot with Tuna. It’s a super-seed which provides all 9 essential amino acids (making it a complete protein). Along with the fish and beans / pulses, this dish makes for a protein rich salad packed with vitamins and minerals as well as slow releasing carb-energy. The Pomegranate may seem a bit “out-there” but I personally love the surprising texture and sweetness it adds to the dish – super summery!

Click MORE to learn extra about my choice of ingredients and get the ‘how to’… 🙂 Faya

(more…)

REALLY QUORNY !!!

07/07/2013

Spaghetti Bolognese – a classic favourite, but one we all know just can’t be all that healthy. In fact, it’s really quite calorific, often packed with salt and dripping in fat (and not necessarily the healthy kind). The ultimate word on all things calorific, MyFitnessPal suggests 35g of fat and 520 calories in a medium sized portion of spaghetti bolognese, and that’s without the industrially grated cheese on top! To access that classic taste and texture, whilst still being friendly to your quest for abs, here’s my healthier alternative.

Quorn! Once a bit weird, hippy and almost taboo, it’s now pretty mainstream as a healthy alternative to meat. But it’s not actually meat; it’s part of the fungi family. The main ingredient is ‘mycoprotein’, a fungal spore, grown by fermentation, much like the process used in the production of yoghurt, bread and beer. Quorn ‘mince’ is low in fat (1.9g per 100g) and high in protein (14.5g per 100g) & packed with dietary fibre (22% of your GDA in 100g). In short, it’s a lean alternative to minced beef, at just 90 calories per 100g.

See MORE on the ingredients, and ‘how-to’ below…

(more…)