Amaranth Veggie Salad

One of you lovely readers asked me about the grain amaranth a long time ago, and I promised to try it at some point. I finally remembered to buy some in my last Vitacost order (click here for $10 off if you’re a new customer) and I’m glad I did. It’s a gluten-free grain and I had fun incorporating it into an easy salad yesterday.

I ended up cooking a half-batch or 1/2 cup for this salad and I’m glad I did, because it made a lot. The texture after cooking for 20 minutes on the stove-top was very porridge-like, I think it would be ideal for a breakfast dish:

I had a lunchtime Toastmasters meeting, so I wanted to take something portable and easy to assemble. My fridge was a little on the empty side, but I did have some extra carrots, mint and celery that I chopped up into a bowl. I also added “goodies” like dried cranberries, avocado, pumpkin seeds and chopped onion:

After I chopped the veggies, I just poured the cooked amaranth into the bowl and mixed it all together. I squeezed some fresh lime and lemon juice on top for the world’s easiest salad dressing. Then, I spooned some into my to-go container and off I went to my meeting:

I highly recommend using avocado and some type of nut or seed in this recipe, because those ingredients add richness and staying power. Here’s the recipe:

After my meeting yesterday, I decided to take a quick trip to the mall to shop for some new summer dresses. I ended up at the Gap where I tried three options:

I ended up getting the green and blue dresses, one of which was on sale (yay!). As I get closer and closer to my ideal weight, clothes shopping has become a lot more fun. I don’t necessarily think that weight and appearance should be a huge part of self-esteem, but I have found for myself that the healthier I feel, the more confident and self-assured I am. The change in outer appearance has been a side benefit of the hard work I put in to make foods that protect my health, plus focusing on staying committed to my exercise program.

It’s been a few months since I’ve been clothes-shopping and it was the first time doing so since I’ve gotten into the whole clutter-busting movement, but I felt okay about since I recently cleaned out my closet and was down to only one business casual-type dress. And, I’m starting to think about clothes for my upcoming trip to Florida where I am going to Dr. Fuhrman’s summer getaway! Just imagine: a whole week of not having to cook, yet having healthy, gourmet foods fully prepared for every meal. Even though I do love to cook, I can’t wait for a week off.

fyi, if you can’t make it to the event, I plan to take along my laptop and blog daily if not twice a day about my experience.

Happy Friday and see you back here on Monday!

Tagged as: amaranth, avocado, carrots, celery, dried cranberries, lemon juice, lime juice, mint, onion, pumpkin seeds

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