This grain-and-bean salad is an excellent main dish (especially when served over a bowl of salad greens), and is perfect for buffets, potlucks, and picnics. It’s a great brown-bag meal, too.

Allow the flavors of the salad to develop a bit before serving.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Quinoa and Black Bean Salad
from Vegetarian Times, July 2001
Blue * Serves 8

2 cups quinoa, rinsed really well under running water
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 chipotle pepper in adobe sauce (comes in a small can), plus 1 Tablespoon of the adobo sauce
2 marinated sun-dried tomatoes
1 Tablespoon minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup chopped cilantro

In medium saucepan, combine quinoa, 4 cups water and pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, cover (or halfway cover) and simmer until most water has been absorbed, 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with fork and let cool.

In small skillet, toast sunflower seeds over medium-high heat until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In food processor or Vitamix, combine chipotle pepper with 1 Tablespoon adobe sauce, tomatoes, garlic, cumin, cinnamon and salt and process until smooth. With machine running, slowly add oil through fee tube and process until blended. (Freeze remaining chipotle peppers in adobe sauce for other recipes.)

In large bowl, combine beans and quinoa, sunflower seeds and cilantro. Add dressing and toss to mix.

Members, check your inbox for the class email!

Not a member? It’s not too late! You can join now and get in on all 21 days of the fabulous Booty Camp class.

We’ve got a lot of special offers that go along with this class. In honor of Mother’s Day we’re running our special promotion. Purchase a 6 month membership and get 3 months free! Also if you post every day during class you get an entry in our Vitamix drawing at the end of class. If you refer a friend for a yearly membership you get TWO more entries in the contest.

To make this even more of a party, Coaches Kathy and Amy are going to run a class contest as well. There will be points for meeting goals during class and the winner of that contest will win a prize selected by the coaches and sent from Paradise to the lucky winner.

Marilu has the gift of a superior autobiographical memory – she remembers every day of her life, and can scan through it like you’d go through chapters of a DVD.

Last night in the USA, we had one of those historical moments that we’ll remember for a long time. Exercise your brain by creating a whole memory around it.

• Who were you with yesterday?
• What did you do throughout the day?
• What were you doing when you heard the news?
• What were you wearing?
• What did you eat?
• What other highlights did you have during the day?
• What did you feel when you heard the news?

Tag the day and the moment with these other memories, and you’ll be creating a whole memory of your day. It’s a way to exercise your brain and to be able to relive the experience of the day.

A.L.O.H.A. from Paradise!

Photo by John Mason

~*~ ~*~ ~*~