In the midst of my holiday hiatus I received the news that Amy of Simply Sugar & Gluten Free and Maggie of She Let Them Eat Cake were teaming up to launch a new site called The Balanced Platter.
The goal for the site is to be your one-stop shop for balanced, healthy, gluten-free living tips and ideas. To celebrate the new site they’re hosting a month-long event called Balanced, Healthy, & Gluten Free. They lined up a different blogger each day to share healthy recipes, healthy foods, or healthy living tips. (Follow the link to see the whole line-up.) You can also keep track of them by following @BalancedPlatter on Twitter or through their Facebook page.
Exercise is one of the top things people resolve to do more of each year. For my contribution to the Balanced, Healthy, & Gluten Free event, I made a lentils and quinoa dish, but first I wanted to share some thoughts on working out.
Take It Slow. Create a Habit.
Mike and I started running about 2 years ago using the Couch to 5K program, and we highly recommend it. You start with walking interspersed with short (30-second) segments of jogging, for a total of 20 minutes. You do that 3 times each week. You gradually switch to more jogging than walking, and you increase the total time bit by bit.
Could we have gone out that first day and run for 20-30 minutes? Probably. [Mike's note: Uh, maybe she could have.] But we likely would have injured ourselves right away. (I ran cross-country in high school and remember constantly having shin splints because I was asked to run more than my body was ready for.) Don’t be afraid to work at your own pace. We even made up some of our own in-between weeks when we felt we couldn’t keep up with what the schedule called for. Work on creating the habit. The results will come as your body gets stronger.
Be Sure to Have Fun
I also wanted to tell you about a new workout we added a month and a half ago: indoor rock climbing. It is serious fun. FUN. It’s probably the only workout I’ve ever done where you keep at it until your body can’t do it anymore — just because you’re having that much fun.
I’d like to encourage you to find an exercise that is fun for you. My vote is for indoor climbing, but I realize that’s not the most widely-accessible activity. I did find this list of indoor climbing gyms and walls. It looks a little old, but it’s a start for those of you who are interested. Climbing aside, I truly do enjoy running. And I love yoga. My mother-in-law enjoys swimming. My dad likes biking. Any exercise is better than none, so find something you like and do it.
Lentils and Quinoa
Now, on to the recipe. With the addition of climbing, we realized we may need to scale back some of our other exercise until our bodies are strong enough to handle it all. We also felt that we needed a little more protein to help build muscle after all the climbing. I always keep lentils and quinoa–both protein powerhouses–on hand. They make it easy to cobble together a one-pot meal. Mixed with other kitchen staples like carrots, celery, and onions, it doesn’t get much more basic than that. And we got our protein hit.
- 1 medium carrot, diced
- 2 ribs of celery, diced
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup lentils
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- Heat a medium pot with lid over medium heat. Add the oil and allow to heat through. Add the carrots, celery, and onions. Cook until everything has softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the lentils, quinoa, tomato sauce, water, and spices. Stir well. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until lentils are soft. Serve.
(Serves 4-6)
I did go a little crazy with the spices, so maybe it’s not quite as “basic” as it could be. I think you could go truly basic with just some salt and pepper and still have a delicious dish. (Maybe substitute some broth for the water.) Eat it plain, spoon over some greens, throw in a wrap — there’s all sorts of ways to mix it up.
If you’re looking for more protein-packed recipes check out my Egyptian Fava Beans (Ful Medames), Tea Eggs, Sweet and Smoky Dry Rub Tofu, Mushroom Nut Roast or the White Bean Millet Mini Casseroles.
Wishing everyone the best of luck with their exercise resolutions.
I’m also sharing this recipe in Full Plate Thursday and Wellness Weekends.
Mmm, what an awesome and easy recipe. Two of my fave vegetarian power foods for sure! Thank you so much for sharing your workout tips and this recipe for our Balanced, Healthy and Gluten-Free event Kalinda. We really appreciate your support!
Thanks for the invite!
Oh. Now this looks just like what I want to be eating for lunch today. What a wonderful recipe. I have all of the ingredients so I just might make this at some point today!! ;)
I love lentils and quinoa! This sounds very tasty!
Great recipe today! Fresh, easy, and super healthy! Great job! :-)
Be Well,
–Amber
This looks great. My husband likes things with a lot of flavor so I think this will work.
Lentils are one of my favorite go to pulses to go to because they are sooo high in protein. I liked how you mixed them together to help balance out the texture of the lentils with the quinoa. These two make a great pilaf as well!
Pilaf sounds great, I’ll have to try it sometime.
Thanks for posting! Quinoa is one of my all time favorite foods – just ate some tonight, topped with braised bok choy. My husband and I eat vegetarian ever other night – I’m looking forward to perusing your website for more recipe ideas!
I don’t cook enough with bok choy, and braised bok choy sounds wonderful. Thanks for the idea.
I love indoor rock climbing and used to do it all the time when I was a kid – as young as five! I’d still love to do it. I also really like quinoa, although I’ve never tried before putting it with legumes or even combining it with other grains. What a great idea!
Yes, I’ve been waiting for another climber to chime in. We’re pretty new and still pretty bad. We have seen plenty of great climbers, young and old.
Yum, this sounds amazing and it looks totally hearty. I have been on a major lentil kick this week. I made lentil soup and I plan to make a vegan “meat” loaf with the leftover lentils.
I hope you post the meat loaf recipe. I’ve not yet perfected a lentil meat loaf.
What a great winter recipe! I love both quinoa and lentils, and this looks like such a warming, hearty dish. Great tips as well! :)
You can never go wrong with quinoa and lentils… add some veggies and a dressign and you are set! :)
Great minds think alike and all … my recipe for this event (tomorrow is my day) is a higher-protein pilaf with buckwheat, quinoa and sunflower seeds. I love the simplicity and flavor profile of this recipe!
Hi Kalinda,
How are you doing today? It looks like you have brought me a wonderful lunch, I would just love this recipe, it looks delicious! Hope you are having a great week end and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Yummy! This recipe works great for my use-things-up-from-the-pantry meal planning this week. And thank you for the gentle nudge to exercise…it really is great when you make yourself find the time and o something you enjoy.