Best Foods for Runners - Part 1

Quinoa
Why It's Good for Runners: For those runners who are bored with pasta, quinoa is a tasty alternative. Quinoa is not only packed with carbs, it's also very rich in protein. A 6-ounce serving of quinoa contains 132 calories, 23 grams of carbohydrate, 4 grams of protein, and 2 grams of unsaturated fat.

How to Add it to Your Diet: Cooking quinoa is very similar to boiling rice. It's an excellent side dish to have with fish or chicken. You can also eat it cold to go along with a salad.

I found this amazing food site today called "I love milk and cookies" What caught my eye was the recipe with Quinoa, my friend Amy has been telling me about this stuff for months and I have yet to try it. I promise I will though this looks delish.

Quinoa Lunch Bowl

FOR THE QUINOA
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small brown onion, diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
250g mushrooms
1 cup Quinoa
500ml stock (whichever is your preference, in this recipe I used chicken)*
sea salt and black pepper
parsley, roughly chopped
8 gourmet sausages
*You might need to add more stock or water if you see that the quinoa is drying up.

FOR THE GARLIC GREEN BEANS
olive oil
5 cloves of garlic finely chopped
400g green beans, cut into thirds
sea salt

MAKING THE QUINOA
In a medium pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.
Fry onions until soft and translucent.
Add the garlic, chilli and mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the quinoa and stock and stir to combine.
Cover pan and allow to simmer for approximately 20 minutes or until the quinoa has taken all the liquid and is translucent. The quinoa should be soft with a slight bite, if not, then add some water and cook further.
Meanwhile, grill sausages until cooked. Slice before serving

MAKING THE GARLIC GREEN BEANS
Heat olive oil in a pan.
Add garlic and beans and fry until beans have become a bright green colour.
Season with salt.