Is quinoa Paleo?

Technically... no. But it's also not technically quite a grain. It's called a "pseudo-grain," and therefore is sometimes a point of contention in the Paleo world because of that.

Consuming gluten-free grains is a sticky subject for me to approach with clients, because some people think that gluten-free is all that's needed to make something "healthy."

That's not true.

Oftentimes, when someone wants to start out trying Paleo, I tell them to give it 30 strict days.

That gives your body enough time to clear out all the stuff it considers inflammatory, and allows you to slowly reincorporate one thing at a time to see what foods might not agree with you.

A big problem many people have when eating grains is that it increases their carb count to a number way higher than they need. Unless you're extremely active, you don't need a ton of carbs.

Low, but not Keto-low carb

The Keto diet is super popular right now, and suddenly everyone things that if something is low-carb, it's also Keto.

Also wrong.

A Keto-low carb diet is about 20g carbs per day. That's enough carbs to barely allow you to have some spinach.

BUT, low-carb just means lower carb than the Standard American Diet... which isn't hard to do once you cut out the processed stuff.

The Adrenal Reset Diet, for example, is all about balancing your macronutrient intake at each meal so that you are ingesting some carbs. And that's good for balancing hormones!

For me, gluten-free grains make me feel great, thanks to my more-active lifestyle. And quinoa in particular is one of my favorite textures.

So... this recipe has been added to my big-ass salads the last few weeks. And it's so good! I hope you love it just as much as I do.

Adrenal Reset Cool Quinoa Salad Recipe

Directions

Ingredients

Cook the quinoa according to package instructions (it's usually 1 cup uncooked quinoa to make 3 cups cooked).
I get pre-steamed beets and black-eyed peas at Trader Joe's, but prepare your beets as needed as well. If you use canned produce, make sure the only ingredients are beets and water. Same with the black-eyed peas.
While the quinoa is cooling, drizzle excess beet juice over it. Drizzle half of the Greek dressing over it, and toss into the warm quinoa
Once quinoa is cooled down, mix in the beets and the black-eyed peas.
Toss the kale leaves in last and store in the fridge at least an hour before serving, so it's cool and refreshing.

3 cups cooked quinoa

1 cup black-eyed peas

1/2 cup diced beets

1 cup finely chopped baby kale leaves

1/3 cup Primal Kitchen Greek Salad Dressing