Alkaline Vegan Quinoa Recipe for Clearing your Complexion, and Boosting your Energy!

Meet my favorite summer creation - Dasha's Vegan Power Salad! Those of you who have taken an acne workshop with me know how much I stress the importance of alkalizing the body! It is a proven way to get rid of candida, and starving the yeast that can create a toxic environment in the gut, acidic bodily fluids, and acne-prone skin. The reason I call this a power salad, is because quinoa is so rich in protein, and so are black beans! Quinoa is a power-grain, because it is alkalizing, and easy to digest - it's a beautiful alternative to rice and porridge that is easy on the stomach, but has the ability to fill you up!

Today's recipe is a cold salad of organic boiled quinoa, with black beans, organic tomatoes, organic cucumbers and organic orange bell peppers. Tomatoes, beans, and orange bell peppers are not alkalizing, but cucumbers and quinoa are. If you are on a strict alkaline diet, substitute these ingredients with red bell peppers, zucchini, red onions, scallions, broccoli, cauliflower, cranberries, or haricot vert. I always try to change up the ingredients in my favorite salads, so if you're not on the strict candida plan, feel free to add avocado, boiled beets, pine nuts, raisins, fresh corn, garlic (yes!), ginger, or whatever else floats your boat! 

While the quinoa is cooling, I marinade my black beans in lemon juice and Barlean's flax seed oil, then I combine all ingredients an a big bowl, and add chopped cilantro, basil, and a pinch of salt! Quinoa is super easy to prepare! 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water. Bring it to a boil, turn off the heat, and cover the pot for 15 minutes. Once 15 minutes have elapsed, take it out of the pot and cool in a separate bowl, or eat it hot - just like rice! Enjoy!

Ingredients (I use only organic ingredients):
1 cup quinoa (dry)
1 1/2 cups boiled black beans
1 large tomato
1 cucumber
1 orange bell-pepper
5-7 leaves of basil
1/4 bunch of parsley
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbs flax seed oil

Botanicals!

I love natural ingredients, that's why today, I'd like to mention 3 botanical ingredients that I think are extremely important in skincare! What do you think of these 3?

Three of the most potent forms of Vitamin C available on the market today are Ascorbyl Glucoside, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, and Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate. This powerful antioxidant combination in a serum fights free radicals, stimulates collagen production, nourishes the skin, reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and brightens skin tone while keeping stable.

Enzymes are a wonderful way to safely exfoliate the skin - this has been my favorite method for years! An enzymatic exfoliation is a good natural way to clean out the pores, get rid of excess oils, slough off the dry and dead skin for a healthy cell turnover. Fruit enzymes, such as Bromelain (from pineapple) and Papain (from papaya) eat away at the oils and dry skin, to expose a refreshed, clear complexion. A good natural enzyme mask brightens the skin, activates cellular function, increases circulation, fades discoloration and leaves the skin feeling and looking fresh, smooth and healthy. 

Marine Collagen is a form of collagen that derived from an assortment of sea algae species Laminaria and Padina. This Marine Collagen Polypeptide is designed to stimulate type III Collagen deep down within the skin. Collagen is a large molecule that alone cannot penetrate into the skin - so scientists found that polypeptide technology can actually stimulate the synthesis Marine Collagen in the skin. This new technology allows the skin to open up and allow the collagen through, because the regular molecule is too large to get in. Combination of marine collagen with polypeptide technology, will help our skin by stimulating collagen production, and elastin collagen thickening, encouraging skin renewal and minimizing muscle contractions, reducing the appearance of deep wrinkles and fine lines, helping provide long-term improvements in deeper wrinkles, helping prevent collagen and elastin breakdown to firm the skin.