The New Mercadona is now open in San Pedro! Yay!

Today, was a landmark day. The new Mercadona opened in San Pedro. I went with my Mum to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised! Mercadona was never my favourite place to shop. It always seemed so uncool. Even though they have the freshest best priced ingredients, I can’t say that it’s my favourite place to pass time.

However, this new one is actually pretty cool! Ok, maybe not quite the level of Wholefoods (ahh I miss that place!) BUT it’s certainly a lot cheaper than Wholefoods. The only complaint that I have is that they do not stock organic produce.

The main thing that I really loved about this new Mercadona, is that they have a cooked food section. Which is practically home made food, sold at incredibly reasonable prices. I bought an aubergine beef moussaka for lunch. It was to die for. I also bought these mini olive rolls and heated these up in the oven with the moussaka when I got home. I couldn’t get over how good it tasted! And it was only €4! What a deal!

I think I’ll be going there every day from now on! I also picked up this amazing parsley, garlic olive oil dip, quail eggs, mini vine tomatoes, truffle goats cheese (absolutely delicious) salad leaves, mejool dates, and a parsley and garlic dressing.

The Dish

Black Quinoa tamari, parsley mixed mushrooms, mixed salad leaves with truffled Brie, mejool dates, vine tomatoes, and garlic parsley dressing

Quinoa is extremely alkalising to the body. It’s one of the healthiest grains that you can have. I try and limit my rice intake as I heard that it contains arsenic. Quinoa on the other hand, is delicious, provided that you give it the right dressing. You feel so good after eating it.

I live in San Pedro Nueva Alcantara in Marbella, and I discovered this great Russian shop opposite the park where I live. They have a nice selection of organic healthy grains. This is where I bought my black quinoa.

Mixed Mushrooms

I then put pre cut mushrooms with parsley that I bought from Mercadona. (Great time saver) into the wok and cooked. I then added them to then quinoa with the extra virgin olive oil (From a glass bottle of course – who wants to ingest phalates?) and tamari (from health food shop on the the Guadalmina strip – also in a glass bottle).

Then I put the pre-cut mushrooms with parsley into the wok with olive oil. Once they were done I added them to the black quinoa.

Then for the salad. I put a few handfuls of the mixed salad leaves into a bowl. I then hard boiled the quail eggs and peeled them and added them. I then added the chopped mini vine tomatoes (such lush red) then two chopped mejool dates. I then drizzled this with the olive oil/parsley/garlic dressing and some extra parsley and garlic. I then added some salt caviar that I bought at the organic food market.

I then took a handful of the salad and added it to the quinoa and mushrooms. This dish was A-mazing. Simple, easy, healthy, and delicious. One word to describe this dish: Umami.

A dish like this is perfect for dinner, as you feel light and healthy after eating it. Yet, it really satisfies the taste buds, and you feel satiated. I am gradually becoming more vegetarian and I have noticed that I feel so much better when when I eat vegetarian dishes. Provided of course that they are made from scratch and not processed.

Try this dish and let me know what you think!