MoFo 2013 – Mexican Inspired Quinoa Salad

I hope everyone is enjoying a ‘summery’ weekend like I have been. Just when I thought fall was near, we get a delightfully warm and sunny day. Fully appreciated! Anyways, I didn’t have much time in the kitchen today since I was trying to sort out my crazy garden plants; I swear the sage is going to take over the entire garden soon. That thing is a MONSTER! 

It had been a while since I made quinoa salad, so I decided to make a mexican inspired one as I had leftover ingredients from some tacos I made the other day. I was so surprised by just how delicious this salad turned out to be! It has some simple ingredients and the prep doesn’t take very long. It was perfect.

It’s funny because I arrived to culinary school absolutely hating cilantro and thinking it tasted like a bar of soap and now; almost a year later, I am obsessed with it! It makes so many dishes that much more incredible. Plus, I love how you can eat raw red onion with cilantro and not get that onion taste in your mouth. It’s like magic. And, since I do love my raw onions, it’s a major win!

Ingredients (salad for two)

– 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
– 1 cup water
– 1 teaspoon ground cumin
– 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
– large pinch sea salt

– 1 avocado, half mashed, half medium dice
– 1/2 small red onion, small dice
– 1/2 cup kidney beans, pre-cooked or canned
– 1 jalapeño pepper, sliced, seeds removed
– 1 bunch cilantro, minced
– 1/2 lime, juiced

– salt, to taste

– 1 scallion, green part sliced, for garnish

First, you need to cook your quinoa. Place your drained quinoa in a small pot with the water, cumin, ginger and salt; bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium/low and let simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed, about 20-25minutes. Once cooked, let cool a few minutes and fluff with a fork. I love the flavor of this cumin quinoa. 

While the quinoa is cooking, you can prep all your other ingredients and mix them together in a medium salad bowl. Once the quinoa is at room temperature, mix in everything together. Make sure you adjust the salt well in the end so the flavors really pop.

ENJOY!

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You Knew This Would Come!

VEGAN MOFO DAY 8

We couldn’t go through a month of MoFo without my FAVORITE burger of all time. So we invited some friends and family over and indulged in this baby with some mac and cheeze! It always puts everyone in a great mood and has omnivores screaming ‘VEGAN POWER’ around the house!

Quinoa Burger: quinoa, oats, parsley, chickpeas, seasoning, flour…

This is the usual recipe I use from Vegan Diner which I LOVE. It takes a little bit to prepare but the results are always perfect! Remember to let the burger patties cool off a bit before serving to help them get a better texture and prevent breakage. 

I found a recipe on another blog for any of you who don’t have the cookbook – click here.

VEGAN POWER!

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Awesome Discoveries, and Epic Fails.

Over the past few days I am been trying to become a little more tech-savy. I have been updating the blog a little and wanted to  have one of those ‘virtual photo gallery’ things (or whatever they are called!). Too bad that every time I try to load a picture it never comes up. Fail! I will have to ask for some nerdy help.

However, a great thing happened while I was cruising around those photo libraries. I found an AWESOME recipe for breakfast quinoa. I have been wanting to try this for some time because my poor fiancé has a serious issue with oatmeal. He loves it but cannot eat it without some serious digestive issues. I always make fun of him for it, but I was hoping to find something nourishing he could also have for breakfast now that we are approaching fall. This is how I found the recipe on How Sweet It Is. Total perfection, both for my taste buds, and for the fiancé’s tummy. I love the blog too because it is super fun to read and really full of original recipes. I remember that there is one recipe for ‘recycled cookies’ which is just brilliant!

Now for the breakfast chocolate chip and blueberry quinoa. This is the original recipe which I followed very carefully the first time (just remember to rinse the quinoa off very well before starting). The idea to roast the dry quinoa in coconut oil before cooking it in milk is literally genius! It might seem like a superfluous thing to do, but believe me, the magical coconut taste it adds to the recipe is wonderful! The only difference I found in my result is that my chocolate chips melted super quickly. I can’t complain tho, it tasted fabulous. I sprinkled it with some goji berries and some chocolate amaranth muesli which I always do to my oatmeals. (btw I totally adore this bowl! I got it from a shop on Etsy called ClamLab which makes everything by hand.  BRILLIANT)

Today I was melting like butter on toast while doing some work in the garden so, I decided to shut myself indoors and have that quinoa oatmeal again. I didn’t have blueberries anymore so I decided to change it up a bit. Again, I toasted the quinoa in coconut oil, but this time I cooked it in coconut cream instead of milk. I also added a tablespoon of maple syrup once I was halfway through the cooking. I think this adds an even more divine taste. Then instead of adding the blueberries, I mashed up a banana and mixed that into the more liquid quinoa (I added a little more cream than 1cup). I sprinkled it with some goji berries again, some small banana pieces and some mixed berry muesli as well as the chocolate chips. It was PERFECT; like having banana split oatmeal. Yum… The great thing with this breakfast is that you can make it as healthy, or as decadent as you wish. Either way, it will keep you feeling nourished and satisfied until your next meal.

Besides my computer failures, I had a MAJOR recipe fail this week. I am sad to say, it was from my beloved Chloe’s Kitchen (p.33). These were the culprits:

Sweet and Sour Party Meatballs: tempeh, onion, lentils, walnuts, flour, basil

I know what you are thinking, “aw these look really cute and tasty tho”. Trust me, it’s a trap! I almost died after taking a bite of these meatballs in their sweet and sour sauce. The ‘funny’ thing is that fiancé and I took a bite at the same time, then we sort of looked at each other with horrified faces! For him, these meatballs awake horrid childhood memories of super mushy and sticky meatballs he was forced to eat at his grandma’s. For me, the vomit like aftertaste the sauce left in my throat was abominable! I am not sure if maybe I did something wrong, but I don’t think so. Do any of you love this recipe???

Funny enough, they are called ‘party meatballs’, I think it would make the perfect dish for a party with people you dislike! It would get them fleeing in no time. 

Let’s now forget the bitter (or in this case vomity) aftertaste of epic recipe failure and move on to some of my favorite cooking. Happy, colorful, Mediterranean cuisine.

Mafaldine Pasta with Eggplant and tomato sauce

For me, a nice plate of simple pasta with a healthy sauce and a drizzle of olive oil is heaven. It is such an authentic and down to earth type of cuisine. I just love it. The key to having very soft and tender eggplants is to keep adding broth to your sauce. The broth will partly evaporate, and partly be absorbed by the eggplants, making them nice and tasty.

Ingredients

250 grams of mafaldine pasta (or pasta of choice)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch sea salt and mediteranean spice mix (I always use Trocomare)
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 eggplant, diced
1 – 2 cup veggie broth
1 cup baby tomatoes
a bunch ripped up basil leaves

Heat salted water in a large pasta pot until it boils.

While the water heats up, add the oil to a large sauce pan and heat up. Add the pinch of salt and the onion. Roast the onions until translucent. Stir once in a while. Add in the eggplants and sauté for a few minutes. Lower heat and add in 1/2cup of broth. Keep stirring once in a while and add broth whenever needed (the eggplants will absorb a lot of it). It will take about 20 – 30minutes to get the eggplants perfectly tender (depending on the size of the cubes). Once tender, and the broth has been absorbed, add in the tomatoes (whole) and gently stir until they become nice and soft (about 5minutes). 

Depending on the type of pasta you are cooking, and its cooking time, add it to the boiling water about 10minutes before the end of cooking. Cook the pasta until it is ‘al dente’, which is usually 1-2 minutes less than stated on the package. Drain and pour into the sauce. Gently mix and serve garnished with some basil.

ENJOY!

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Veggie Burger Time!

This is my boyfriend’s and my little brother’s absolute favorite meal!  It beats any burger I have ever eaten!

They are the Quinoa Burgers from Julie Hasson’s Vegan Diner (p.100).

Let me start off by saying that this cookbook is just wonderful! The retro cover already makes me dream. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but if you did, you would all have this book in your pantry! It contains various delicious burger dishes, some heavenly onion rings, one of my favorite seitan recipes and LOTS of pictures. I love how it appeals to our favorite comfort food cravings. Who said you would no longer have Mac and Cheese as a vegan?

Quinoa Burgers: chickpeas, quinoa, oats, poultry seasoning, fresh parsley and more.

Here we go,

Makes about 6 Burgers

Ingredients

1/2 cup diced yellow onion
3 cloves garlic (I don’t put this)
12 ounces chickpeas (about 1 1/2 cups), canned or homemade, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup quick oats (not instant)
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 tsp poultry seasoning or favorite spice blend
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs chickpea flour
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Brown rice flour, or whole wheat flour, for dusting (I use spelt or grey flour)
Olive oil, for cooking
Hamburger buns
Lettuce of salad greens, for serving
Sliced tomato, for serving
Sliced onion, for serving

In bowl of a food processor, add the onion and garlic and pulse until finely chopped. Add the chickpeas and oats, and pulse until well mixed. Don’t purée the mixture. Remove the mixture to a large mixing bowl, and stir in the quinoa, parsley, poultry seasoning, smoked paprika, soy sauce, and chickpea flour. Stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons water, if needed to help the burger mixture stick together, although you don’t want to make the mixture too moist. Add salt and pepper to taste. Thoroughly mix the ingredients well, cover the bowl and refrigerate for 15minutes. Form the burger mixture into 6 balls, and press into 3 1/2 to 4-inch patties.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat, and lightly coat or spray with olive oil. Place the brown rice flour on a small plate and dust the burgers on all sides with the rice flour. Add the burgers to the hot skillet. Cook the patties for about 5 minutes, or until nicely browned and crispy. Reduce the heat to medium, if necessary, to continue cooking without burning. Add more olive oil as necessary, to keep the burgers from sticking. Flip the burgers over and cook on the other side. Repeat with the remaining burgers.

Remove the burgers from the skillet and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Letting the burgers rest will give them a better texture.

Serve the burgers on a bun with all the fixings, lettuce tomato, and onion.

* To cook quinoa, combine 1 cup of dry, rinsed quinoa with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil in a large saucepan, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

I like to change up the toppings a bit and some of my favorites are; sliced red peppers, onion rings, sliced cherry tomatoes, guacamole and baby spinach.

I hope you all try this recipe and enjoy it as much as we do!

INDULGE!

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