Thursday, March 18, 2010

I made some Qrazy Quinoa!!!


This is a dish I made up. I was in the mood for something hearty and healthy, so I conceived of the most hearty and healthy and delicious dish ever made: a cornucopia or roasted veggies, superfoods, carmelized onions and leafy greens coated in delicious pesto.

Qrazy Quinoa, an SG orig

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash
2 cups quinoa
1 bunch kale
1 red onion
1 can corn
1 cup pesto (click the link to see how I make it. You can always buy some, but it's so easy to make yourself and tastes much better when it's fresh.)
1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
2 large cloves garlic
salt & pep
some olive oil
grated parm
crushed red pep

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and then sit down, put on some jams, and deal with your squash. Skin and chop that sucker into 1-inch cubes. This will take about 30 min of good hard physical labor. Then spread out the cubes on a baking sheet, sprinkle them with olive oil, s 'n' p, and pop it in the oven. I didn't pay close attention to time, but I think they roasted for about 30-40 min. You know they're done when they start browning and you can pierce them easily with a fork. About 20 minutes into this time, you will want to start roasting your cherry tomatoes. Same thing: toss 'em on a baking sheet with oil, s, p. They take about 15-20. They'll brown a little and start to pop and shrivel when they're done. Don't overcook--you want them to still be juicy.

While all that roasting is happening, make your pesto and cook your quinoa. Depending on the brand you buy, you may have to rinse it first. Then, just follow the instructions on the box: twice the liquid to quinoa, bring it all to boil, then cover and simmer. I like to cook my quinoa in broth, or maybe half broth half water for a little more flavor.

Now you've got some veggies roasting AND some quinoa simmering. Time for the kale and onion. Heat up some olive oil in a pan. Coarsely chop the onion, and throw it on, letting it carmelize. Mince the garlic and throw that on too. When that stuff is almost done, rinse and chop the kale, and add it to the pan. It will cook down pretty quickly--you don't want it to get too wilted. 5 min should do it.

Ok, now ALL THE COMPONENTS are ready. Dump them all into a huge bowl or pot, PLUS THE CORN!!! and mix it all together. Serve with the parmesan and red pepper for garnish.

The end.

1 comment:

  1. sarah! you inspired me to make a version of this. only with red quinoa, and no pesto, and sweet potato instead of squash. red quinoa is qrazy for sure.

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