I Made Black-eyed Pea and Quinoa Croquettes!

Quinoa is my favorite grain because it has tons of fiber and it is a complete protein. My friend at the Natural Gourmet School told me that essentially all quinoa is organic, because it is only produced in certain regions of Bolivia and Peru, and farmers monitor each other to guarantee their organic certification. (As in, if one farmer decides to use pesticides, then it would mess it up for everyone, so no one wants to be caught with pesticides. Thus, organic!) The following recipe comes from Vegan with a Vengeance (p. 88-89).

• 1 1/2 cups cooked black-eyed peas, drained, or 1 (15-0z) can, drained and rinsed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 cup cooked quinoa, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme, crumbled
• 1/2 tsp dried basil, crumbled
• 1 tsp paprika

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a mixing bowl mash the black-eyed peas with a potato masher and then your hands. Add the olive oil and soy sauce and stir. Add the quinoa and spices and combine the mixture with your hands. You should be able to mold them into balls that readily stick together.

• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I didn't have any, so I toasted some sourdough slices till crispy and food processed them into crumbs)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• A few dashes of fresh black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (I used a squirt of bottled lemon juice)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil

In a small bowl mix together all the ingredients for the breading. Spray a baking pan with a little oil. Form the croquettes into walnut-sized balls. Gently roll the balls between your palms three or four times, then flatten out the ends so that the croquettes resemble marshmallows. Coat each ball with the bread crumbs and place on the prepared baking sheet. When all the croquettes have been formed, spray lightly with oil. Bake for 40 minutes, turning once after 20 minutes.

The author serves these croquettes with cooked quinoa and mushroom sauce. I didn't have time to make the mushroom sauce, so I just used ketchup and mustard. Also, these croquettes are so protein-packed because of power combo of black-eyed peas and quinoa that I didn't need any additional quinoa on the side. Lastly, after twenty minutes of baking, when you flip over the croquettes, it seems like they are overly crumbling. Wrong! After baking for a total of 40 minutes, the croquettes hold together very nicely.

EDIT: I tried this with kidney beans (food processed the first step instead of mashing). Doesn't work as well...

I Made a Chickpea-Quinoa Pilaf!

Happy New Year! It's been a while. A few minutes ago, as I was eating my leftover chickpea-quinoa pilaf from yesterday, I realized that this recipe was both simple and delicious so I thought I should share. Incidentally, I trying not to eat out that much this month since I just bought tickets to a cruise, so I'm planning on tons of cooking... Anyway, I had some quinoa lying around, and after looking through Veganomicon, I realized that I had everything I needed to make this hearty, protein-packed chickpea-quinoa pilaf (p.115-116):

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped finely (around 1 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

In a small stock pot over medium heat, saute the onions in olive oil for about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 2 more minutes.

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, crushed (I just used coriander??)
• Several pinches of freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

Add the tomato paste, coriander, cumin, black pepper, and salt; saute for another minute. (I added some cherry tomatoes from my garden, the last batch from summer...)

• 1 cup quinoa

Add the quinoa and saute for 2 minutes.

• 2 cups cooked for 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups vegetable broth or reconstituted bouillon

Add the chickpeas and broth; cover and bring to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, lower the heat to very low, and cook for 18 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed all the water; stirr occasionally. Fluff with a fork and serve.

We made quinoa gratin with spinach and sweet potato

I saw this recipe a couple years ago in The New York Times. Except it didn't have sweet potatoes--just a simple quinoa, spinach, gruyere casserole that would make a good side dish. And then last week, Joey and Lauren were coming over for dinner on a gross, rainy day, and I wanted to make something warm and comforting. I thought of this recipe, and decided to add sweet potatoes in order to make it more of a main dish. It worked beautifully! In fact, I think it's a format you can use to make a lot of different quinoa-based casseroles. Quinoa+cheese+vegetable+some kind of spice or herb or something else to flavor it. Like, can you imagine this baby with BUTTERNUT SQUASH? and KALE or CHARD instead of spinach? And maybe some GOAT CHEESE?? Or what about EGGPLANT and some MOZZERELLA?!?!? The possibilities are endless.

Quinoa Gratin with Spinach and Sweet Potatoes (adapted from Baked Quinoa with Spinach and Cheese)


Ingredients

1 6-ounce bag baby spinach

A few tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 or 5 sweet potatoes, skinned and sliced into medallions or half medallions, depending on the size

1 medium onion, chopped

2 plump garlic cloves, minced

4 cups cooked quinoa, (1 cup uncooked)

2 large eggs

3 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (3/4 cup)

1 teaspoons nutmeg

1 ounce Parmesan, grated (1/4 cup)

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Oil a 2-quart gratin or baking dish.

2. Heat the oil in a medium frying pan or a wide saucepan over medium heat. Sautee the sweet potatoes slowly until tender enough that you can easily break the pieces with a wooden spoon. Remove from the pan and set aside.

3. Heat a little more olive oil ithe pan, and add the onion and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir with the onion until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the spinach and season with salt and pepper. Cook just until wilted. Remove from the heat.

4. Beat the eggs in a large bowl and add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir in the quinoa, the onion and spinach mixture, the sweet potatoes the Gruyère, and the nutmeg. Add freshly ground pepper and stir the mixture together. Scrape into the gratin dish. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top and drizzle on the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Place in the oven and bake until nicely browned on top, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow to sit for about 5 minutes, and serve.

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

I made quinoa, tuna and white bean salad

The other day, I came home from a long day of work and class starving. I wanted to make something delicious and comforting and protein packed. I thought to myself, do people ever make quinoa salads with tuna? Is that crazy? I googled "quinoa tuna salad" and found that no, it's not crazy. Lots of recipes exist. But I ended up making one up myself. It's basically your standard tuna white bean salad, but with quinoa.

Salad:
A few handfuls chopped arugula
1 can white/cannolini beans
2 cans good quality tuna packed in olive oil
2 or 3 tablespoons capers
handful chopped fresh parsley
1/2 large red onion, or 1 small, chopped finely
whole wheat bread crumbs
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

Dressing:
few tablespoons olive oil
few tablespoons red wine vinegar
juice of two lemons
2 garlic cloves, minced

Cook the quinoa. (Combine with water, bring to boil, cover and simmer for 15.) Meanwhile, make the dressing. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir it up.

When the quinoa's cooked and cooled a little, just combine it with all the other ingredients in a big bowl. Except the bread crumbs. Then add the dressing. Stir it up. THEN sprinkle the bread crumbs on top for garnish!

In the future, I might try this with chickpeas or some other kind of firmer bean instead. White beans are soft, and it and it needed something to counter the mushiness of the quinoa. But besides that, it was really delicious! I couldn't stop eating the leftovers cold from the fridge.

I learned: it is NOT crazy to put tuna in your quinoa salad!

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.