Quinoa | The Wannabe Chef

Tag Archive: Quinoa

Vegged-Out Quinoa

Written on January 13, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

Sometimes you just want a lot of warm vegetables, you know? I made this one day that I wanted to bulk up some quinoa and just veg out. It was perfect with some baked tofu thrown on top, and then a few days later as a side dish with roasted chicken. My favorite thing about this is how flavorful it is, and it doesn’t even start with stock. I know vegetable/chicken stock is a great thing to keep in your pantry, but I just don’t. It’s easier that way. And you won’t even notice it’s missing here because there’s already so much to love.

Vegged-Out Quinoa

Ingredients(Makes 4 to 6 servings):

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 small onion, diced
2 large carrots, chopped
2 tablespoons butter or cooking oil
2 cups water
2 cups fresh or frozen spinach
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon chopped parsley

Start by heating up your butter or oil over medium heat in a large pan.

Chop all of your vegetables and add them into the heated pan. Keep an eye on this and stir for about 10-15 minutes until the onion is translucent and just beginning to caramelize.

While that’s cooking, measure out your quinoa. Rinse and drain it first to remove the saponin.

*If you’re using a rice cooker, add your quinoa and two cups of water in and turn it on to the appropriate setting.

**If you’re using the stove, wait until the vgetables are done coking. Then add the quinoa and water into the same pot and bring it to a boil. Cover the pan and turn off the heat and wait for the quinoa to absorb the water.

Add in your salt, pepper, and parsley right before cooking.

Once the quinoa is fully cooked and the water has been absorbed, add in the honey and spinach and fold them into the mix. Serve hot.

This is sweet, it’s savory, a little bitter and kissed with salt. It has a great flavor all its own and can stand up to any protein on a dish. And it’s a real crowd-pleaser. I think adding all the vegetables just gives you an excuse to eat more because it’s so darn healthy.

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Bacon-Fried Quinoa

Written on December 23, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

I love leftovers. Even though they’re already cooked and flavored, they’re so easy to make into something new and flavorful. Some foods even get better on age. I made The Best Quinoa Stuffing to bring to a party on Sunday. First of all, you wouldn’t be able to imagine how much Italian grandmothers loved quinoa, even if they couldn’t spell it for their life. Soft, flavorful and easy to chew? It was bound to be a winner with my family. With the leftovers I wanted to do something a little different; I decided to cook it like I would leftover rice, except add bacon because bacon makes it better. Chinese restaurants should take a hint from me.

Bacon-Fried Quinoa

Ingredients:

4 slices of bacon, diced
1/2 cup leftover, prepared quinoa(I used The Best Quinoa Stuffing)
1 egg
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Heat a pan over low-medium heat. Add in the diced bacon and cook it until it’s pink and starting to crisp at the edges.

Add in the leftover quinoa, egg, and soy sauce. Constantly move the ingredients around in the pan over the heat until the egg has cooked and the fat has been absorbed. Be careful as the quinoa tends to pop when the pan is dry. Serve hot.

Just like fried rice, this isn’t the prettiest dish but boy does it taste good. Adding the soy sauce and bacon elevates the flavor of the quinoa a lot; I could hardly tell this was the same dish as the leftovers.

I served it with steamed brussel sprouts with a little soy sauce, because I just love brussel sprouts and bacon. You could add more vegetables to cook with the bacon and make this into a stir-fry. Or you could forget vegetables together and add more bacon. I’m not one to judge when it comes to loving bacon.

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Sick Day Comfort Food

Written on December 11, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Highlights

For the first time so far this year that I can remember I’ve been sick. Of course it has to happen right at finals time; how could it not? Well, I’ve been pushing through to finish strong(the semester that is) while my trash basket looks like graveyard for tissues and paper towels(because that’s what I used after I ran out of tissues).

I’ve had more time to cook this week than ever but no desire to make anything other than pumpkin quinoa stuffing. What is better sick day comfort food than steaming hot carbs? The first time I made it, I mixed in some tofu for protein and put it over greens and called it lunch. It was nice not to have to do anything more than push the start button on my rice cooker.

The very next day, I made the exact same thing, except with leftover chicken. Isn’t that exciting? I also used cinnamon as the spice instead of Herbes de Provence because I was reading on Twitter that cinnamon does everything from slowing down carbohydrate digestion to boosting your immune system. If I have to eat a pan of maple cinnamon blondies to get better, so be it.

What do you like to eat when you’re sick? I could clearly use ideas. Otherwise I’m just going to turn into a pumpkin.

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The Best Quinoa Dressing

Written on November 29, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

I’d rather not oversell anything. Sure, the cake I baked for Thanksgiving was great, but I’ve ate better. And This fudge is ridiculously tasty and easy, but it’s not going to win a state fair competition in the south. However, I have to make an exception for this recipe, because I really do think it’s the best quinoa around, or at least that I’ve ever seen and tasted. This replaced white bread stuffing at our table for a gluten-free alternative and was eaten up by everyone. It was the first of the leftovers to go. Clearly, it’s a winner. So try this and I assure you you won’t be sorry.

The Best Quinoa Dressing

Ingredients(Makes 8 servings)

2 cups quinoa, rinsed
4 cups chicken broth
2 medium carrots
3 stalks of celery
1 yellow onion
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon parsley
1 tablespoon rosemary
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup cane sugar

To start, dice your vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Once diced, add them to a large pot to sauté over low-medium heat in some cooking oil until soft and translucent(about 10 minutes).

When the vegetables have been cooked, add in the quinoa, chicken broth, and all the seasonings except for the sugar. Bring the broth to a bubble, cover with a lid, and turn off the heat. After 15-20 minutes, the quinoa should have absorbed all the broth. If not, turn the heat on medium to boil off the rest of the liquid.

At the end of cooking, add in the sugar and fold it in while fluffing the quinoa. Transfer to a large dish and serve hot. It also tastes just as good reheated.

Try it; love it; eat it all up. You won’t find a better quinoa recipe around, I promise.

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Quick & “Pumpkiny” Lunches

Written on November 11, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

It amazed me that Rachael Ray has made an empire with 30 Minute Meals, mostly because 30 minute meals are all I eat and they don’t seem so special. My little secret is—save roasting a chicken or potatoes where all you have to do is put them in the oven and wait—I cook a total of 5 meals that take longer than 30 minutes(we’re excluding brownies and all other desserts from this; some things are worth waiting for).

Especially during the week, I don’t have time for elaborate meals; I want something delicious and want it fast. I’ve been eating my weight recently in pumpkin quinoa. It’s really easy to throw quinoa in the rice cooker and forget about it for 15 minutes while it cooks. Here I use that time to sauté some beef and bok choy; on other days I’ve added leftover chicken right into the rice cooker and made my whole meal in there.

The other pumpkin dish I can’t get enough of is autumn stuffed acorn squash.

This one even got a “That smells good” from whomever happened to be around the kitchen while I was cooking. I must admit—anything with sautéed onions and peppers does smell amazing. And it was fast to whip up, too! You can vary the spices and seasonings to change the flavor so it doesn’t feel like eating the same dish(I used chili powder and cumin instead of maple syrup and rosemary this time around).

So no, I definitely don’t think balanced and flavorful meals have to be long and elaborate. In fact, the less equipment I have to dirty to make it, the better. And one of these days I might even eat something without pumpkin in it(but don’t hold your breath).

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