Quinoa

Soy Chorizo & Fruit Stuffed Acorn Squash
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Soy Chorizo & Fruit Stuffed Acorn Squash

This is a great vegetarian meal packed with textures and flavors. Savory, sweet and nutty this is a perfect main meal or side dish. It makes a lot but you can freeze. It would be a great side dish for Thanksgiving for vegetarian guests.

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Ingredients

  • 2 acorn Squash
  • 1 can full-fat coconut milk
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 whole clove
  • 1/4 cup dried cherries
  • 1/4 cup pitted golden raisins
  • 1 small chopped apple
  • 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 small yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 package of Soy Chorizo (I love Trader Joe’s)
  • 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  • 2 sprigs thyme, stems removed (optional)
  • 1 large (or 2 small) butternut squash
  • 1 cup quinoa cooked as directed
  • 1/4 cup walnuts
  • tsp butter for each squash half (I used Brummel & Brown yogurt butter)
  • 1 tsp maple syrup for each squash half

Directions

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1/2 cup coconut milk, cinnamon stick, clove, cherries and raisins. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and let ingredients soak for about 10 minutes. Set aside, and discard cinnamon stick.

Preheat oven to 350°. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add onion, salt. Cook, stirring, until caramelized, about 8-10 minutes. Add chorizo and cook until brown. Add the apple and mix well. Keep warm.

Cut squash in half lengthwise. Using a sturdy metal spoon, scrape out and discard seeds. Continue scraping flesh to hollow out center Add a tsp of maple syrup and butter to each squash half. Place squash on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 -40 minutes until soft.

While the squash is baking cook the quinoa according to directions. Add the the fruit and Soy Chorizo mix. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of coconut milk and mix well.

Spoon into the squash halves and serve.

We ate this the next night just headed up without the squash and it was wonderful all on its own.

 

 

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Quinoa with Swiss Chard and Pine Nuts with Honey Peanut Butter Dressing
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Quinoa with Swiss Chard and Pine Nuts with Honey Peanut Butter Dressing

I served this as a side dish with grilled chicken. My husband wants to eat greens but he does not actually LIKE greens… so I find ways to disguise them. This was perfect. I used Rainbow Swiss Chard but you could use spinach, too. This is a great way to use up leftover quinoa.

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Ingredients

1 cup of quinoa, cooked as directed
1/2 a bunch of Swiss Chard or other greens stems removed and roughly chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1/3 cup of dried cherries
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 cup pine nuts (peanuts or cashews are also good)

Dressing

3 Tbs peanut butter powder, combined with 1 1/2 Tbs water*
(or 3 Tbs creamy peanut butter)
1 Tsp honey

Directions

Combine peanut butter and water in a small bowl. You may need more water, should be a smooth paste. Add honey and stir to mix well. Microwave for about 15-30 seconds or until soft and easy to stir.

Heat the olive oil in a medium sized pan. Add the red pepper and sauté until tender. Add the greens and stir until wilted. Add pine nuts and quinoa, stir well.  Add the peanut butter and honey mixture to the mixture and mix well to coat. Remove from heat and serve warm or cold.

 

Spinach, Onion & Smoked Gouda Quiche with Quinoa Crust
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Spinach, Onion & Smoked Gouda Quiche with Quinoa Crust

IMG_3973.jpgI love Quiche. I especially love the pastry crust that goes along with quiche but I have to say this was a wonderful way to eat quiche. I made a kale salad to go along with it. I will make this again with different fillings also. This was adapted from cooking light recipe. I used smoke gouda in place of feta (and used more cheese) because, well. Just because. I also added some cheese to the crust. This was an easy weeknight meal.

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Ingredients

CRUST:

  • 2 cups cooked quinoa, chilled
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 large egg, beaten

FILLING:

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 (5-ounce) bag baby spinach
  • 1/2 cup 1% low-fat or skim milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 5 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup smoked or regular Gouda, shredded

Method

  1. For the crust, preheat oven to 375°.

  2. Combine quinoa, salt, pepper, cheese and egg in a bowl, stirring well. Press mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9″ pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes; cool.

  3. For the filling, heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add oil and onion; sauté 15-20 minutes until golden brown and caramelized. Add spinach; sauté 3 minutes. Remove from heat; cool.

  4. Combine milk and next 5 ingredients in a bowl; stir with a whisk. Arrange spinach mixture in crust; pour egg mixture over spinach. Sprinkle with gouda. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes; cut into wedges.

 

Tofu with Roasted Veggies and Quinoa
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Tofu with Roasted Veggies and Quinoa

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The roadside farm stands are open! On my walk the other day I stopped to pick up sweet corn (peaches and cream), Vidallia onions, yellow and green zuchinni, tomatoes and red peppers. I decided it called for a healthy sort of stir fry. I chopped up some tofu, roasted the tomatoes and with a little Balsamic glaze to drizzle on top I threw this together and served over quinoa. Your could substitute chicken or shrimp for the tofu as well. I roasted the tomatoes and stir fried the squash and pepper but you could also roast all the veggies.

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Ingredients

2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
olive oil for roasting tomatoes and caramelizing onions and stir fry
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
1 block of extra firm tofu
2-3 ears sweet corn
1 red pepper
1 large Vidallia or sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 golden Zucchini (or crooked neck squash)
1 zucchini
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
Balsamic glaze for drizzling

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chopped tomatoes on a sheet of tinfoil, drizzle with olive oil – about 1-2 tablespoons, sprinkle with sea salt, pepper and roast until juicy, about 15-20 minutes. Set aside, saving any of the juice.

While tomatoes are roasting heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (depending on size of onion) in a large pan. Add onions and cook slowly until golden, about 20 minutes.

In a large bowl slice corn kernels off the cob. In a large pan heat a teaspoon of oil and cook corn until just warmed and getting a bit caramelized. Set aside.

In same large pan add red pepper and zucchini, cook until just tender remove from pan and mix in with corn and tomatoes.

Heat another tablespoon or so of olive oil and add the tofu. I add a little soy sauce to help brown and give extra flavor. Brown all sides of tofu. When tofu is nice and brown, add the veggies back in to warm everything.

Serve over a bed of rice, couscous or quinoa. Drizzle with Balsamic glaze. You can make your own or use a bottle.

 

Spaghetti Squash Rosti
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Spaghetti Squash Rosti

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My wonderful mother, who taught me how to cook, is always on the lookout for recipes I might like. She found this on the Chew and I did my own version of it. This is great as a vegetarian main meal with a salad. We warmed up the leftovers for lunch the next day. You could add a lot of different ingredients like roasted grape tomatoes, onions or swiss chard. If you want to go vegetarian you can leave out the egg. The recipe did not call for it but I added as a binder.

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Ingredients:

  • 1 large spaghetti squash
  • 1 cup cooked Quinoa
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/4 cub bread crumbs

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Directions:

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Slice spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and place cut side down in a baking dish. Add enough water to cover the bottom of the baking dish, cover with foil and bake until tender, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Once cool enough to handle, shred with a fork and place in a large bowl

Add the squash, quinoa, egg, flour, bread crumbs  and chili flakes. Season with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Spray a large sauté pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add the squash mixture and press into a pancake using a spatula. Allow to cook until golden brown and crisp, about 5 minutes. I covered the pan for about half the time. Place a large plate over the pan and invert the pancake onto the plate and slide back into the pan. Cook on the other side until golden brown, about another 5 minutes. Slide onto a large plate. Cut into wedges.

 

Soy Chorizo, black bean & sweet potato skillet
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Soy Chorizo, black bean & sweet potato skillet

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I came up with this recipe because I needed to clean out the fridge and I wanted something for dinner that did not involve turkey. I has some sweet potatoes and squash leftover so I just made this up as I went along. It is vegetarian but you can use real Chorizo as well. Butternut Squash would be good in this as well as a red pepper.
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INGREDIENTS
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium (1 lb.) sweet potato cubed
  • 1 large sweet yellow onion, sliced thin
  • 1 small Delicata squash peeled and cut (optional)
  • 1 package Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo
  • 1 (15 oz.) can black beans
  • 1 can diced fired roasted salsa style tomatoes
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup white quinoa, cooked

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INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Peel and dice the sweet potato (and squash) into ½ to ¾ inch cubes. Sauté the sweet potato cubes in a large skillet with olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes have softened about half way through.
  2. Add the onions and cook until tender.
  3. Take Soy Chorizo out of its casing and put into a separate skillet. Sauté over medium heat,  breaking it up into small pieces as it browns.
  4. Rinse and drain the black beans. Add the black beans and tomatoes to the sweet potato/onion mixture. Stir gently to combine.
  5. Add in the cooked Soy Chorizo.
  6. Cover and simmer on low for 5-10 minutes.
  7. While the mixture is simmering, cook Quinoa according to directions.
  8. Add in the cheese and stir to combine with the squash mixture.

Spoon quinoa into a large bowl and ladle squash mixture over it and sprinkle with additional cheese

Soyrizo (Soy Chorizo) stuffed Acorn Squash
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Soyrizo (Soy Chorizo) stuffed Acorn Squash

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We are not vegetarians but we eat healthy when we can. I was not sure about using the fake Chorizo and bought it on a whim but was totally happy with this meal. You don’t have to use Soy, and real Chorizo would work fine as well. We made this twice last week…

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  • Coconut oil for coating the squash while roasting
  • Olive oil for sauteeing Onions and Chorizo
  • 12 oz  Soy Chorizo (I used Trader Joe’s)
  • 2 large acorn squash, halved and deseeded
  • 2 sweet Onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups cooked quinoa
  • 1-2 cups grated cheese, depending on how cheesy you want the stuffing (I used reduced fat Sharp Cheddar and Monteray Jack)
  • salt
  • pepper

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Cook quinoa according to directions. I used vegetable broth instead of water for a bit richer taste.

Coat the meaty side of the squash with coconut oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven on 400 degrees until fork tender — probably about 35 – 40 minutes.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook onions until golden and caramelized, stirring frequently. About 25-20 minutes.

Remove casing and cook Chorizo in a skillet with a little oil or spray pan with Pam. Since it does not have the fat you have to watch it closely to keep from burning. Break it up with your spoon. Add in onions, cheese and quinoa.

Stuff the squash with the stuffing and roast in the oven at 375 for an additional 20 minutes. Serve immediately.