I think I’m in love. Okay, I’m in love with Lane, but you all know that already. He’s my husband after all. Today I’m going to talk about my “new” love. Quinoa. It’s not that I haven’t had it before, I have. And I’ve enjoyed it in its plain iterations. But lately, I’ve been “playing” with it in a variety of different ways. Before this latest heat wave, I’d been making a few variations on quinoa for breakfast, I keep meaning to make it ahead of time and try it cold, but that hasn’t happened yet. Just Friday night, I made a Quinoa salad for dinner based on Susan’s recipe over at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.
Normally I try to follow a recipe exactly as written the first time I’m making it. Especially when it’s something new. But it was hot, and I was tired and I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand. So, I winged it a bit. I had the basic ingredients for the dressing — I subbed lemon juice for lime, and mandarin orange juice (from the can of mandarin oranges) for orange juice. But everything else remained the same. The added ingredients were another story however.
Typically we either eat out on Friday’s or we have some kind of mish mash thrown together dinner with whatever produce is left over from the week. (Saturday morning we religiously go to our local farmers market.) I had the corn, but no peppers (they never make it a whole week). So, instead of peppers I threw in steamed asparagus. That was kind of boring though and I had no other fresh produce on hand. To spice things up, I added mandarin orange slices, artichoke hearts, and some sun dried tomatoes. I’ll probably skip the sun dried tomatoes next time, but this dish is a winner. And since quinoa has a really high protein content, it’s one of those things I’ll be making more of an effort to incorporate into our diet. Maybe I’ll make it again tomorrow…
– Cheers, Jane
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9 responses so far ↓
1 kat // Jun 23, 2008 at
i’m so grateful for this post! it couldn’t have come at a better time. over the weekend i ate a taco with quinoa, black beans, corn and guacamole at a restaurant and thought to myself “i should incorporate more quinoa into my diet - if only i had some solid recipes to start with!”
2 Lane // Jun 23, 2008 at
Hi Kat,
Timing is everything! We haven’t tried the others, but Susan has a slew of Quinoa recipes… as does Heidi over at 101 Cookbooks (although her site is not a vegan site, so you might have to do some creative substitutions). (links above).
We really loved the salad, although I think some people might want a tad more salt or perhaps soy…
3 Kate Saltfleet // Jun 24, 2008 at
Thanks for this post, it is good to have somthing to start with. I have tried quinoa before and it is so nutritious, but I have been put off by the glutinous texture. Maybe it’s time for another try?
4 Lane // Jun 24, 2008 at
Hi Kate,
Glutinous texture? Ours almost has a crunch to it. The instructions on our package say 1 Cup Quinoa to 2 Cups water…. bring boil then simmer for 12-15 minutes until the water is evaporated. Perhaps we’re cooking closer to 12 minutes and you’ve tried it around 15?
Anyway, we really enjoy it so we’d vote: yes, give it another try.
5 Sparrow // Jun 27, 2008 at
I don’t usually use actual recipes for quinoa. I just throw things together, following the things I learned at http://www.vegancoach.com (my all-time favorite vegan cooking site. Sassy rules.)
6 Farmers Market Fare 11 : Eat. Drink. Better. // Jun 30, 2008 at
[...] Wright presents Favorite Quinoa Recipes posted at Vegan [...]
7 Anonymous // Jul 1, 2008 at
All Things Eco Blog Carnival Volume Five…
Welcome to the June 30 (or should I say July 1?), 2008 edition of All Things Eco.
……
8 Fresh From the Farmer's Market #5 | Modern Beet // Jul 7, 2008 at
[...] from Vegan Bits shares her Love Affair with Quinoa, which I too share. A lovely alternative to brown rice, quinoa can be prepared in an incredible [...]
9 Farmers Market Fare 12 : Eat. Drink. Better. // Jul 14, 2008 at
[...] Wright presents Favorite Quinoa Recipes posted at Vegan [...]
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