Quinoa Stuffed Patty Pan Squash

Ever seen a patty pan squash? They look like little vegetable UFOs. I kept passing by them in the store wondering what you do with them. I finally looked it up one day. They taste very similar to yellow squash or zucchini. They're just a different shape, a shape that happens to lend itself to stuffing!

Notes: This would a great dish for entertaining. It looks very impressive and everyone gets their own little bundle of goodness.

This recipe makes more filling than you'll need to serve two. It makes enough to serve four. The filling is great on its own!

Ingredients (adapted slightly from this recipe):
2-4 patty pan squash (depending on how many you are serving)
1 cup quinoa
1 1/4 cup water or stock
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 bunch of kale leaves, cleaned and de-stemmed
1 15 oz. can chickpeas
2-4 tablespoons butter (optional)
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Heat your oven to 375.

Slice the tops off the squash and scoop out some of the innards. Be sure not to poke a hole in the bottom or in the side. Season the cavity with salt and pepper. Place them in a glass baking dish. Thinly slice your kale and drain and rinse the chickpeas.

Bring the quinoa and water to a boil. Turn to medium and simmer for 10-15 minutes until tender. When it's finished, stir in the kale, tomato paste, and chickpeas. Season with salt and pepper.

Scoop the filling into the squash. Put a tablespoon of butter into each squash (squish it into the filling). Replace the squash "lids" and cover with foil. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the squash is tender. Enjoy!

With lid!

Without lid!

Summer Salad Series: Quinoa and Black Bean Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

As you might have heard from the apocalyptic tone of the weather channel, we're in a heat wave right now. So, is it hot in the professor's kitchen? Oh yeah, it's hot. It's move-your-mattress-downstairs-and-sleep-in-the-dining-room hot. It's break-down-and-buy-a-portable-AC hot. It's blow-untold-sums-of-money-on-iced-coffee hot. More importantly, it's no-I-don't-want-to-turn-the-oven-on hot.

When it's too hot to cook, it's also too hot to go out to eat, which is why you need an army of cold dishes in your cooking repertoire. As such, I bring you the first in the summer salad series.

Notes: My lone complaint for this dish is that my delicious dressing was a bit understated in the finished product. I should have made a little more so that it really shined through. Other than that, this salad is exactly what you need for a hot day!

So I'm cheating a bit when I say no oven because to prepare the squash you do have to turn the oven on. The trick to this salad is to prep it at night when the house is cooler. Pop it in the fridge so that it chills overnight and it'll be ready for you the next day. Or you could make it the day before the heat arrives, which I did. If you really don't want to use the oven, swap the squash out with a mango. That was my original plan, but there weren't any mangoes at the store.

This salad is also VTMK. Healthy and refreshing!

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
1 1/4 cup water
1 15 oz can black beans
1 small butternut squash
1/2 bunch kale leaves, cleaned and de-stemmed (I used red kale)
1 bunch cilantro
2 limes
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large tablespoon of coconut oil (you could use olive oil too)
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Heat the oven to 425.

Peel the butternut squash and remove the seeds. Dice it and toss it with the coconut oil, then season it with salt and pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes until fork tender.

Meanwhile, add water and quinoa to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Turn it down to a simmer and let it cook for 10-15 minutes until tender and the little grain inside unfurls like a tail.

While you're waiting on the quinoa and the squash, thinly slice the kale, drain and rinse the beans, and chop the cilantro. Zest the limes and add the zest to the cilantro.

Once the quinoa and squash are cooked, add the squash to the quinoa pot. Add in the kale and beans and stir everything together. Season with salt and pepper.

In a microwaveable bowl, heat the honey for about 10 seconds. Add in the spices and whisk together. Juice both limes into the bowl and whisk again. Drizzle in the 1/4 cup olive oil while you whisk. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the dressing over the salad, add the cilantro and lime zest, and toss everything together until well combined.

Chill for at least two hours or overnight. Serve cold and enjoy!

Quinoa Risotto

Is there anything more comforting than risotto? And if you can make it with brown rice, why not make it with quinoa?

Notes: This is the first time I've tried making quinoa risotto-style and it worked well. I think it even took a little less time than regular risotto does; it may have been 30 minutes rather than the usual 45. Obviously the quinoa won't be as creamy as arborio rice, but it will still be creamier than it would be if you just boiled it.

The new ingredient this time was coconut oil. Now, the jury is still out on whether or not coconut oil is healthy, but it isn't the evil fat that everyone used to think it was. The New York Times has a nice primer on it, if you want to read up. It worked really well for sauteing and I really liked the flavor it gave to the greens.

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
4 cups stock or water
1 tablespoon coconut oil (or other fat of your choice)
1/2 bunch of kale leaves, stemmed
1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
2 garlic cloves
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

In a small sauce pan, heat the stock or water to a simmer. Keep it simmering. Rinse the quinoa under cold water and drain. Chop the rosemary, mince  the garlic, and thinly slice the kale.

Add coconut oil to a large skillet and heat on medium-high, add kale, garlic and rosemary. Saute for 30-45 seconds. Add the quinoa and toast for a minute. Add four ladles of stock and stir. Season with salt and pepper.

Allow the quinoa to absorb the liquid and then add more. Add roughly two ladles of liquid at a time whenever the dish starts to look dry. Repeat this process until the quinoa is cooked -- it will be tender and the little grains inside will unfurl like little tails -- it should take about 30-40 minutes.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Quinoa, Black Bean, and Pumpkin Burritos

It's been probably three years since I've had decent mexican food. Despite Louisiana's proximity to Texas, Lake Charles only has a handful of not-so-authentic places. I suppose the place we used to go in Urbana wasn't exactly the real deal, but it sure was better than anything in LC.

I've been wanting to try my hand at burritos. I saw a recipe for pumpkin and black bean soup and thought it might work as a filling. Boy did it ever.

Notes: This dish can only be described as "crazy delicious." It has exactly the right amount of heat for me, but if you want it milder, I'd use one rather than two chipotles. This dish has a lot of steps and it violates my "use fewer dishes rule," but it was so good, I got over it. If you wanted to make it for a dinner party, you could make both the quinoa and the black bean mix the day before. Just store them in the fridge and assemble everything when you're ready to bake.

For those who don't know, chipotles are smoked jalapenos. They come canned in adobo sauce. You can usually find them in the mexican food aisle or wherever your other canned chiles are. They are soft, so if you want to remove the seeds, just lay them on a cutting board, open them up, and scrape the seeds out with the tip of your knife.

If you want a thicker bean mixture, you can always add more pumpkin.

I do not have a foolproof or even good method for rolling burritos. I just try to keep everything from falling out. There are videos all over YouTube, if you are so inclined. But if you're lazy like I am, just use the "tuck and roll" method from the egg post.


Ingredients:
1 15 oz. can black beans
1/4 cup of canned pumpkin puree
1 onion
5 cloves of garlic
1 bell pepper
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 chipotles in adobo, seeds removed
1 teaspoon adobo sauce
1 cup quinoa
2 cups (plus 1/2) water
Grated monterrey jack cheese
Large flour tortillas
Salt
Pepper
Fat of choice (I used butter)

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350.

Start by prepping your veggies. Chop the onion, mince the garlic, and chop the bell pepper. Add your fat of choice to the pan and turn it to medium-high. Once it heats up, add the veggies and saute while you do everything else.

Add your quinoa and 2 cups of water to a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then turn to a simmer. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until the water is absorbed.

While the quinoa is cooking, rinse and drain the canned beans. Pull our your chipotles, take out the seeds, and mince the peppers. Add the beans, chipotles, adobo sauce, and pumpkin to your pan with the veggies. Use a potato masher or a fork to mash some of the black beans. Add a 1/2 cup of water and turn the heat down. You just want it to simmer until your quinoa is finished.

While the quinoa is finishing, grate your cheese. Once everything is done, assemble the burrito. Put a large spoonful (like a serving spoon size) of quinoa in the middle of the burrito toward the bottom. Put the same size spoonful of the black bean mixture on top of the quinoa. Leave yourself enough room to fold it over. Tuck in the sides, roll the filling over, tuck in the sides again, and then roll once more. Put the burrito seam-side down into a glass baking dish. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas until you have the desired amount of burritos.

Sprinkle the cheese on top of the burritos and bake for 10-12 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Serve with your favorite garnishes and enjoy!

Quinoa Veggie Stir Fry

It's been awhile since I made a recipe with quinoa. You can use it in any dish where you would normally use rice. I like it a bit better than regular rice: the texture is more tender and it has a nutty flavor.

Notes: I picked up a couple of ingredients I normally don't have on hand: tofu and roasted garlic chili paste. The co-op had baked tofu, which I had never seen before. I absolutely love tofu in Thai and Chinese food, but I can't ever seem to get the texture right when I cook it at home. The baked tofu was closer to what I was looking for. If you can't find baked tofu, regular tofu would work just fine. I would press the water out and add it to the pan first so that it crisps up a bit.

I hadn't used roasted garlic chili paste before. It's very good, though I think I might add a little more next time I use it. If you can't find it, a combination of regular garlic and some kind of hot sauce would get you in the flavor ballpark.

I have learned a lot from screwing up stir fries in the past. I think the biggest tip is to have everything ready before you even turn on the burner. I don't have a wok, so I just use a regular skillet, which means it doesn't take long to heat up. Have all your ingredients laid out next to the stove so that all you have to do is reach for them when you're ready. You can't leave stir fry unattended!

If you have all your ingredients prepped, stir fry is very Q.E.D. -- it only takes about 7 minutes!

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 head of shredded cabbage
1 cup of broccoli florets
1 cup of baked (or regular) tofu, cubed
1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons roasted garlic chili paste
1/4 cup soy sauce
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Dice your bell pepper, shred your cabbage, chop your broccoli, and cube your tofu. Arrange all your ingredients near the stove so that you can dump them into the pan when you need to.

Heat about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil over high heat. When the oil ripples and starts to smoke a little, add your cabbage (if you're using regular tofu, add it first). Stir the cabbage around so that it's all coated with oil (about a minute). Add the bell pepper and broccoli florets and stir until tender crisp (about a minute). Season the veggies with salt and pepper. If you're using baked tofu, add it now. Add in the chili paste and stir everything together (about two minutes).

Move your mixture to the edges of the pan, creating a well in the middle. Add in your cooked quinoa and soy sauce. Stir continuously for about 3-4 minutes until the quinoa starts to brown and get a little sticky. Remove the pan from the heat when you're done to make sure nothing burns.

Serve and enjoy!

Q.E.D.: Thai Style Red Curry Chickpeas over Quinoa

This post is brought to you by the letter 'q' -- for quinoa! Quinoa is the little ancient grain that could: packed with protein and lots of easily-digestible fiber, it's all the rage nutritionally. Good thing it's also delicious.

I have been meaning to make quinoa forever. I've had it a few times in restaurants, usually in cold pasta salad sorts of preparations. I wanted to try it hot in place of rice. I got Scott on board not just with the quinoa, but with vegetable curry.

Curry is one of those unspeakably comforting foods. I know it's traditionally eaten in warm places like Thailand and India, but nothing warms the bones like a big bowl of curry when there's a foot of snow on the ground. We were lucky to have lots of Thai restaurants in Urbana. And boy howdy did we need the warming power of curry.

Notes: I like my curry just shy of uncomfortably hot. You know the level of heat where you need to sit for a minute in between bites? That kind of heat. The amount of curry paste recommended was not enough. I ended up using a teaspoon and a half, but I should have used AT LEAST a tablespoon, probably more. I'm leaving it at a tablespoon. If you like your curry mild, by all means use less.

I originally intended to use roasted veggies, but the ones I bought were further along than I thought and ended up spoiling in the fridge. So I just used the frozen veggie I had on hand.

The quinoa was delicious: nutty and tender. I think I liked it better than rice. I made this Q.E.D, but if you want to let your curry mixture simmer for awhile, it would be much deeper in flavor.

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons of butter
1 small onion
5 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 can coconut milk
1/2 bag of frozen thin cut green beans
15-20 oz. of chickpeas (I used some that I had frozen, but you could use a can)
1 tablespoon red curry paste
Salt

Directions:

Start by rinsing your quinoa under cold water in a fine-mesh strainer.

Let it drain while you start the curry.

Quinoa is ready for its close-up

Slice the onion and mince the garlic.

Put butter in a pan on medium heat. When the butter melts add the onions and garlic.

Next add your coconut milk, basil, and curry paste (the paste will dissolve better with fewer ingredients in the pan -- learned that the hard way!)

The coconut milk with start out looking very thick, but it will thin out

 Next add your chickpeas and green beans.

Season with salt and let it simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes.

Once the curry mix is going, add your chicken stock and quinoa to a 2-quart sauce pot. Bring it to a boil and then turn the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

When it's done, the quinoa will look semi-translucent, it will be tender, and the little curly grain inside it will unfurl like a little tail.

All done!

Dish some quinoa up in a bowl and ladle the curry on top.

Enjoy!