Quinoa Veggie “Stir-Fry”

Quinoa & Veggies

When I was in college at the University of Wisconsin, I took a fascinating course called “People of the Andes.”

I’m not sure why I enrolled in it,  but I’m really glad I did because the professor, Frank Salomon, was amazing and it ended up being one of my favorite college courses.

The weird thing is that I remember more random trivia from this class than any other. Seriously. Whether they are random facts about Andean diurnal temperature variation, Incan cosmology, or Ecuadorian midwifery, I’ve somehow retained all these facts in my mind far more than, say, facts from my macroeconomics class.

Anyhow, in this class we learned about quinoa, one of the dietary staples of the ancient Incan empire (along with corn and potatoes).

The Incans considered quinoa so important to their lives that they called it “chisiya mama” or “Mother Grain.”

Quinoa has a protein level ranging from 14 to 20 percent, which is twice the level of protein found in other grains. Also, quinoa is a complete protein containing all the essentail amino acids.

Apparently, these health aspects were what made quinoa so important to the Andean diet, which was low in animal protein… which tells me that it’s great for us vegetarians!

My favorite quinoa recipe is quick, nutritious and colorful – its a quinoa and veggie stir fry with feta cheese. This takes so little time to make and its so delicious. Give it a try!

Quinoa Veggie ‘Stir Fry’

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa

2 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. thyme

4 cloves garlic

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow or orange bell pepper

1 small red onion

1 yellow squash

1 or 2 zucchini squash

3/4 cup feta cheese

Directions

1. Cook the quinoa by placing it in a small pot and adding two cups of water. Add a dash of salt and bring to a boil. Then, turn it down to low, cover and let simmer until the water is dried up (it generally takes about 10 minutes, for me).

Quinoa

2. In the meantime, slice the peppers, squash and onions into pieces. I usually cut the squash into about half-inch slices.

3. Put some olive oil into a wok or pan and heat it up. Put several cloves of garlic in the oil and cook for 2 minutes. Add veggies and stir. Then add some salt and oregano and thyme.

4. Lightly saute the veggies. You can cover it for a minute or two, but no longer, otherwise they will get soggy. DON’T LET THEM GET SOGGY!

Veggies

5. When almost cooked, take the cooked quinoa and pour it into the wok. Stir around, add some olive oil if it looks too dry, and cook for about 7 minutes, stirring often to make sure it doesn’t burn.

6. Spoon the mixture into bowls and top with feta cheese (or goat cheese, if you want).

Gingered Snow Peas and Tofu

The finished meal

I really like ginger.
Maybe its for sentimental reasons – my family pet all throughout my childhood was a Golden Retriver/Afghan mutt named Ginger. Whenever I say the word, I think of her.

My dog, Ginger, and me, around 1987

Or, maybe it’s because I have really noticed the root’s medicinal powers. When I get sick, my husband makes me an Indian remedy from his own childhood — fresh ginger root and honey boiled with water. Not only does it make my throat feel better, but it also does away with stomach aches and nausea.

Or, maybe I just really like the flavor.
Yet I don’t find that many recipes that call for fresh ginger root. Which is why I tried this one, from an old “Vegetarian Times” magazine.

Not only is this recipe really simple to make, with just a handful of ingredients, but it’s really healthy, too.

While you could serve it over rice, in an effort to reduce on the carbs, I just eat it straight out of a bowl.

The recipe calls for baked tofu, which is really expensive at the grocery store. To save money, I just buy a block of extra firm tofu, drain it, cut it into slices and coat it with a mixture of soy sauce and olive oil. Then I place it on a covered cookie sheet and bake it at about 400 degrees for 45 minutes or so, turning once.

The mixture, cooking on the stove

Gingered Snow Peas and Tofu

Ingredients

2/3 cup cashews
12 oz. baked tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
12 oz. snow peas, stemmed at tough strings removed
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 Tbs. tamari or low-sodium soy sauce
3 Tbs. peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
(Thai peanut sauce to top it off with, optional)

Directions
1. Toast cashews at about 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, put some oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok and place over medium-heat. Add tofu and cook, turning often, for about 5 minutes. Put aside in bowl.
3. Add a bit more oil and garlic to wok and cook for a few minutes. Now, add the snow peas and stir fry for 1 minute. Add 3 Tbs. water, tamari and ginger. Stir-fry for 2 or 3 minutes. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook for a couple more minutes, or until peas are tender.

4. Stir in tofu and cashews, and heat through. If you choose to add peanut sauce, add it now, and stir. Serve warm.

Swiss Chard and Sun-dried Tomato Pasta

Chard and Sundried Tomatoes pasta

I realize this recipe is neither particularly “Milwaukee” nor “Masala;” though I happen to think people who like both these types of food would love this quick, hearty pasta dish.

It only uses a few ingredients, and between the beans, leafy greens and whole wheat pasta, you don’t need to feel guilty if you take a second helping.

This is a GREAT vegan, or vegetarian, recipe.

Beans, sundried tomatoes and chard

Swiss Chard and Sundried Tomato Pasta

Ingredients

* Half a bunch of Swiss chard, chopped and de-veined
* Half a clove of garlic
* Half a jar of sundried tomatoes, in oil
* 1 15-oz. can of cannellini beans
* 8 oz. whole wheat linguine

Directions
1. Pour 2 tbsp. of the oil from the sundried tomatoes into a pan, and heat. Then, add the crushed garlic, and cook for 3 minutes.
2. Add the chopped Swiss chard and stir. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and cover. Let simmer on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, or until chard wilts.
3. Add the sundried tomatoes and beans. If mixture is getting too dry, add more of the sundried tomato olive oil. Heat through.
4. While this is all cooking, cook the pasta. Drain, and combine the two mixtures in a bowl.
5. If desired, top with grated Parmesan cheese.

The Pasta

Chocolate Orange-Blossom Cupcakes

The Amazing Cupcakes

These cupcakes are the best cupcakes in the world.

Dark chocolate. Orange blossom essence. Soft, fluffy… truly amazing. Amazing, as in, “Seeing-the-Taj-Mahal-for-the-first-time” amazing. Or “Drinking-Malbec-in-a-Mendoza-vineyard-in-the-moonlight” amazing. Or “Barack Obama” amazing.

Seriously.

Chocolate-Orange-Blossom-Cupcakes

 
I spent a couple days searching for recipes that used orange blossom water and chocolate, but couldn’t find any. It appears bakers only think blossom water is suitable for mixing with white chocolate. I’m not sure why — if anyone has ever tasted Terry’s Chocolate Oranges (those British orange-flavored dark chocolate balls popular around Christmas), they would know the two flavors truly compliment each other.

So I went ahead and threw this recipe together. Not only do these cupcakes smell wonderful while baking, they taste amazing.
Top them off with the cream cheese frosting I posted earlier this month.

The only problem is that I can’t think of a suitable name for these amazing cupcakes. I want to name it after something I love, something amazing — but nothing seems to work. Any ideas?

The-Only-Cupcakes-I-Will-Eat-Ever-Again

Chocolate and Orange Blossom Cupcakes

Ingredients

*1/2 cup butter, room temperature

* 1 1/4 sugar

*  3/4 cup flour

* 2 eggs, room temperature

* 3/4 tsp. baking powder

* 1/4 tsp. baking soda

* 1/4 tsp. salt

* 1/2 cup cocoa powder (make sure its unsweetened)

* 1 tsp. orange blossom water

*1 tsp. vanilla extract

* 1/2 cup buttermilk

* 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions (preheat oven to 350 degrees).

1. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer, until well blended. Then, add eggs and beat.

2. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder together.

3. In another cup, mix orange blossom water, vanilla extract and milk together.

4. In butter mixture, start to beat in half of dry mixture. Then beat in milk mixture. Then, add the remaining dry mixture and beat until well-blended.

5. Fold in chocolate chips.

6. Fill cupcake wrappers about 3/4 full.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 24 minutes. Check to make sure a cake tester comes out clean.

Vegetable Kashmiri

Vegetable Kashmiri, with garnish

When I used to skim through cookbooks, I would generally avoid Indian recipes. Although they always looked tasty, the long list of spices and other unfamiliar ingredients was just too daunting.

But eventually, I  started doing a little cooking with my husband and his family members. My kitchen cupboard slowly became stocked with tons of spices (including a masala dabba – an aluminum spice container my mother-in-law brought me from India). And, suddenly, the recipes didn’t look as scary anymore. So I started trying some of them. 

My masala dabba

The thing is, even though the lists of ingredients look long, they’re really pretty simple. And many of the dishes use the same spices over and over, so you get used to working with them.

I found this recipe is in my “Vegetarian” cookbook, a $9.99 bargain book found at Barnes & Noble Bookstore. The first time I made it, I was so excited because it turned out to be so amazingly fragrant. My whole kitchen smelled like nutmeg, cardamom, cumin and other spices. And it tasted delicious.

I’ve changed the recipe in some places, like substituting green beans for okra (the one veggie I don’t like).  Below, I’ve listed my version of the recipe.

Vegetable Kashmiri

Ingredients

* 2 tsp. cumin seeds

* 8 black peppercorns

* 6 green cardamom pods, seeds only

* 1 tsp. cinnamon

* 1 tsp. nutmeg

* I cinnamon stick

* 3 tbsp. oil

*  1-2 fresh green chilies, chopped

* 1-inch piece of ginger root, grated

* 4 garlic cloves, pressed

* 1 tsp. chili powder

* 1/2 tsp. salt

* 2-3 large potatoes, boiled for 12 minutes, then peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces

* 8 oz. cauliflower, broken into florets

* 8 oz. green beans ( cut in half, if they are long)

* 1 cup yogurt

* 2/3 cup vegetable stock

 * sliced almonds and cilantro, for garnish

Directions

1. Grind the cumin seeds, peppercorns and cardamom seeds with a mortar and pestle.

Spice Mixture

2. Heat oil in a large saucepan and cook the chili, garlic and ginger for 2 minutes, stirring all the time.

3. Add the chili powder, salt, ground spice mixture, nutmeg and cinnamon and cook for 3 minutes, stirring to prevent the spices from sticking to the pan.

Heating up the spices

4. Stir in the potatoes, add the cinnamon stick, cover and cook for 10 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally.

5. Add the cauliflower and beans and cook for 8 minutes.

Potatoes, beans and cauliflower

6. Add the yogurt and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender.

7. Garnish with toasted almonds, cilantro, and more yogurt, if you wish.