Quinoa Pudding with Macerated Strawberries and Pistachios

Ok, so I am going through my weekly routine of substituting quinoa for rice in all the recipes I like and I come up with this brilliant idea ... quinoa pudding! A very good friend of the family has this awesome rice pudding recipe and I thought I might try my hand at converting it. Well, I didn't exactly have the recipe for this awesome rice pudding, but I thought I new the secret and I could make my way through it. So, I get on the internet like I normally do and start studying other people's rice pudding recipes and the thought came to me to search for quinoa pudding and see what comes up. I got several hits on Google and I felt a little deflated because my idea wasn't so original after all. So anyway, I am making my way through the results and I hit the Quinoa Pudding Mother Ship! Canelle et Vanille is a blog by Aran Goyoaga who is a pastry chef and photographer. What a great food blog with excellent photos. If you are food lover you have to check it out. I immediately switched gears and started adapting Aran's recipe for the stuff I have around the house.

Quinoa Pudding with Macerated Strawberries and Pistachios

2 1/2 c regular milk

1 c vanilla coffee creamer

1 c quinoa (uncooked)

1 tbsp vanilla

1/4 c sugar

1 tbsp sugar

1 pinch of salt

1/2 c sliced strawberries
1/4 c chopped pistachios

Get the sliced strawberries going in a bowl with the tbsp of sugar on top and let it sit while everything else comes together. Rinse the quinoa good. I do this like sushi rice and put the quinoa in the pot I am going to cook it in and just run lots of water on it to get the bitter dust off the grains. Drain the quinoa as best you can. Combine the quinoa, milk, creamer, vanilla, 1/4 c sugar and salt in a pot. Mix well and bring to a boil while stirring often. Immediately turn the heat down to medium low. Stir every minute or two for about 30 minutes. The mixture will thicken. Serve in an appropriate container topped with strawberries and pistachios. Makes about four servings.

This recipe, done well, will knock your socks off. :-) Enjoy

TTFN

BTR

Ratatouille with Quinoa

  Around our home anything that remotely resembles the recipe below is called Ratatouille. Maybe we're wrong, but one thing is for sure, if any combination of eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, yellow squash and zucchini is available, we cook it and call it the R-word. I'll list the ingredients for this version, but it isn't likely this exact recipe will be repeated here again. We even cook it different depending on the time of the year. In the summer we tend to use the stove top more and try to get it cooked relatively fast to avoid heating the kitchen up, but in the fall we make it in the oven and roast everything. As many ingredients as possible were used from the bucket garden.

Ratatouille with Quinoa

1 small Lavender eggplant cubed

2 small to medium zucchini cubed

3 small yellow squash cubed

3/4 medium white onion chopped

1 yellow bell pepper chopped (light green really ...)

4 plum tomatoes chopped (seeds removed)

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 c canned mushrooms

2 cloves garlic (pressed)

1 1/2 c celery chopped (leaves and all)

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 bunch parsley chopped (reserve small amount for garnish)

1 small bunch oregano chopped

1 small bunch basil chopped

4 c cooked quinoa

grated mozzarella cheese

salt

pepper

  In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Stir until soft and the aromatics are released. Add celery eggplant, and yellow squash. Lightly salt to help the vegetables to weep. Saute for 5 minutes. Add zucchini peppers and tomatoes. Once again, lightly salt. Saute for 5 minutes. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Add parsley, oregano, basil and mushrooms. Stir well and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. Serves 4. Plate over quinoa. Melt cheese on top. We use the microwave. Garnish with chopped parsley. Enjoy!

TTFN

B

Quinoa Tabbouleh

 

  Or as we often see it here in the states, Tabouli. This dish absolutely screams spring and summer. I wasn't real familiar with this dish until very recently and I am so glad I was exposed to it. I have a lot of parsley to use up from the garden and I recently started using Quinoa just to check it out, so this event was timely. The recipe I was exposed to planted the Tabbouleh seed, but after some research it was immediately labeled inadequate. The recipe didn't call for enough parsley (Tabbouleh is a parsley salad after all) and it didn't have any lemon juice either, so I made my own recipe:

Quinoa Tabbouleh

1 c parsley (coarse chopped, flat leaf)

1/2 c cilantro (coarse chopped)

1 c quinoa (cooked and cooled)

1 med cucumber (coarse dice)

2 Roma tomatoes (seeds removed, coarse dice)

1/4 med onion (small diced)

5-6 mint leaves (coarse chopped)

1 clove garlic (garlic pressed)

2 tbsp lemon juice

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Mix ingredients well and serve chilled.

TTFN

B