Thai Quinoa Bowl

I'm back from my blogging hiatus. My parents have been in town, Brian got out of school for the summer, and I guess I was just a little tired of blogging after blogging everyday for 21 days straight. I thought I would come back from my break with a recipe that I made recently and absolutely loved. Like, head-over-heels in love. I found it on Everyday Reading, one of the blogs I follow, and it has really made me trust her judgment in food.

I was especially excited about this recipe because it allowed me to dive in to my giant bag of quinoa that I bought on a whim one day, thinking I was going to be a big quinoa eater. I like the idea of it, and how healthy it is, but I've just been having trouble finding recipes I love. I'll put this one in the archives and continue my search for more quinoa recipes.

The point of this post, go home and make this and maybe even run down to Costco and buy a giant bag of quinoa. You'll love this recipe that much!

Photo credit: Everyday Reading

Thai Quinoa Bowl

Source: Everyday Reading

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1 3/4 cups water
2-3 carrots, diced
2 green onions, chopped
2 red, orange, or yellow bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped peanuts (salted or unsalted)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Dressing:
3 teaspoons peanut butter
6 Tablespoons sweet Thai chili sauce (I sometimes do half sweet and sour sauce)
3 Tablespoons rice vinegar
3 Tablespoon canned coconut milk
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 garlic cloves
3 Tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

In a saucepan, combine the quinoa, water and diced carrots. Bring to a boil, then stir once, cover and let cook on very-low for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit another couple of minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Meanwhile, prepare the dressing. Melt peanut butter in the microwave or over the stove and then whisk together with all other dressing ingredients.

Put the green onions, peppers, peanuts, and cilantro in a large mixing bowl. Add the quinoa/carrot mix when it's done, pour the dressing over the top and mix until the dressing is evenly coating the whole mixture.

Serve warm or cold.

(Add shredded chicken if you're so inclined. This non-vegan won't be offended). 

Veggie and Quinoa Burritos

This is a vegan recipe and I am not a vegan, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it. I'd give it 4 stars. I'm not sure what would make it better. I liked it and had seconds. Logan ate it. It just wasn't knock your socks off good. But I probably will make it again. I bought a huge bag of quinoa from Costco and have been searching for recipes to use it. The last, and only, quinoa dish I made was the Southwestern Quinoa Salad and Logan would not touch it. Finding recipes that Logan will eat and Brian and I will enjoy is always great. The recipe uses shredded sauteed zucchini and you can hardly tell it is there. I love being able to sneak some vegetables into Logan. He has a few favorites - corn, peas, tomatoes - but he wont even give a lot of them a try. I'm sure that is a problem for a lot of you mom's out there, so this recipe might be a keeper for you too! It's kid friendly and easily personalizable if you have super picky eaters or allergies. The only thing I would do differently is to make more of the sour cream mixture. I love sour cream and I wanted to dip my burrito in it. Super healthy, I know.

Veggie and Quinoa Burritos

Source: Cooking Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (optional)

½ cup quinoa, rinsed

4 cloves garlic, minced

2/3 cup vegetable broth

1/3 cup vegan or low fat sour cream OR Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

2 teaspoons lime juice

1/8 tablespoon chipotle chili pepper powder (optional)

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

¾ cup shredded zucchini

¾ cup chopped tomatoes

4 whole wheat or gluten free tortillas

1 cup Daiya Pepper Jack or Cheddar Cheese

For serving: Salsa and/or Guacamole (optional)

Instructions:

Spray a medium saucepan with organic canola spray. Add onion and jalapeno and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender. Add quinoa and garlic and sauté for one minute. Add vegetable broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit covered for 5 more minutes.

In a small bowl combine sour cream, cilantro, lime juice and chipotle chili pepper.

Heat a large skillet to medium high heat and spray with canola oil spray. Add corn and zucchini and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for one additional minute. 

Remove vegetables from heat and wipe pan carefully with paper towels.

Heat tortillas a few minutes per side. Spread with a thin layer of sour cream. Top with ¼ cup cheese, ¼ of the quinoa and ¼ of the vegetable mixture. Roll up using toothpicks to secure.

Return skillet to medium heat and spray with olive oil. Add 2 burritos to pan and cook each side until browned.

Southwestern Quinoa Salad

Brian and I really like this salad. Logan does not. Some kids might like it but Logan has done nothing but turn his nose up at it. I think the texture of the quinoa throws him off, because he has no problem with southwestern flavors. Brian suggested I double the dressing recipe and I agree. It makes it that much better. I also noticed that the salad tasted better the next day. All the flavors had a chance to soak in to the quinoa and marinate together. I love when a dish I make gets better with time. It makes me excited for leftovers! This salad is a nice, fresh, summer salad that is perfect to take on picnics or to barbecues. It's a nice healthy dish that tastes yummy, I give it 5 stars.

Southwestern Quinoa Salad
Source: Kalyn's Kitchen

Salad Ingredients:
3/4 cup quinoa (rinsed if needed, check the package)
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 red bell pepper, chopped into small dice
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Dressing Ingredients:
2 T fresh-squeezed lime juice
1 tsp. Spike Seasoning (optional but highly recommended)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground Ancho chile pepper (or use regular chile powder if you don't have Ancho)
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions:
Check the quinoa package to see if it needs to be rinsed (it often does) and rinse in a fine-mesh strainer if needed. Combine quinoa, water, and salt and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed. Fluff quinoa with a fork and let it cool while you prep other ingredients.

Drain the beans into a colander placed in the sink and rinse well with cold water, until no more foam appears. Let beans drain until they are quite dry (or pat dry with paper towels if you want to speed it up.)

Cut out the stem and remove seeds from the red bell pepper and cut into very small dice (about the size of the black beans.) Slice the green onions into thin slices and wash, dry, and chop the cilantro.

When the quinoa is fairly cool, combine quinoa, black beans, diced red bell pepper, and sliced green onion in a bowl. Add enough dressing to moisten all the ingredients. (You probably won't need all the dressing, but save the extra to stir into any leftover salad that's been in the fridge.) Gently stir in the chopped cilantro and serve.

This keeps very well in the fridge for several days. The salad absorbs the dressing when it's refrigerated, so it's best with a little more dressing stirred in when you're eating the leftover salad.