Quinoa Chard Bowl

I haven't been cooking much lately, but after Megan did the heavy lifting of cooking bibimbap while I was out of town, I figured I had better help out.  Inspired by this recent post and this old one, and by the vegetables piling up in the crisper drawer, I decided to make a grain and greens bowl, throwing together whatever we had in the house that needed to be used.  With that objective in mind, you should feel free to substitute to your heart's content.  I have written below what I did, but this is a dish to throw in whatever you like.  Don't like chickpeas?  Black beans would be delicious too, or the beans could be omitted entirely if you don't think you need the protein or want to substitute an egg instead.  Any kind of winter greens would work in this dish, whether you have chard, kale, or spinach on hand.  You can also play around with the grain, using rice, farro  quinoa, polenta, whatever.  Also, we topped ours off with Yumm sauce and Chalula hot sauce, since we usually have some sitting in the fridge, but you could just as easily whip up the quick tahini sauce from this recipe instead.



Quinoa Chard Bowl

1 cup quinoa
2 cups broth (or water)
2 pinches of salt

1 yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 bunch rainbow chard, ribs chopped small and leaves chopped
1 (14 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Yumm sauce and hot sauce to taste

Rinse quinoa and put in small saucepan/pot with broth (or water) and salt.  Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Pull off the heat and cover for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Meanwhile, chop your vegetables.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet/fry pan, then add onion and spices cooking for a few minutes to fry the spices.  Add carrots, celery, and chard ribs and stir to mix, cooking for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally.  (You can add a little bit of water if you pan gets too dry.)  After about 10 minutes total, or when you vegetables are cooked to your liking, add the chard leaves and chickpeas, stir to mix and cook for just another minute or two to wilt the chard and warm the chickpeas through.

Serve over quinoa with Yumm sauce and hot sauce to taste.

Winter Salads

They may not be pretty, but I have a couple of tasty salads that you can make during the winter months to share today.  Sometimes big warm stews are exactly what I want when the weather gets cold, but then sometimes you just need a little freshness and lightness in the mix.  These two salads are both delicious and keep well, which make them great for lunches.

The first is a warm butternut squash and garbanzo bean salad with tahini dressing from Orangette, and the second is a carrot quinoa salad my sister adapted from The Muffin Myth.



Warm Butternut and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing, adapted from Orangette:

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut in 1 inch piecies
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. ground allspice (optional)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt
1 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 of a medium red onion, finely chopped (and briefly rinsed with hot water to curb bite, if desired)
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced with a pinch of salt
4 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 Tbsp. tahini, well-stirred
2 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Put peeled, seeded, cubed butternut squash on a large baking sheet.  Sprinkle olive oil and spices over the squash (omitting the allspice if you're not a fan) and mix around with your hands to approximate an even coating on all squash pieces.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until soft.  Let cool.

Meanwhile, make tahini dressing in a small bowl.  Whisk together the garlic and lemon juice, then add the tahini and whisk to blend.  Add the water and olive oil, and whisk well until all incorporated.  Taste for seasoning.

Combine the squash, chickpeas, onion, and cilantro in a mixing bowl.  Add tahini sauce to taste and toss carefully.  (Tossing the salad with the dressing makes it look not so great though - see above - so if you're trying to be fancy, I would leave the salad undressed and let your guests dress it at the table.)

Serve either warm or cold.

Carrot and Quinoa Salad, adapted from The Muffin Myth:

1 cup uncooked quinoa
6-8 large carrots, shredded with box grater or food processor
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 limes
olive oil
Bragg's liquid amino acids or soy sauce
1/2 tsp. cayenne
salt and pepper

Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh sieve, and then put in a small pot with 1 1/2 cups water and a pinch of salt.  Cover the pot and bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to low.  Simmer for about 10 minutes, and then fluff with a fork.

Make dressing in the bottom of a large bowl.  Whisk together juice of two limes, olive oil, amino acid or soy, a pinch of cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste.  Add cooked quinoa, shredded carrots, and chopped cilantro.  Mix well and taste for seasoning.

Mushroom Barley Soup & Broccoli Quinoa

Apparently I'm on a Broccoli Quinoa salad kick, because that's all I seem to be craving recently. I think I like this one better than the last though. I'm a bigger fan of the classic dijon, balsamic, olive oil dressing instead of the broccoli pesto that went on the last one. I think throwing some acid in either a salad or soup (aka vinegar or lemon/lime juice) really just punches up the flavor a lot. So I happily ate this salad two nights in a row, once with this soup that my lovely sister brought over (which is really good, incidentally), and then next night with a soup that I made (recipe below).

Quinoa, Roasted Broccoli, and Arugula Salad with Feta from The Moveable Feast:

Contrary to her directions, I made all kinds of substitutions and changes. I roasted both broccolini and fennel (with salt, pepper, cayenne, red pepper flakes, coriander, & olive oil), and then I also chopped up some green bell pepper and threw it into the salad raw to add some more crunch. I didn't have a lemon in the house, so after contemplating and then rejecting using a lime, I just used a mix of white wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar in the dressing, made with dijon mustard instead of a grainy mustard. I also wanted to make a larger batch, so I used 1 1/2 cups of raw quinoa (cooked in 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt). And with all that, it turned out great.

I think quinoa salads are really quite forgiving. You can pretty well throw anything in there, and it tends to work out quite well.

Before heading out to a concert with some friends, I threw together some soup as well, to make a whole meal, along with some delicious rosemary bread from Trader Joe's.

Mushroom Barley Soup with Rosemary Oil from The Yellow House:

I only had one shallot, so I used that and one onion. I didn't have quite enough mushrooms for the recipe, so I threw in some chopped celery with the shallot and onion, and then sprinkled the chopped celery tops over the soup with the rosemary oil at the end, to add some more green. All in all, it worked out as a nice little dinner before heading out for the night.