Crock Pot Freezer Meals Part 3

Here are a few more of my favorite crock pot freezer meals (click here for Part 1 and Part 2)

QUINOA CHILI

In crock pot or zip lock:
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 can rotel
- 4 (16 oz) cans black beans
- 16 oz frozen corn
- 1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder (can use fresh minced)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- OPTIONAL: 2 large chicken breasts

(I eyeball the spices and adjust to the taste buds of my family)

Day of cooking:
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups chicken broth

Cook time: 6 to 8 hours LOW

(if used chicken, shred it before serving)

Serving suggestion: cheese, sour cream, favorite chili toppings.


BLACK BEAN AND CHICKEN TACOS

In crock pot or zip lock:

-  1 lb skinless chicken tenders or breasts
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can rotel
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano

Cook time: 4 to 8 hours LOW

Serving suggestions: Shred chicken and serve with corn taco shells and favorite taco toppings and/or slaw.

For slaw:
- 1 1/3 cups shredded red cabbage
- OPTIONAL: 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or lime juice
- salt and pepper to taste


KOREAN BEEF TACOS

In crock pot or zip lock:
- 10 cloves garlic, minced
- OPTIONAL: 3 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup + 6 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3/4 cup rice vinegar (also called rice wine vinegar)
- 4 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Mix well then add:
- 6 pounds beef

Cook time: 6 to 10 hours LOW  (remove sauce and thicken on stove.  Replace sauce to serve)

Serving suggestion: soft corn or flour tortillas, sour cream, and slaw (also good if you fry the soft corn tortillas)

For slaw:
- 4 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- couple pinches of salt
- - pinch red pepper flakes
-2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- OPTIONAL: 1 handful of cilantro, chopped
- OPTIONAL: 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely minced
- 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
- 2 large carrots, peeled and shredded
- 1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

To toast sesame seeds, heat a small pan over medium heat.  Add the sesame seeds and stir for about 4 minutes, until golden brown and aromatic.  Remove immediately and set aside.  In a small bowl, mix vinegar, sugar, and salt.  Add onions, mix and let stand about 15 minutes.  Combine remaining ingredients, reserving sesame seeds until just before serving.  Can be made a few hours ahead and kept in fridge, sans sesame seeds.

Quinoa Pad Thai

I've seen various Quinoa Pad Thai recipes floating around the internet and decided to try my hand at making it.  I started with a basic recipe but quickly threw it out when I didn't have some of the main ingredients.

Also, we've been calorie counting so I'm giving you the measurements as I measured them ... in grams.   (If your kitchen scale is like mine, it should measure in both ounces and grams!)

This was a hit.  All four of us really liked it.  Even the kids, who will swear up and down that they don't like quinoa ... except tonight they are all "oh, yeah, I like that one quinoa dish with haloumi in it."  ... "And this one ..."  and I'm sure there are more, they just can't remember right now!!

Here's what you need:

4.5 cups cooked quinoa (I did two cups raw in my rice cooker)
70g bean sprouts
175g wombok (chinese cabbage), thinly sliced
120g grated carrots
45g sliced spring onions (and more to serve)
2 eggs
1 chicken breast, cooked and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp canola oil

Sauce:
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
4 Tablespoons lime juice (I used bottled because I only had one lime- you may not need as much with fresh limes)
zest of one lime (I added this because it wasn't limey enough ... you may not need it at all)
3 Tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce

1/4 cup chopped peanuts, to serve
1/2 cup cilantro (fresh coriander), to serve

Here's what you do:

Mix sauce ingredients and set aside.  You'll want to taste as you mix with this.  If it's too sweet, add more lime juice.  You want it to be more lime than sweet, I think, though.  And you don't want the fish sauce to be too overpowering.   If you are in the States, you may want to start with way less fish sauce.  Ellie told me that fish sauce is much stronger there than it is here ...

In a large frying pan, heat 2 tsp oil over medium heat.  Add minced garlic, cook for a couple of minutes until just starting to brown.  Add bean sprouts, wombok, carrots and spring onions.   Cook for 2-3 minutes or until beginning to soften.  Add chicken, quinoa and sauce.  Stir to combine.  Cook for a bit, letting the bottom lightly brown and then stirring to the top, letting the bottom brown just a little bit each time. (Like when you make fried rice ...)  In the meantime, beat the two eggs in a bowl and pour into a small, heated non-stick frying pan.  Cook a thin 'omelet'.

Slice 'omelet' into long thin strips.

To serve.  Put quinoa on a nice serving platter, top with omelet strips, peanuts, cilantro and extra spring onions.  Drizzle with a bit of lime and serve with two halves of lime on side of platter.

This fed our family of 4 quite nicely.

Quinoa Black Bean Salad - Combined

When I was planning my menu this week, I knew I wanted to make Quinoa Black Bean Salad.  But I discovered that there were two yummy looking recipes on the blog to choose from.  So I took a little from one and a little from the other - and this is what I got!

mine didn't look exactly like this...but you get the idea

INGREDIENTS

1 cup quinoa, washed and drained
1 ¾ cups water
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 2 fresh limes
1 teaspoon cumin

1 clove garlic, minced
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half (optional - I didn't use any this time because fresh tomatoes are on "baby no like" list since I've been pregnant)
1 red bell pepper (I like it cut small)
1 avocado cut into chunks
5 green onions, finely chopped
Salt (pepper – optional) to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1 Wash and rinse quinoa. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Once hot, add the rinsed quinoa and toast for a minute or two.  Add water, stir once, cover and simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes.  Watch it though and turn it off as soon as the liquid is absorbed!

 2 In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, cumin, salt, and garlic.

3 Combine cooked quinoa, beans, red pepper, tomatoes, and green onions in a large bowl.

4 Drizzle dressing over salad.  Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.  Can also add cilantro and/or red pepper flakes.


As a note - this is great as a side dish to a meal (one of the boys declared it tasted like guacamole), but also keeps well in the fridge for a healthy, protein packed lunch or snack. 

Greek Omelets with Tomato, Avo and Tsatsiki .... It's what's for dinner.

I am always on the lookout for a good quinoa recipe.  I also LOVE omelets.  This to me, seemed like a match made in heaven.  And I was right.  I loved this!  It wasn't complicated to make either.  Just do it in the five steps listed below and you'll be fine.

This recipe was my inspiration, and while I followed the ingredient list, I didn't follow any of the measurements.  I thought it looked like a recipe that would be easy enough to do with out measuring and I was right.  I'll give you estimates, but if you want exact measurements, go to the original recipe.  Also, I make my tsatsiki different.

I made four omelets and we had enough quinoa leftover to eat as part of two lunches today.

What you'll need for the tsatsiki:
Greek yoghurt
Cucumber
Garlic
A Lemon
Salt and Pepper

What you'll need for the omelets:
12 eggs (if you are making four omelets ... basically, it's three eggs per omelet)
Milk
Butter
Quinoa
Baby Spinach Leaves
Kalamata Olives
Roasted Red Bell Peppers (Capsicum)
Sun Dried Tomatoes, in oil
Feta Cheese
Pine Nuts
Dried Oregano
Dried Basil
Salt and Pepper
Shredded Cheese
Cherry Tomatoes
Avocado

Cook the quinoa ... I cook my quinoa in the rice cooker.  You can cook it however you like, but get that started.  For the four of us, I did two of the rice cooker measuring cups of uncooked quinoa.  

Make the tsatsiki ... I used four or five big spoonfuls of greek yoghurt, added about a 1/4 of a large continental cucumber (finely diced), squeezed in some minced garlic (to tasted) and then the juice of what ended up being 1/2 a lemon.  I just kept tasting as I went.  Add a tiny bit of salt and pepper ... again, to taste

Make the quinoa salad ... to your cooked quinoa, add chopped spinach (I probably used 2 cups) kalamata olives (sliced) and a couple of spoonfuls of the brine out of the olive jar, roasted red bell peppers (chopped), sun dried tomatoes (chopped) and a couple spoonfuls of the oil out of the sd tomato jar, crumbled feta cheese, pine nuts, the herbs and salt and pepper.  I just kept adding and stirring and tasting until I like what I saw and tasted. 

Make the omelets ... (Do this for each individual omelet) Whisk three eggs, a blub of milk and a pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl.  Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat and add a scoop of butter.  The original recipe said to add 1 tablespoon of butter but we were at the end of the butter dish so I probably only used a teaspoon for each omelet and I would do the same next time. Once butter is melted, pour egg mixture into pan.  Tip the pan up and around so that the uncooked egg goes up the side of the pan and cooks. Using a spatula, push the cooked egg down towards the middle of the pan.  Tip the pan again to repeat this process until there is no runny egg left.  I found that when the runny stuff was gone, the egg in the middle was still a bit wetter than I liked so I left it to cook just a little bit longer. (this is when I whisked the eggs and milk for the next omelet!) Sprinkle with a little bit of shredded cheese.  Let that melt for a minute or two and then slide the omelet onto a big plate.  Add butter to the fry pan and start again .... 

To assemeble ... Add a few scoops of quinoa salad to one side of your omelet.  Fold the empty side over the quiona.  Top with halved cherry tomatoes, slices of avocado and tsatsiki.

Yum Yum Yum.

PS. The omelets cooked up pretty quick but I still had each person grab theirs and start eating straight away.  Omelets are always better hot!  They are quite big portions too ... my omelet was made last and I still finished eating it before my daughter who had been served second! In fact, she never finished eating ... it was too big a serve.  She saved about 1/4 of it for today.

Quinoa Lettuce Wraps

 

Found this recipe over on The Naked Kitchen. Delish.  I pretty much followed the original recipe, but I also added bean sprouts.  The flavor of this recipe was my favorite part.  They were messy, they weren't Rory's favorite ... but quinoa never is ... and they didn't look all that great.  But the flavor ... the flavor was GREAT !  Here's what I did ...

3 cups cooked quinoa
1 can black beans
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 can sliced water chestnuts, roughly chopped
2 carrots, julienned

a handful of bean sprouts, chopped

1/2 cup reduced sodium tamari or soy sauce
2 tbsp  sesame oil 

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp minced ginger
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp honey 

 

1 head of bibb lettuce (called butter lettuce in australia), to serve

Mix together first six ingredients and set aside.

Add the next six ingredients to a jar and shake until combined. 

Pour liquid over the quinoa mixture and stir to combine.

Scoop mixture into lettuce leaves to eat ...

Haloumi and Lime? Ok, I'll try it!

This is delicious. We all really liked it.  I'm making it again this week! I don't have to tell you that I found the recipe through Pinterest, my go to place for recipe searching! I did take a few shortcuts though ... like, I cooked the quinoa in my rice cooker and I used lentils out of a can.  And you may notice that the recipe calls for asparagus but there is none in my photo.  Would you believe that both stores I went to were SOLD OUT!?!  Ugh.  I substituted mushrooms and that was delicious but I can't wait to try it again this week with asparagus!  I doubled this recipe but you didn't really need to double everything (like the haloumi) so here is how I did it and the measurements I used.

1x400g can puy lentils

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

salt and pepper

200g cooked quinoa (I did mine in the rice cooker with a bit of chicken stock)

2 bunches of asparagus, chopped

a handful of mushrooms, sliced

180g piece haloumi, sliced 

2 to 4 limes 

500g cherry tomatoes, halved

6 spring onions, chopped

1 long green chilli, deseeded and finely diced

a handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped

Sautee the asparagus and mushrooms with a little bit of olive oil.  

In a big bowl, combine lentils, quinoa, asparagus and mushrooms.  Add olive oil, red wine vinegar, tomatoes, spring onions, chilli, mint and zest of 2 limes (add zest to taste).

Heat a fry pan (or chargrill pan if you have one) over medium heat.  Add haloumi,  drizzle with lime juice and cook on both sides til golden brown.  Cut into smaller pieces and add to salad.  Season entire salad with salt and pepper.

Garnish with extra limes if desired.

We served with chunks of toasted turkish bread, buttered, sprinkled will all-purpose seasoning and toasted in the sandwich press.

Orange and Apricot Chicken with Quinoa and Baby Peas

I found a recipe in a cookbook that looked good.  I thought I had most of the ingredients to make it but when it came time to cook it, I discovered that I didn't.  So ... I improvised.  Here's the resulting recipe ...

Ingredients:
1 orange, you'll need the juice and the zest
1/4 cup chicken stock, salt reduced
2 teaspoons apricot jam
4 chicken breasts, skinned and boned
2 tsp cornflour
fresh parsley
slivered almonds
olive oil

How to make it:
Preheat oven to 190C/375F

In a small saucepan, over a medium heat, mix 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest, 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, the chicken stock and the apricot jam.  Stir until smooth (like in photo above)  ... doesn't take more than a minute or two.

Over medium heat,  heat olive oil in a large oven proof fry pan and add chicken.  Lightly salt and pepper each breast. Brown chicken just a little bit ... a minute or two on each side.

Pour orange/apricot mixture on top and bake til chicken is cooked through ... about 20 minutes. 

Mix 2 tsp cornflour with 2 teaspoons of water to make a smooth paste.  Once the chicken comes out of the oven, remove to a plate and keep warm.  Add cornflour paste to fry pan with remaining sauce.  Stir for a couple of minutes until the sauce is nice and thick.

Serve chicken, drizzled with sauce, over quinoa and with a side of baby peas.  

Sprinkle parsley and slivered almonds on top of chicken.

Roasted Garlic, Cauliflower and Mushroom Quinoa

I made this the other day to take for lunches.  I didn't take a photo until I was halfway through eating it ... sorry!

I had found this recipe on pinterest.  But ... I was tasting as I went along and I decided that it didn't need the balsalmic dressing and goats cheese ... it was nice just like it was.  And even better the next day after the flavours had developed over night!

Here's what I did:

1 head of cauliflower, broken into small florets

a few cloves of garlic, cut into slivers

mushrooms, button and oyster, quartered

1 cup quinoa

1.5 cups water

1 chicken stock cube 

thyme

salt and pepper

olive oil

Preheat oven to 400F/200C

Toss the cauliflower, garlic and mushrooms in olive oil.  Add salt and pepper and thyme.  Mix.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or until starting to brown.  Don't let them burn!  Stir half way through ...

While the veggies are cooking, make the quinoa.  Place quinoa in a small pot with the water and the chicken stock cube (break it up and stir it in) (or just use ready made chicken stock/broth) Bring to the boil.  Reduce heat, cover and let simmer ... about 15 minutes or until water is absorbed.  Fluff up quinoa with a fork and let sit til veg is ready.

When veg is ready, mix into quinoa.  

Easy.

And like I said, delicious the next day too!

Ellie's Asian Chicken with a Simple Side of Quinoa Salad

One night I rocked up at my sister's house to pick her up, maybe for the Keith Urban concert? Or maybe it was before we went to Zumba?  In any case, it was dinner time for her family and she had whipped up this beautiful chicken dish which I tasted on the way out the door!  It was delicious and I immediately wrote the 'recipe' in my phone.  Last night, I was thinking about what to cook and I remembered ....

She didn't give me any measurements, just ingredients so last night I wrote down what measurements I used.  I think that you could do them to any measure and it would be good but here's what I did to serve four of us.

2 chicken breasts, sliced

Marinate in:
Soy sauce, 4 Tablespoons

Honey, 2 Tablespoons

Lime, juice of one

White wine or sake, 4 Tablespoons

Garlic, 6 cloves

When you are ready to cook, dredge chicken in flour and fry in batches.  I shallow fried in grapeseed oil.

Trying to use up some of the veggies that are leftover at the end of a weeks worth of cooking, I make this simple side to go with it.  It's not got many strong flavors, really it's just the fresh taste of veggies and a little bit of lime juice.  You could totally dress it if you wanted it a bit more punchy. 

 

Again, there are no real measurements for this salad.  I'll tell you what I did but you can add whatever you like, really!

1 cup quinoa, cooked (I used a tri colored one)

2 roma tomatoes, finely diced

2 spring onions, finely dices

1/2 a red capsicum (bell pepper), finely diced

1/2 a yellow capsicum (bell pepper), finely diced

1/2 an avocado, finely diced

a large chunk of cucumber, finely diced

juice of half a lime 

sprinkle of sea salt

mix all ingredients. serve.

Moroccan Quinoa in Cucumber Boats

Preparing for a Moroccan Tapas Night that we hosted at church, I googled something like Moroccan finger food and this recipe immediately caught my eye.   I'm glad it did ... it was delicious!  There are no real measurements on her page so I imagine it's a pretty forgiving recipe.  I did mine pretty much like hers but I couldn't find the Sambhar curry powder she calls for so I made substitutions.  Here's what I did.  You can adjust each element to taste.  I'm not kidding, I tasted after each ingredient I added! Also, I cooked this for 100 people to have one each.  When I make it again, I'll probably 1/2 the amount of filling and just eat whatever is leftover.  This amount filled four long continental cucumbers.

I used ...

4 big continental cucumbers
1 cup quinoa (I used a tri-colored one)
3 cups water
2 preserved lemons
4 or 5 sun dried tomatoes
2 spring onions
1 small jalapeno that I picked out of my garden
a small handful of fresh mint
1/4 of a bunch of fresh coriander (cilantro)
handful of pine nuts
olive oil
sea salt
moroccan seasoning
cumin, ground

What I did ...

Cook quinoa.  I did it according to the package instructions which said one part quinoa to three parts water.  Bring to the boil, cover and cook until water is gone.  It took about 20 minutes.

In the meantime ... finely dice the preserved lemons and sun dried tomatoes.  Chop the spring onions small.  Get rid of the seeds and membrane in the jalapeno and finely dice it.  Chop herbs.

After quinoa is finished and has cooled a little bit,  add all of the above that you've just chopped/diced to it.  Drizzle with olive oil and then season with sea salt, moroccan seasoning and cumin.  (or the Sambhar curry powder if you can get it.  I'd love to try that as it is cinnamon based and I think it would really change the flavor .... ) Season to taste ....

For the cucumber boats ... peel down the outside of the cucumber (as you see in photo above) in long strips.  Cut into 3/4 inch 'slices'.  Scoop out the centre with a melon baller and then fill the hole with quinoa mixture.

Quinoa Black Bean Burritos

I saw this recipe for Quinoa Black Bean Burrito Bowls and just had to try it.
I didn't change much about the recipe .... but here's what I did.

1 cup quinoa
1/2 a small red onion, minced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 cans of black beans
1 big bunch fresh coriander (cilantro)
1/4 tsp chili powder
juice of one lime
iceberg lettuce, to shred

salt

tasty (white cheddar) cheese, grated
greek yoghurt

guacamole or avocado

tomatoes, chopped

flour tortillas

Rinse quinoa and then add to a saucepan with 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, then simmer on low.  Cover and let simmer for 15/20 minutes til becomes tender and liquid is all absorbed.  Don't let it burn!

In a frying pan, heat a blub of olive oil over med heat.  Saute onion.  Add garlic.  Saute.  Add black beans and 1/2 cup water and a handful of chopped, fresh coriander.  Add the chili powder to taste.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med low and let simmer til liquid is mostly gone.  Squeeze in the juice of 1/2 your lime.  Season with salt to taste.

When quinoa is cooked, mix in about 1/2 a handful of chopped, fresh coriander and squeeze in the juice of the other 1/2 of your lime.  Season with salt to taste.

We served ours in bowls and had flour tortillas on the side to scoop it up with.  For lunch the next day, I put it into the tortilla and made an actual burrito.  Both ways were delicious.  I would even eat this without the tortilla!  The flavors were great!

Quinoa Patties

My sister gave me this recipe. I've been meaning to try them for a white but just got around to it last night.  I wish I had tried them earlier !!  They are sooooo yum.  One might be tempted to call them Quinoa Burgers but I have been forbidden to call anything not made out of beef, a burger !  Burgers are NOT made out of beans or grains or tofu or a fake substance pretending to be meat, according to my husband.  He'll eat whatever I put in front of him ... as long as I don't call it a burger, if it isn't !

I made a few changes to the original recipe ... here's what I did.

Made 15 patties using a 1/4 cup scoop.

2 cups cooked quinoa (instructions HERE if you have never cooked quinoa before)

3/4 cup shredded mexican cheese (or cheddar)

1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese

1 medium carrot, finely grated 

1 zucchini, finely grated

3 eggs

3 tablespoons wholemeal flour

2 spring onions,

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Olive oil for frying

Mix all ingredients (except oil) in a large bowl.  Heat the olive oil in a fry pan over medium-low heat. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop up mixture and press firmly into measuring cup.  Carefully tip measuring cup upside down, shake out the mixture gently into the fry pan and lightly flatten to 1/2 inch thick.  Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side.   

I served with sliced of avocado, sweet chilli sauce and greek yoghurt mixed with lemon juice, minced garlic and fresh chives.

DELICIOUS !!

Southwestern Quinoa Salad

This is a yummy recipe I got from my friend Emily, who got it from Pinterest. This is my second time making it. It is so versatile, as long as you like Mexican food. Put it on any taco type food. Or dip chips in it. Or eat it with a spoon. Whatever you do with it, you're going to love it. The original recipe comes from here, but here is how I made it.


1 cup quinoa (I used red quinoa this time)

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups chicken broth (I used chicken bullion in boiling water and it was still tasty)

1/2 cup diced bell pepper, any color you wish.

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1/2 cup diced red onion

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1 cup corn (if you use a can, drain it, then use all the corn... it's over a cup, but tasty)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 large tomato, diced
Juice of 3 limes, or to taste
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon adobo seasoning (If you can't buy adobo, you can find a recipe for it here)
salt and black pepper to taste

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly under cold water, and drain. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, and cook and stir the quinoa until the water has evaporated and the quinoa is lightly toasted. The original recipe says this should take about 3 minutes, but I have found it to take much longer every time. Pour in the chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the quinoa has absorbed all the broth, about 10 minutes. Cool quinoa in refrigerator at least 10 minutes.

Mix together green pepper, red onion, corn, black beans, cilantro, tomato, lime juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and adobo seasoning, in a large salad bowl. Lightly stir in the quinoa, and season with salt, pepper, and additional lime juice to taste, if desired. Chill the salad at least 30 minutes before serving; serve cold.

Fresh and Delicious Quinoa

I found this delicious looking recipe on pinterest and had to try it. I'm glad I did too ! It's amazingly delicious !  I did almost everything the same ... really, the only things I changed were that I roasted the red bell pepper, how I added the garlic, a few measurements and a bit of the how to assemble.  Here's my version ...

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 tbsp coconut oil (but I think any oil would do)
1 & 3/4 cup water
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 avocado, chopped into chunks
a punnet of cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper
small handful coriander/cilantro, diced
1 lime, juiced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt, to taste

Roast your red bell pepper, set aside.  Here is a little tutorial on how to roast peppers, if you need it.

Put the coconut oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once it’s hot add the rinsed quinoa and toast for a minute or two. Add water, stir once, cover, and simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes.  Watch it though and turn it off as soon as the liquid is absorbed ! (I like my glass lid for this !)

Mix the lime juice, oil, cumin, minced garlic and salt. Stir. Set Aside.  This is the dressing.

In a big bowl ~ tomatoes, beans, & onion.  Remove skins from red bell peppers, chop and add to bowl. Chop avocado but don't add it yet.

When the quinoa has finished cooking, remove it from heat and fluff with a fork. Let cool for a few minutes, then add to the bowl with the other ingredients and stir.  Add dressing.  Stir.  Add avocado and coriander/cilantro, gently stir.

What We Ate ~ Week 1 ~ 2012

It's a New Year and time to make a change. Instead of posting our menu before we eat it, I'm going to post WHAT WE ATE each week, after the fact. I'll simply snap a shot on my iPhone at dinner time and then can link to recipes from there ...

I find our menu chops and changes so much and I want a true representation of what we actually eat each week so I'm going to give this a try !

You are welcome to join me ! If you post on this blog ... I'd love to see what you are eating ! If you have your own blog ... link in the comments !

I'm going to post Sunday to Saturday each week ....

Here we go !

Buffalo Boneless Chicken with Roasted Cauliflower/Broccoli

Dukkah Crusted Pomegranate Marinated Cod with Greek Quinoa Salad
and Sauteed Silverbeet (from our garden !)

The fish and the quinoa were new recipes. They were both very tasty. We decided not to bother trying to 'crust' the fish next time as the dukkah all fell off. We will just use the remaining marinade and some dukkah to make a nice sauce (we did that this time too ... just simmer together for a few minutes and then top the fist with it ... as you see in the photo) The quinoa I will make again and again. Such good flavor. The only thing I did different was roasting the red bell pepper ... and I didn't add a green one.

Homemade Pizza !

Mexican Cous Cous w/steamed asparagus

Lemony Chicken w/Israeli Cous Cous and Italian Salad with Fresh Basil Vinaigrette

Cheeseburgers

Toast, vegemite, dill pickle slices, fried egg. Mmmmmmmmmm !

Quinoa Crusted Falafel

I had planned to make falafel one night and realized, too late to be bothered to go to the store, that I didn't have any breadcrumbs, or bread to be able to make breadcrumbs ... so, I improvised. And it was good. I have crusted chicken fingers with quinoa before and though I didn't do it exactly like that, it was my inspiration !

Here's what you do ...

Cook your quinoa. I think I cooked one cup.

For the Falafel :
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons canola oil
1 small onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained ( these are also called chickpeas )
quinoa, cooked
salt and pepper
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 egg, lightly beaten

Prepare the falafel. In a medium skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of canola oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook over moderate heat just until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the cumin and cayenne and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Scrape the onion mixture into the bowl of a food processor. Add the beans and pulse until the mixture is finely chopped but not smooth. Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Form the mixture into 6 1/4-cup patties, about 1/2 inch thick.

Put the flour, and beaten egg into 2 shallow bowls. Lay your cooked quinoa out on a cutting board or some baking paper/tin foil. Dust each bean cake with the flour, tapping off the excess. Dip the cakes in the egg and then press gently into the quinoa - do both sides.

In a very large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil until shimmering. Add the cakes and cook over moderate heat, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

We ate this with a green salad and tsatsiki.

Aunt Jo's Stuffed Peppers ~ my way.

My rendition of Aunt Jo's stuffed peppers.
We are not overly fond of cous cous round here so I substituted quinoa.
I also mashed the chickpeas (garbanzo beans) as I don't like them whole.
It's a foible.
One of my many.

The verdict.
A bit dry.

But ... we ate it as leftovers with this chicken and topped with the sauce
and liked it much better. Next time ... we have a sauce with it !!

Chicken Fingers ... the Quinoa Way

I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe yet.
I've actually got a list of recipes I need to post,
I've just gotten out of the habit of posting regularly to this blog !!
I'm going to change that ...

Starting now ...

I got this recipe from skinnychef.com
I served it with Yummo Spinach Salad ... a Pioneer Woman recipe that I changed a bit.

These are a bit of work but totally worth it !!

Here's what to do ...

1 kg chicken tenders or skinless boneless breasts, sliced into 3-inch long tenders
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 cups cooked quinoa
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil

Spread out the quinoa on a piece of baking paper. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs onto quinoa. Push the breadcrumbs into the quinoa ... they will soak up the moisture of the quinoa.

Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl.

Sprinkle the chicken with salt, garlic powder, pepper, and paprika.

Dip the chicken in the egg and then into the quinoa mixture.

Warm the oil in a large skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken and reduce the heat to medium. Cook each side 4-5 minutes, turning once, until the crust begins to brown, and the chicken is cooked.

Serve immediately.

What's for Lunch ?

My kiddos love Equadorian Quinoa Vegetable Soup !!

I top it with a bit of cheese, add some corn chips and a spoon. Easy, yummy, healthy lunch !

I think next winter I will get them thermoses that can go in their lunch boxes so they can have their soups warm !

Ecuadorian Quinoa and Vegetable Soup

I'm posting this now just for you Khrista ! I was sitting at my computer when your menu plan went up and saw that you wanted to try this. You are going to laugh when I tell you where I got the recipe ! From the website that you linked to in your Kale and Avocado Salad post !! I saw it in the drafts and clicked through there !!!

I reckon this meal would qualify for our foods of the world series since it is Ecuadorian ! The whole grain used in this soup ~ quinoa is an ancient Incan grain (that looks like tiny, pin-head sized beads) with a mild, nutty flavor and crunchy texture. You'll find it in health food shops ...


I'm not happy with my photo ... Next time I make it, I will try to take another one. I didn't have time to set up the tripod ... I had a hungry family waiting for dinner and turnip and potato patties in the frying pan. I was holding the spoon up with one hand, holding the camera with another. Add to that the shocking lighting in my kitchen at any time of day but especially at night and well ... here's the result.

It's funny that this is a Moosewood recipe ... I have been reading the Moosewood Restaurant Low Fat Favorites Cookbook ... got it from the library. It's fantastic ! I've flagged like 15 recipes I want to try from it !! Great cookbook ... If you can get your hands on a copy of it, you should !

OK OK ~ I'll stop talking and post the recipe !!!

Ecuadorian Quinoa & Vegetable Soup
from Moosewood Daily Special
serves 4 - 6

1/2 C raw quinoa
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 C chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
1 C diced potatoes
1 C chopped red or green bell peppers
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
3 C water or vegetable stock
1 1/2 C chopped fresh or undrained canned tomatoes (14 1/2 oz. can)
1 C diced zucchini or yellow squash ( I used zucchini )
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice ~ or lime
chopped scallions, fresh cilantro, crumbled tortilla chips and/or grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (optional, for garnish)

Thoroughly rinse quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer under cold water. Set aside to drain. Warm oil in a nonreactive soup pot, add onions and salt, cover and cook on medium heat about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the quinoa, potatoes, peppers, spices, water or stock, and tomatotes. Cover and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Add squash, cover and simmer 15 - 20 minutes, or until all veggies are tender. Stir in lemon juice. If desired, serve with a sprinkling of scallions, cilantro, tortilla chips and/or grated cheese.

I found this soup much less labor intensive than the original QVS posted here. And like I said in my menu plan post ... the kids RAVED about this soup !!! Gotta love that !!!

*** Edited 8-Oct-08 *** to say ... I forgot to mention that I made my own veggie stock for this one ! An hour before I wanted to start dinner, I chopped up a couple of carrots, onions, garlic and some greens. I put them in a stock pot with four or five cups of water, a bayleaf and 10/15 peppercorns. Brought it to the boil, turned down the heat, and let it simmer (covered) for an hour. Drained out the veggies and voila ... veggie stock. It was NICE too !!