Quinoa Porridge with Apples, Cinnamon and Walnuts

This morning for breakfast, I craved something porridgey. Actually, when I woke at 4 am, I really wanted my usual raw apple breakfast, but my food processor bowl was in the midst of a cleaning cycle in the dishwasher because I had forgotten to run the dishwasher last night. Oops.

Then we had a series of heavy thundershowers roll on through which dropped the temperature here, so I started thinking longingly of a lovely cinnamon-infused rice porridge, but shuddered at the thought of the carb-crash that would bring along with it. For the next few weeks I am trying out a sort of veganized low-carb induction phase in the hopes of speeding up weight loss. Yes, I am impatient, and yes, I know, impatience is not often a great thing. I'm sure I'll go more in depth about my ED issues in another blog along the way. *sigh* You can chastise me there.

Anyway, I plan to stay away from almost all rice and flour-based carbs except for the occasional piece of peanut butter toast or veggies stuffed inside a low-carb, whole wheat wrap, so I nixed the idea of toast or a rice porridge for today's breakfast. Then I thought, "Quinoa, why not do something with quinoa?"

Quinoa is fairly high in protein for a grain, and with a glycemic index of 35 compared to rice's 70, it carries along with it a lower glycemic load than rice. In other words, it won't cause that spike in blood sugar that overly-refined carbs will. Those blood sugar spikes can then go on to cause the dreaded sugar crash, and what follows a sugar crash but a craving for fast energy in carb-form?

In my own experience - no hype, I promise - I find that I have fewer cravings when I avoid those refined carbs. This makes the bread-fiend inside of me very sad, but it's true. My appetite stays in balance, in other words, when I avoid these foods. Quinoa and oats seem to be fairly safe carbs for me, as long as I don't overdo it.

So, I settled on quinoa and figured I'd prepare it the same way I make my kids their oatmeal, and the result was fantastic. Check it out.

Quinoa Porridge with Apples, Walnuts and Cinnamon

serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
• chopped walnuts
• vanilla soy milk
• agave nectar
  

Directions:

1. Put the quinoa, water, 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk, chopped apple and cinnamon in a saucepan and bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.


2. Remove from heat and stir well.


3. Put into 2 serving bowls and add more soy milk until you get the consistency you like.


4. Add a drizzle of agave nectar if you like and then and add more cinnamon to suit your taste.


5. Top with chopped walnuts.

Red Lentil and Quinoa Stew

This was so good that when I tasted it to adjust the seasoning at the end, I uttered something that was both really profane and really, really obscene. For the sake of people's sensibilities, I won't repeat it here.

Once again, I am at the scraping the pantry stage of the grocery cycle where I challenge myself to create delicious dishes with just what I have on hand, forcing myself to make substitutions as needed. Since I am eating vegan again, this brings along an additional layer of complexity as I may try to veganize old recipes.

At the moment, I have very few vegetarian/vegan specialty items like tempeh or seitan, but one thing I do have in abundance is a whole mess of dried legumes. I am silly with them, in fact, from black-eyed peas, to black beans and great northern beans to a variety of split peas and lentils. I made my wonderfully spicy lentil soup yesterday with those earthy brown lentils, and today decided that I needed more spice and more lentils, so I adapted my take on red lentil dhal and created a red lentil and quinoa stew.

After I had devoured my bowl of the stew, my 7 year-old daughter came over and sniffed the bowl cautiously before asking me, "Is this some kind of soup, Mommy?" I told her that it was, and that it was yummy, and she asked for some, saying, "It looks like a carrot soup," "Yes," I said, "There is some carrot in there," and ladled out a bit for her to try.

"YUM!" She said, giving me a thumbs-up.

Sometimes Mommy just flat-out rocks the house and gets it right. ☺


Edit: The kid scarfed down two bowls of this stew. That's right, TWO.

Red Lentil and Quinoa Stew

Ingredients:

• 1 stalk celery, diced finely
• 1 medium onion, diced finely
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced finely
• 1/2 cup of grated carrot
• 1 large clove garlic, chopped (about 2 T)
• 1/4 cup diced tomato
  
• 3/4 cup red lentils
• 1/2 cup quinoa
  
• 5 cups water or broth
  
• 1 T tomato paste
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• chili powder
• coriander
  
• cumin
• turmeric
  
• 1 bay leaf
• hot sauce
  

Directions:

1. Heat 2 T olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
   
2. Add the chopped onion and celery and saute for 2 minutes.
   
3. Add the bell pepper, carrots and garlic, stirring well.
   
4. After 5 minutes or so, when the vegetables have softened significantly, add the tomato and stir well.
   
5. Add the spices and let cook for a minute.
6. Add the red lentils and quinoa, turn the heat to high and add the water and the tomato paste.
   
7. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, keep covered and let simmer for 30 minutes.
   
8. Taste and adjust seasoning. Here's where I add the hot sauce.
   
9. Simmer uncovered another 15 minutes until the lentils are no longer crunchy. Fish out the bay leaf.
   
10. Serve, adding more hot sauce as your palate dictates. Today, my palate commanded a heavy hand with the Cholula.
    

Notes:

• I used half red quinoa and half white quinoa (1/4 cup each), but it would be delicious with either one of those or black quinoa if you can find it.
  
• I could not find my coriander powder in the horror show that is my spice cabinet, but I did have a jar of coriander seeds, so I broke out my handy mortar and pestle and crushed them up.
  
  If you decide to do this, be sure to crush the seeds very thoroughly so you don't have to bite down on the sharp husks of the coriander seeds. Although I use whole coriander in some Indian dishes, those sauces tend to simmer for a very long time, softening the seeds. If this is too much work for you, then make sure that your coriander powder is easily accessible.
  
• I was purposely vague about the seasoning amounts today because, well, I didn't even measure anything out, I just "salted" everything, although I can tell you that I used about 1/2 teaspoon of coriander seeds and about the same amount of ground cumin, and only 1 bay leaf.
• Speaking of salt, as you can see, I used none in this recipe, though you are certainly free to S&P this dish to your liking.
  
• If you are itching to garnish this with something, I'd go with chopped cilantro. I realized way after the fact that I have a bunch of cilantro languishing in the crisper of my fridge. Sometimes I think that the crisper is where veggies go to die. Things get lost in there. Tsk.
  

• Hot sauce - After years of being a Frank's aficionado, lately I have been reaching for Cholula, but have been meaning to try some of the hot sauces made by the folks of our own Dinosaur BBQ right here in Syracuse.
  
  They have Devil's Duo Pepper Sauce and a Garlic Chipotle Pepper Sauce. If those sauces are near as good as their barbecue slathering sauces and rubs, I predict that they'll be out of this world.
  
  Click the picture to go to the site.
  

Red Lentils over Quinoa Pilaf

I love red lentils in soups, stews and dhals. Just as the various spices that accompany them lend heat to the dish, so does the vivid color of the lentils perk up the dish. On this frigid day I have been looking for a comforting dish to warm me up, so I tossed some things together and served it over the leftover Quinoa Pilaf from last night's dinner.

Red Lentils over Pilaf

Ingredients:

• 1 stalk celery, diced finely
• 1 medium onion, diced finely
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced finely
• 1/2 cup of diced carrot
• 1 large clove garlic, chopped (about 2 T)
• 1/4 cup diced tomato
  
• 3/4 cup red lentils
• 4 cups water
• 1 T tomato paste
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• chili powder
• coriander
• cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• turmeric
• hot sauce
  

Directions:

1. Heat 2 T olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
   


2. Add the chopped onion and celery and saute for 2 minutes.
   


3. Add the bell pepper, carrots and garlic, stirring well.
   


4. After 5 minutes or so, when the vegetables have softened significantly, add the tomato and stir well.
   


5. Add the red lentils, turn the heat to high and add the water, the tomato paste and the spices.
   


6. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, keep covered and let simmer for 30 minutes.
   


7. Taste and adjust seasoning. Here's where I add the hot sauce.
   


8. Simmer uncovered another 15 minutes until the lentils are no longer crunchy. You may add more water if you prefer a more stew-like consistency, but I prefer it with a texture more like dhal. I even sometimes use a potato masher and smash the lentils a bit.
   


9. Serve over rice or pilaf of your choice.

Notes:

• See this post for my pilaf technique.

Day 44: "Mexican" Quinoa & Rice with Corn and Chorizo

This was a spur of the moment, "the pantry is empty" recipe that ended up tasting delicious. I was inexact with my measurements, so if you're trying to recreate this, bear that in mind.

"Mexican" Quinoa & Rice with Corn and Chorizo

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup long grain white rice
• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/4 cup red quinoa
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes and chilies
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1/2 t onion powder
• 1/2 t (heaping) chili powder
• water


• 1 vegan chorizo, diced (I used the LightLife Smart Sausages brand)* A poster kindly pointed out that these sausages are not actually vegan, as they contain egg. I believe I will try to make steamed seitan sausages from scratch this weekend.
  
• 3/4 cup frozen corn
• dried, minced onion, reconstituted * for some reason I am using this stuff in everything lately



• chopped avocado
  
• shredded vegan cheese
  
• chopped cilantro
  

Directions:

1. In a sturdy saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.


2. Add the chopped onion and saute until translucent.
   


3. Add the garlic and the rice and two kinds of quinoa. Stir well, be sure that everything is coated.


4. Dump the Rotel tomatoes, chilies and juice into a measuring cup and add enough water to make 2 1/2 cups.


5. Add the spices to the rice and onion mixture, stir well, increase heat to high and add the tomato and water mixture.
   


6. Cover, bring to a boil and reduce heat to low and let cook for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat. Let sit at least 10 minutes before removing the lid. The longer it sits, the better.


7. In a medium-sized skillet, saute the diced chorizo in olive oil over medium-high heat until browned.
   


8. Add the corn and reconstituted onion, stir well and cook until it's as browned as you like. I like the corn to have a bit of color.


9. When it's done, add the chorizo mixture to the grains, stir well. Serve in a bowl topped with cheese, avocado and cilantro.

Notes: This recipe uses my basic pilaf technique:

• I saute the aromatics (chopped onion or shallot) in olive oil over fairly high heat until it just starts to sweat and turns translucent, then add the garlic and then almost immediately the grains.
  
• Up the heat to high, stirring pretty frequently, making sure that the grains are nicely coated. You can saute them longer until they're slightly browned and give off a nutty smell, and then add the liquid.
  
• Cover immediately with a tight-fitting lid and bring to a boil I like to use a pot that has a glass lid so I can see exactly when it's come to a nice boil - then lower the heat and let simmer for 13-15 minutes. This is where the glass lid comes in handy. You can see the surface of the rice if there are holes, like small craters where the hot air has forced through but there is no more liquid bubbling, it's perfect.
  
• Turn off the heat, and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before you remove the lid to fluff the rice.
• I use this for mixed-grain pilafs and when I was a dairy eater, would add grated cheese and a pat of butter at the very end when I would stir in the last ingredients.
  
• One of my favorite mixed-grain pilafs uses 1/2 cup of rice, 1/4 cup of bulgur and 1/4 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of liquid.