Last week, Joy, a local farmer (joyousgardensscottsville.com) and the mother of our customer service staff member, made a quinoa dish for our office. It was so good that I asked her for the recipe and to recreate it in our office kitchen so that I could share it with you. In full disclosure, Joy modified the quinoa recipe from our blog from Dr. Katz’s wife Sarah and made it her own.
Quinoa is a flowering plant grown primarily for its edible seeds. And it is one of the only plant-based foods that is a complete protein. A complete protein has all nine amino acids that your body can’t produce. Most animal products are great sources of these amino acids, which makes them complete proteins. But as those following a plant-based diet know, it is very difficult to find foods containing these nine amino acids in the necessary amounts.
But while quinoa is amazing, it also has an acquired taste that most people don’t like. This recipe makes quinoa approachable to the average person. So give it a try. You won’t regret it. Bon appétit!!
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
8 oz organic sun-dried tomatoes (in olive oils)
1 cup chopped walnuts (can substitute pin nuts)
3 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 cup fresh basil (or 3 tbs dried basil)
2 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
3 cloves garlic (crushed)
2 small shallots (chopped)
Can you send info to Sarah? Good catch! You cook the quinoa for about 10 min and then add the other ingredients that you put together in blender to finish cooking. I basically let it sit for a while till all the quinoa is cooked. Sometimes there are few on the top that take a while. The sweet potato was roasted in the oven at 400 for about 15 min until crispy in a little coconut oil. Hope that answers your question!
Directions
Boil the quinoa in 2.5 cups of water. Add the other ingredients to a blender and blend. Once the quinoa has cooked for 10 minutes, add the blended ingredients to the quinoa as it cooks for another 20 minutes. Roast the sweet potato at 400 for 15 minutes. If you're adventuresome, modify it to your tastes by adding more salt, balsamic, or garlic as you prefer. Turn off the heat and let sit for another 30 minutes before serving. Mix in the cubed sweet potatoes before serving.
2 Comment
Looks way yummy, but need some clarification! The 1st sentence implies you are cooking the quinoa by itself, but the 3d sentence says you add all the other ingredients (which are whizzed in the blender) to the quinoa “as it cooks for around 20 minutes.” Which is it—do you cook everything together? Or are all the other ingredients actually added after the quinoa is done but while it sits for 30 min.? Also, the sweet potatoes are not listed in the ingredients list, nor are there any cooking instructions. Do you just steam or roast some sweet potato to taste?
Looks way yummy, but need some clarification! The 1st sentence implies you are cooking the quinoa by itself, but the 3d sentence says you add all the other ingredients (which are whizzed in the blender) to the quinoa “as it cooks for around 20 minutes.” Which is it—do you cook everything together? Or are all the other ingredients actually added after the quinoa is done but while it sits for 30 min.? Also, the sweet potatoes are not listed in the ingredients list, nor are there any cooking instructions. Do you just steam or roast some sweet potato to taste?