15 posts tagged “quinoa”
Purplesque has recently posted this wonderful soup recipe. I wasn't able to make the sourdough bread to go with the soup, but I'm really in love with the soup itself. The only little change is that I used yellow squashes instead of my favorite zucchini which is unavailable for the moment. Definitely a keeper!
Nothing like a hearty soup to ease all the little challenges that life surprises us with.
I have been cooking but it has become rather hard to keep up posting more often. We always seem to have many things piling up onto the to-do lists. "It's always something" has been such a cliche in our household now. I didn't have time to come up with any new recipe. Nor did I participate in any cooking contest like I planned. I cooked from cookbooks and my recipe collection. Alas! 'Tis life. We ought to be grateful for what we have though. My husband and I have begun our little "self-compliment" group, inspired by LaidOutInLavendar. It is not easy at all. Gosh, I never knew it could this hard to say a few nice things about ourselves without feeling weird or discouraged. But we are trying. It's much easier to compliment each other, but when it comes down to the self-compliment... I guess we just don't know ourselves well enough.
Anyway, here comes the food porn, as usual. The first thing is from VwaV, page 28, "Fronch" Toast. It was great, but next time I will definitely add some cinnamon and nutmet to make it more traditional.
The second thing is Bryanna's Hunan Tofu. I made this before, a long while ago that I can't even remember. This time I didn't even fry the tofu beforehand because I wanted more of a soft and juicy texture. It turned out even better than I remembered. Surely a keeper!
In a desperate search for a green-heavy meal option, I dug out a really valuable recipe - Spring Green Quinoa - by Susan Voisin of Fatfree Vegan Kitchen that I had saved recently. I was so glad that I could kill two birds with one stone this time: a) I bought some fresh edamame, lots of asparagus and four large zucchini, so I would hate to waste them; b) we are trying to eat less wheat and more whole grains with more greens. Spring Green Quinoa offers a very wholesome and toothsome experience. I didn't have enough quinoa for this recipe (1/4 cup short) so I added in some white jasmine rice, otherwise this recipe could be gluten-free as well as wheat-free. I used more edamame and doubled the asparagus, and subbed one fresh Roma tomato with two teaspoons of tomato paste since I didn't have any sundried tomatoes left. Fresh basil also added more garden-feeling to the whole dish. This is definitely a keeper, especially when we have not been disciplined in our diet.
I also made a tofu dish - Coconut Tofu with Curry Dipping Sauce. The recipe came from Tofu of "what the hell DOES a vegan eat anyway?", one of my favorite vegan foodblogs. Unfortunately, I didn't do justice to this great recipe. Some of the shredded coconut came off in the frying pan so the bare marinated tofu looked more brown than golden (compare with Tofu's photo). But the tofu was really tasty. It's like eating tofu and a coconut dessert at the same time.
Lastly, I yielded to the temptation and made another batch of vegan English muffins. Yes, they are that good with vegan margarine!
This is the first time that I have attempted to make savory pancakes. My husband said that it was about time (about a year after I began making my own vegan pancakes). We were both very pleased with the first batch of savory pancakes. I still find it hard to believe that I never wanted to make savory pancakes before, but I'm a diehard dessert fan after all.
Savory Scallion Pancakes
(makes 6-7 large pancakes)
2 1/2 cups unsweetened soymilk
2 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour*
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
A dash of black pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika
2 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour*
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
A dash of black pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. ginger powder
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
2 bunches scallions, chopped finely
3/4 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp. ginger powder
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
2 bunches scallions, chopped finely
3/4 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1. Add apple cider vinegar into soymilk to set aside to curdle for at least five minutes.
2. Sift all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour and buckwheat flour. Mix well in a mixing bowl together with baking powder and salt. Add spices into the flour mixture and combine well.
3. Add the curdled soymilk by batches into the flour mixture and combine well until there's no more lump. Add 3/4 tsp. of olive oil into the wet dough and mix well again.
4. Fold in scallions.
5. Now cook your pancakes. Enjoy!
Notes:
* You can use quinoa flour instead of buckwheat flour if you prefer a moister and lighter texture. Buckwheat flour tends to add a stronger flavor to the baked goods.
While I've been unusually interested in savory pancakes recently, I'm still on a serious fruit kick. I never fully explored the dessert section of Veganomicon. Now I'm in the right mood for it. I finally made my first crisp, Blueberry-Coconut Crisp (Veganomicon, page 248).
This is a wheat-free dessert. Quinoa flour and rice flour made the topping really light and fluffy. I ran out of raspberries (entirely my own negligence) so I subbed peaches. It turned out to be really really good. Even my savory-all-the-way husband loved it a lot, because of the irresistible coconut flavor. I'll definitely make more crisps from now on. It has the best of both worlds: plenty of fruit flavors and rich crusty dough with no hassle of making a pie crust.
This is the money shot below.
I loved the potato-pea-quinoa soup so much that I had it with some noodles together with some bok choy. It was still really good. Soups with potatoes are just incredible.
I finally tried the famous penne vodka from the excellent Veganomicon (page 193). I used whole-wheat elbows instead of penne and used a little more red pepper flakes. Towards the end of making the sauce, I added some fresh cilantro since we really love cilantro. The penne vodka came out really good. I loved the sauce since it packed a lot of zing. Of course, we can't live without some broccoli in the pasta.
On a final note, I do plan to master my new camera (though I've had it for a few months already) in the next few weeks so that I can take better photos. I bought a whole bunch of vegan frozen food so the following days will be culinarily interesting.
It feels like ages before I blogged again. April went by really fast without me noticing much what was going on in Vox. I hope everyone had a wonderful April. I'm learning to live more in the present, so May will be a little different. I haven't been cooking much at all, but I finally caught up a little yesterday. I made a big pot of soup, potato-pea-quinoa soup. I eyeballed everything so the recipe gives you a lot of room for customization according to your own taste.
Potato-Pea-Quinoa Soup
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 orange (or green) bell pepper, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into consistent 1-inch pieces
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup yellow split peas, rinsed
3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed
8-9 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked for 30 minutes and reserve the soaking water, finely chopped
2 1/2 tsp. tarragon
2 1/2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. sage
1 tsp. oregano
2/3 tsp. parsley
1/2 tsp. rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 tsp. paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Over medium heat, sauté onions, pepper, carrots and garlic for 8-9 minutes until carrots get a little soft.
2. Add potatoes, tarragon, thyme, sage, oregano, parsley and rosemary. Stir once and cover. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and 3/4 cup of boiling water. Bring to a boil and lower to simmer. Cook covered for 5 minutes.
4. Add peas, quinoa, and chopped mushrooms and the soaking water. Add 2 bay leaves. Add plenty of water (according to your own preference for the thickness of the soup). Bring to a boil and lower to simmer. Cover. Let the soup simmer for 45 minutes. Stir a few times and check the thickness. Add water or uncover a little to achieve your own desired result.
5. When the soup is done, remove from heat. Add paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Remove bay leaves.
Serve with croutons or over rice. We had our soup with some steamed broccoli and raw walnuts.
I can see that the 100th post of "So what the heck do we eat?" series is approaching. I don't know what to do to make it special. Am I obligated to make it into some special event? I don't know, but I do know that I've wanted to make something elaborate for a while. We shall see.
For today, nothing too fancy. The first thing is the Messy Rice (Veganomicon, page 118). The rice wasn't that messy and boy, it was good! It's so easy to make that I'm sure I'll be making this rice on the side often.
And with this photo, I was able to make another banner utilizing another gorgeous photo from Purplesque. This is our orange banner to celebrate the coming of spring.
When I was feeling lazy about cooking, I made a Shanghai-style Braised Chick'n and Bamboo Shoots with Udon Noodles. It was a 15-minute recipe (from preparing to plating). Ingredients: fresh bamboo shoots, button mushrooms, tempeh, and udon noodles. Simply sauté bamboo shoots, button mushrooms and tempeh in vegetable oil with loads of chives (or scallions) for around 7-9 minutes, then deglaze with water and soy sauce and add some sugar. Bring to a boil and cover to simmer for 10 minutes. In the last 3 minutes, add udon noodles. That's it. It was very tasty but I know I shouldn't eat this often.
After this desperate act, I had to make a nutritious and delectable soup to make a good diet day. I made the lentil soup with tarragon and thyme from Veganomicon again. But it's Red Lentil, Quinoa and Potato Soup with Tarragon and Thyme this time. I ran out of carrots so subbed potatoes. And after the onions and potatos were in the pot cooking, I found out that I only had one cup of lentils left. Merde! So, quinoa saved my day again. Oh, did I mention fresh tarragon made the soup even better? The soup turned out to be extremely pleasant and satisfying and my husband really liked it. He said it was very Italian., which made me rather proud of myself.
I really hope I can find the perfect recipe for the 100th post.
What will happen if you keep thinking about one flavor without cooking it for two weeks or longer? You might end up making everything taste like that flavor unknowingly. This is what happened to me. Or rather, this is what I made happen. I kept thinking about soy sauce and Bryanna's savory dinner tofu loaf for more than two weeks. Then I saw the glorious-looking Dill Shiitake Frittata from Isa's test kitchen (yes, Isa is writing a new brunch cookbook!) and attempted to make one. The result is that I made a dill shiitake frittata that looked more like a savory dinner loaf and packed with a lot of flavors. I was almost too ashamed to show the photos here but what the heck, the "frittata" tofu loaf tasted great. A dark frittata or a dinner loaf, what's the difference?
The ingredients are basically similar to the Asparagus and Sun-Dried Tomato Frittata (VwaV) but I used half a tablespoon more soy sauce to resemble Bryanna's savory dinner loaf. Well, a blunder turned into a bliss. Not bad!
Spring is barely here and I'm already thinking about midsummer. This is why I once again cracked open Veganomicon and made the Midsummer Corn Chowder with Basil, Tomato, and Fennel (Veganomicon, page 144). Well, longing for summer is not the real reason. I just got too excited having two innocent fennel bulbs sitting in my fridge. I had two large fennel bulbs like two months ago and simply wasted them in the end. This time my personal pride didn't allow that to happen. If anyone knows some awesome recipes that involve using fennel bulbs besides roasting them, please let me know. I'm dying to make something with fennel bulbs that will freak myself out. Is it actually possible? I know most of us love fennel seeds, but fennel bulbs??
Anyway, the corn chowder was fabulous. The fresh basil, tomato and fennel combo really brought out some unexpected pleasant flavors. Not like a typical corn chowder. Oh, by the way, I added half a cup of quinoa which was a good little addition. It's amazing how creamy a vegan corn chowder can be without using any wheat or soy product.
The Irish Farmhouse Soup (a recipe adapted by Catherine of Albion Cooks) I made yesterday was so good that I couldn't believe I only used salt and pepper as seasoning. A very humble-looking soup, it reminded me of the sweet home and the beautiful summer on a farm. It was nourishing, tasty, strangely comforting and brought back all the good memories and made me look forward to an even better tomorrow.
I made several changes to the original recipe: (1) olive oil was used; (2) onions and garlic replaced leeks; (3) quinoa replaced barley to create a more creamy and fluffy texture; (4) 2 cups of vegetable broth, 2 cups of water, and 1 1/2 cups of unsweetened soy milk were used as the liquid base.
I'm very glad that I went back to cooking finally. The udon noodles and bread were very good but I needed something more substantial and special. I felt pretty bad for my busy husband too, though he would gladly eat pasta with broccoli and peas/beans every day. A broccoli tofu sandwish would make a good snack for him. After I made the first comeback soup - potato quinoa chowder, he commented, "now that's something that smells really homemade." I was very happy to hear that. I got the recipe from Laura Jesser's "Eden in the Kitchen". Do check out Laura's blog which is full of wonderful photos and great recipes.
The only thing I did differently is to use bok choy instead of cooked kale and I didn't puree half of the soup at all. I love the soft little chunks of potatoes in the chowder.
And I have super good news: I got my first SLR camera! A Canon EOS 40D! I've been messing with the new camera in the last 36 hours as I got so excited. I've been reading the manual and learning about all the buttons and signs like a maniac. I might go take a photography class too. I'm completely psyched. Below is the first food photo I took with the new camera. This happened to be my new favorite bread - sponge bread made with Camp Rémy wheat - at Paul, my favorite bakery and tea-room. With sponge bread and vegan margarine, I'm in heaven!
