Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Quinoa and Roasted Beets

In a search for grains I can grow in our sub-tropical climate, I have run accross quinoa and amaranth. The first time I saw a recipe for it was in Mary Jane Butter's Idea book. She likes to eat it with dried fruit and nuts.

There are a lot of recipes out there for quinoa and it is very easy to cook. You basically cook it like rice, one cup of quinoa, 1 1/2 cups of water and a tsp. of salt. First you must soak the grain to remove a soap like coating on it. 15 minutes is the least you must soak it and then rinse it several times. You have to use a small seive as the grains are tiny.

Quinoa originated in South America. You can read more about it here.

I fixed mine with a little butter, a dash of sugar and dried cranberries. It was a different taste, but is was delicious. Quinoa is certainly something I will prepare again and attempt to grow in my garden. I'm going to try amaranth next. I allready have seeds for amaranth.
This is one of the most delicious new things I have tasted in quite a while. Thanks to my sister Terri for introducing me to this yummy simple treat. See the three beautiful beets I harvested from my garden? First peel them, slice them thin and spread them on a pan drizzled with olive oil.
Drizzle a little more olive oil on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Don't you just love my flip-flopped foot in the corner? Yes it's been warm enough for flip-flops, although a cold front did move in last night so I have on my furry boots now. Then pop the prepared beets in an oven pre-heated to 400 degrees and cook until tender and the edges are crispy.
Very Delish!

6 comments:

Aubrey said...

Oh, we love quinoa. We had some with dinner just last night. I add grated carrots and green onions and italian herbs. Goes good with just about anything.

Sandy said...

The beets look fab ... and how wonderful that you can grow quinoa down there. It's supposed to be an incredibly healthy grain. I saw it in the seed catalog when I was ordering yesterday. I'm loving the fact that your experience in gardening is so different from ours up here. I am wishing though that I could have that harvest you just posted yesterday! Yum. Yum. Well, before you know it, I will be harvesting asparagus! Gotta hang in there. -Sandy

Betsy said...

Here is the blog I was telling you about last night....

http://snippetandink.blogspot.com/


Beets look good....


Betsy

wvugrads said...

I just bought a box of quinoa yesterday in preparation of our Daniel fast coming up. Of course, I can't fix it with yummy butter and sugar for the fast. :) Love beets. They look great. Definitely going to try that one. I just read a recipe yesterday that did the same exact thing with Kale leaves. Apparently they are supposed to taste just like Lay's potato chips. Quite skeptical about that, but going to try it.

Blessings,
Kelly

Egghead said...

I have never tried quinoa. Kristi this is why I like to come here. You are always showing me something different to try. Oh and the roasted beets....they look so good. My hubby fixes ours this way.

Moni-Q said...

Hey, lil sis.

A lady in our church posted this recipe on our Daniel Fast Forum. I thought that you may be interested in it. It sounded light and refreshing to me.

This is day two of the fast and so far so good. :) Kelly posted your beet recipe on the forum. I bought beets today to add as a side with our black bean dinner tonight.

Love ya,
Monique

Here is the recipe.

Quinoa Black Bean Salad

Ingredients

-1 cup quinoa washed and drained
-2 cups water
-1/4 cup olive oil
-Juice of 2 fresh limes
-1 tsp cumin
-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
-1 can black beans rinsed and drained
-1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
-5 green onions, finely chopped
-1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
-Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Wash and rinse quinoa (very well-get all the grit off). In a sausepan, bring quinoa and water to a boil. Reduce to simmer, cover and cook until all water is absorbed, about 10-15 minutes. Let cool.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, cumin and red pepper flakes

3. Combine cooled quinoa, beans, tomatoes and onions in a large bowl

4. Drizzle dressing over salad and toss in cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Give thanks and enjoy.