Coconut Curry Quinoa with Creamy Sauteed Garlic, Broccoli and Artichoke Hearts

OK, you guys are going to love this one. It’s something we make all the time, and just forgot to put it up before because it’s such a frequent meal in our house that I just assumed I had posted it already. My sister assured me I hadn’t. Now, I’m trying to go more veggie and more healthy in general, and this is the most fantastic core basic thing that you can serve with just about anything. It also makes many dishes that you already make about 100x better so here goes.

The secret is in the coconut milk. Instead of the basic quinoa to water 1:2 ratio, I do quinoa to coconut milk to water 1:1:1. It comes out super fluffy and delicious, and much more hydrated than regular quinoa, for a much tastier and more satisfying texture. It’s almost like a non-dairy version (just the quinoa) of the difference between rice and risotto, but far healthier. You can make this vegan by leaving out the cream in the veggies.

Variations include adding 1-2 shakes of curry powder and instead of mixing in veggies at the end, serving it with glazed soy ginger baked salmon, or any main protein that you want. The coconut is super mild, as is the curry powder, so you get a really lovely side dish (I say side but this ends up being the main event more often than not, it’s that good) without anything being too overpowering. Just make sure your guests aren’t allergic to coconut before serving this, because it’s really undetectable other than the subtle things it does for the texture and flavor!

Ingredients: (serves 4 as a light but wonderful dinner)

For quinoa:

• 1 and 2/3 cup white quinoa
• 1 and 2/3 cup coconut milk, this works out to exactly a can for me. (coconut water, coconut liquid, and coconut cream all work, (unsweetened) look for the one that says 17% fat)
• 1 and 2/3 cup water
• salt and pepper to taste (usually when i say this it works out to be about 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1-2 shakes yellow madras Curry powder (very tasty but OPTIONAL) to be added with salt and pepper

For veggie saute: (you can double this if you want lots more veg to quinoa ratio or if you have more people coming over)

• 2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli, (I use frozen) cut into bite sized pieces (run under cold water to ease cutting)
• 1 cup cubed fresh, frozen or canned artichoke hearts (I use frozen or canned). (about 1cm cubes)
• 3-4 smashed and minced cloves of fresh garlic
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil for sauteing
• splash of white wine (optional, I think it doesn’t need it)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cream, depends on how creamy you want it (15% for pastas)
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder or to taste.
• salt and pepper to taste (1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper usually works)

Method:

1) Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium sized saucepan that has a cover.

2) Pick a glass that is around 1 and 2/3 cups. Fill it up to the very top with quinoa. Add quinoa to the pot, and mix it around, coating in the hot oil.

3) Cook for about 1 minute, toasting the little quinoa seeds. Then, using the same cup you use to measure the quinoa, add water and coconut milk. basically, 1:1:1 quinoa to water to coconut milk. You can do this with white, red or brown rice and the results will be the same, the only thing that varies is the cooking time (35-40 minutes for red or brown rice or red quinoa).

4) Add salt and pepper, don’t worry, you can correct this later if you don’t use enough. If you are adding curry powder, add it now, and mix it all up and cover.

5) Cook covered on a low flame for 20 minutes exactly. I use a kitchen timer. Do not stir. After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and let it sit for five minutes undisturbed. Uncover and fluff the quinoa.

While the quinoa is cooking, make the veggie saute.

1) Heat olive oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add minced garlic when oil is hot enough to make garlic sizzle, saute gently on medium heat.

2) Chop broccoli and artichoke hearts, add now if both are frozen, otherwise, add fresh first, then frozen 3 minutes later, then canned 2 minutes later. Cover, and saute 3-4 minutes.

3) Saute until all veggies are mostly cooked through (broccoli should still be bright green!), then add splash of white wine if you are using it.

4) cook off alcohol for about 2 minutes, then add cream, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and stir gently for the next 2 minutes.

By now, the quinoa should be done, if not, turn off heat and cover veggies. Serve veggies over a warm bed of quinoa, and… Oh boy, my tummy is just rumbling away right now, I think I’ll go make some. Oh yeah, we added a cup of chopped fresh mushrooms and sauteed them with the other veggies once and it was delicious then too, so don’t be afraid to experiment with other options. All the best till next time, I love you guys!

Cranberry Quinoa Summer Salad with Parsley, Red Onion, Celery, and Lemon

Many people that I have met in my travels were afraid of quinoa. (That is until I got through with them.) I get it though, It’s just one of those items on the shelf that I used to look at and think, ummm. Maybe I’ll try that NEXT week.

Why was it so intimidating? Well besides the fact that it looked like a cross between couscous and rice, so I wasn’t sure how to cook it; the few times I had eaten it, it tasted bitter or even hard because it wasn’t cooked or seasoned properly. I’m guessing some of you have had a similar experience?

However what many people don’t know is that it also has an unbelievable high nutrient and protein content, and almost no fat- which makes people mistakenly classify it as a health food,  as in, “I’m only going to eat that if I’m on a diet and you make me”.  What they also don’t know is that when cooked properly, it has a wonderful nutty taste and can be absolutely delicious if coupled with a few other yummy ingredients.

This is one of my favorite quinoa recipes, and is an unbelievably refreshing and yummy Mediterranean salad that we love to eat in the summertime. It is so easy, and really healthy, so you don’t have to feel guilty if you want to drink a beer or two with it. It would also be really good with chicken or fish as a high protein side, but I love it as a light lunch all on its own. Next time I think I’m going to crumble some feta on top as well.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

1 “cup” quinoa (I use a large whiskey glass)+(2 “cups” water)

A small handful of fragrant chopped parsley

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 to 1/2 of a medium sized red onion, diced

2 large celery ribs, diced

1lemon quartered for garnish and adding juice over the top

Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

Method:

1) Cook the quinoa. This is really easy, even though I didn’t know how to make rice for the LONGEST time. Like, really. I only learned this year, and this method is FOOLPROOF. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium sized saucepan. Pick a glass that is around 1 and 1/2 cups. Fill it up to the very top with quinoa. Add quinoa to the pot, and mix it around, coating in the hot oil. Cook for about 1 minute, toasting the little quinoa grains. Then, using the same cup you use to measure the quinoa, add water filling the cup up twice. basically, 1:2 quinoa to water. You can do this with white, red or brown rice and the results will be the same, the only thing that varies is the cooking time (40 minutes for red or brown rice). Add salt and pepper, don’t worry, you can correct this later if you don’t use enough. Cook covered on a low flame for 20 minutes exactly. I use a kitchen timer. Do not stir. After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes undisturbed. Uncover and fluff the quinoa.

2) Dice the celery and red onion, and chop the parsley and dried cranberries.

3) Mix all ingredients together, and serve with 1/4 slices of fresh lemon to squeeze over the top.