Mexican Quinoa and Collard Greens

I'm all about quick and easy meals lately. I've had this One Pan Mexican Quinoa recipe printed out since October and am now finally making it. I paired it with Easy Vegetarian Collared Greens. I forgot how good this collard greens recipe is! I linked both to the recipes. 

I buy pre-washed quinoa so I don't have to mess with rinsing it. Lots of spicy flavors-jalapeno, fire-roasted tomatoes, chili powder, cumin. It also has corn and black beans in the mix. After it's done cooking you stir in some chopped avocado, cilantro, and lime juice. 

The collard greens are cooked in some vegetable broth with onions, garlic, smoked paprika, and apple cider vinegar. I also added a dash of liquid smoke and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. 

These two recipes go really well together. I'll be ready to make this again soon. 

Roasted Asparagus & Quinoa Salad

Vegcookbookclub February:

This month we're cooking out of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's cookbooks. Since February is almost over I thought I better get some posting done! These two recipes are from The Vegan Table. 

~ Pan-Fried (or Roasted) Asparagus with Lime Juice ~

The recipe gives you the option to roast the asparagus instead of pan-fried. Much tastier roasted! Lots of crispy bits of garlic and shallots and a squeeze of lime juice instead of the usual lemon. I've got some more asparagus in the fridge; I think I'll have to make this one again tonight!

~ Toasted Quinoa with Raisins and Slivered Almonds ~

My first clue that this makes alot is the 2 cups raw quinoa. Duh! But I went ahead and followed the recipe and had lots and lots of quinoa salad. Thankfully, it was very tasty but I ended up throwing some of it away and I hate doing that. I like the addition of the raisins to give it a little sweetness. 

Autumn Equinox and Quinoa Salad

Aww-I missed posting yesterday. I was enjoying the first day of autumn! We were invited to a neighborhood potluck and it was such a nice, cool evening last night. It was still 80 degrees but better than 108! 

I just got The China Study Cookbook in the mail so I thought I would try a salad out of it to take to the potluck. I always like a good quinoa salad. 

Lemon Tahini Quinoa Salad

A nice, bright salad but it was a little bland tasting. I'm glad I had this to eat at the potluck because that was literally all I had to choose from other than some cooked pasta noodles with Italian dressing on them. Next time I'm going to bring a hot casserole dish with a little more substance. This salad tasted better the next day over some baby spinach and a little salad dressing.

Lentil Quinoa Taco 'Soup'

I had good intentions to cook and blog while in Sedona this past weekend; but who can think about cooking and blogging when you have scenery like this to look at?!! (Also, no reliable internet connection)

I did make my favorite Creamy Curried Veggies since I had some of the ingredients available at the cabin. 

We're still working hard on fixing up 'the old girl'. I was cleaning out the kitchen cupboards and found a few of my late grandma's cooking utensils and I knew I had to display them:

Wow! It's a percolator coffepot; don't see those anymore! There was also this metal strainer; I like to use old stuff but I just had to replace this with a new one to use.

These really remind me of Grandma Violet. She loved to cook and bake. I can still see her scooping out sugar and flour with these measuring cups. They have a special place in the kitchen now.

This was in preparation for making this recipe at the cabin. Oops! Didn't get it done; too much to do. I even bought another Crock Pot for the cabin (okay, at last count I have five now-hehe)

cilantro, chopped tomato, shredded romaine lettuce, Daiya cheddar, chopped green onions

This recipe is from Kathy Hester's cookbook Vegan Slow Cooking for Two; she shares the recipe here on her website. It is supposed to be a filling for tacos but I checked it as it was cooking and I thought the mixture was getting too thick so I added extra water. Now we are eating taco soup! Tastes just as delicious with all the toppings on top and lots of Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce. We used warmed up rolled whole wheat flour tortillas to dip in the soup.

Lentil Quinoa Taco 'Soup'

We finished the whole pot. I love this cookbook; no leftovers!

Strawberry and Cream Quinoa Porridge ~ pg. 47

VegCookbookClub August recipes from Betty Goes Vegan by Annie & Dan Shannon:

Sweet, creamy and comforting. I added some more soymilk to eat this as it thickened up a little. Makes enough for another breakfast. 

The sign of perfectly cooked porridge~a trashed stove! hehe

Gimme Chimis~pg 128; Cinnamon Lime Quinoa w/Apricots & Almonds~pg 156

VegCookbookClub July recipes from eat, drink & be vegan by Dreena Burton:

Gimme Chimi mixture-lots of great spices in here; never thought of using cinnamon and cloves along with chili powder, oregano and cumin! The recipe calls for tempeh, but I'm allergic to the fermented tofu so I used Morning Star Farms Chik'n Strips cut into pieces. I didn't feel like frying AND baking my chimichanga so I just rolled the mixture up into warmed flour tortillas and called it a burrito. I topped each burrito with cilantro and Daiya cheddar shreds. Love the flavors in this and it's easy to make. 

 Cinnamon Lime Quinoa- I probably would have never made this recipe but Dreena suggested it as a side along with the Gimme Chimis. I used rainbow quinoa; it seems to have a little more texture than just plain white quinoa. A very interesting combination of lime, tamari (Bragg's), cinnamon, nutmeg, dried apricots and almonds! It complemented the spicy burritos with a sweet, salty, citrusy flavor. 

Cinnamon Lime Quinoa with Gimme Chimis (Burritos)

Red Quinoa Pilaf with Kale and Corn

VegCookbookClub December recipes from Nava Atlas-Vegan Holiday Kitchen:

 

Quinoa and kale-two of my favorite power foods! I've never tried red quinoa before and also cooking it in the vegetable broth gave it lots of good flavor. This pilaf tastes delicious warm or cold.

 

 

I served the pilaf with a cucumber, red onion and tomato salad tossed in Amy's Tuscany Italian dressing.

 

Quinoa Black Bean Salad~pg. 75

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Very easy and delicious! I reduced the amount of oil in the dressing and it turned out fine. The avocado gave it the extra oil it needed.

Quick Breakfast Quinoa~pg. 50

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I love quinoa so I knew this would be good. The raisins cooked with the quinoa made it sweet enough without adding any sugar. I'm glad this turned out because it kept boiling over on me while I was cooking it. Here is my stovetop that I had just cleaned:

Isn't that lovely!

Lots of Greens!

I'm trying to get more greens in my diet so I'm trying some different ones. I found a recipe on food.com for "easy vegetarian collard greens". I have nothing to compare the flavor to since I've never eaten collard greens but this recipe was really good. Next time I might add a couple drops of liquid smoke. For supper tonight I made "Simply Lovely Quinoa" from The Garden of Vegan, collard greens and a romaine and baby spinach salad with the French dressing I made yesterday. The collard greens were a great combination with the quinoa dish.

I've been filling in days with recipes from The Garden of Vegan for the La Dolce Vegan! Challenge. Now I remember why I like Sarah's last cookbook the best-small serving sizes. The recipe for Simply Lovely Quinoa made 4-6 servings. My husband and I get tired of leftovers. I guess I could try freezing it and see what happens.

Easy Vegetarian Collard Greens
1 lb collard greens
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 C vegetable stock
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp smoked sweet paprika
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
          Wash greens well. Cut off stems right where leaf starts. Stack about 5-8 leaves on top of each other, then roll lengthwise. Cut rolled up leaves into 1" slices widthwise. Repeat until all the greens are done; add to a large pot. Add all other ingredients. Cover and bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes or until greens are extremely tender. Serve hot, using slotted spoon to drain the liquid from the greens.

Does anyone have any "easy greens" recipes they like?

Veggie Goulash~pg. 140

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Bubbling away on the stove!

Sorry it's messy I was hungry!

I added some minced shallots to my chopped onion because I hate to waste food and it looked so lonely in my crisper! I also used a can of tri-blend beans (kidney, pinto, black) instead of just pinto beans. I sprinkled a good helping of No-Salt Shaker (pg. 303) on top and ta-da~ my favorite starch to serve it over~quinoa!

Eat one cup of quinoa (a single serving size), and you’ll consume:

• 220 calories (70 percent carbs, 15 percent fat, 15 percent protein)
• 40 grams of carbohydrates (13 percent daily value)
• 8 grams of protein (16 percent of daily value)
• 3.5 grams of fat (5 percent daily value with no saturated fat)
• A glycemic load (blood sugar spike) of only 18 out of 250
• 5 grams of fiber (20 percent of daily value)
• 20 percent of daily value of folate (various forms of Vitamin B)
• 30 percent of magnesium daily value (beneficial for people with migraine headaches); 28 percent daily value of phosphorous; iron (15 percent); copper (18 percent); and manganese (almost 60 percent)

Quinoa is stocked with life-sustaining nutrients all across the board, including all eight essential amino acids. There are other highly beneficial compounds, vitamins and minerals in this food that the Incas reverently called "chisaya mama" (mother of all grains). www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/quinoa-nutrition-facts