PINTO BEAN BURGERS AND QUINOA, ZUCCHINI, AND CORN MEDLEY

Yesterday I Made:

SOUTHWEST PINTO BEAN BURGERS WITH CHIPOTLE VEGENAISE and QUINOA,CORN AND ZUCCHINI MEDLEY for DINNER.

I've made this awesome burger many times and even posted it here.

It's still my all time favorite homemade patty.

It's spicy and just plain delicious.

I wanted to have a side dish that was fresh and healthy.

So, I decided on a tasty quinoa salad.

This recipe is different because it calls for raw zucchini,which we've never eaten raw.

It also contains green onions, corn, cilantro pine nuts, and an added surprise, HAZELNUTS!

The salad was dressed with a light orange, lemon dressing.

SAMOSA MASHED POTATO PANCAKES, TOASTED QUINOA WITH RAISINS AND SLIVERED ALMONDS AND GOOD OLD FASHIONED PEAS

Yesterday I Made:

SAMOSA MASHED POTATO PANCAKES, TOASTED QUINOA WITH RAISINS AND SLIVERED ALMONDS AND GOOD OLD FASHIONED PEAS for DINNER.

Samosa recipe from VEGAN BRUNCH.

Toasted quinoa recipe from THE VEGAN TABLE.

Samosas filling without the dough, formed into cakes and lightly panfried.

The filling is basically mashed potatoes with onions, carrots, garlic, peas.

Spiced with mustard seeds, turmeric, cumin, red chili pepper flakes, and fresh ginger.

You make the dough, refrigerate for a few hours and form into patties, then panfry.

I didn't make a sauce or chutney to go with the samosas, as suggested in the book.

Instead I used chipotle sauce and drizzled it over the pancakes.

The toasted quinoa turned out to be the perfect side dish.

Seasoned with fresh ginger, cardomom, coriander, cumin, and cayenne.

And for added crunch and sweetness, raisins and slivered almonds were added to the mix.

As far as the peas, all I did was steam frozen peas with 1/4 cup water for 3 minutes.

Drained and added Earth Balance, salt and pepper.

HOMEMADE HUMMUS, QUINOA TABBOULEH WITH WHOLE WHEAT PITA

Today I Made:

HOMEMADE HUMMUS, QUINOA TABBOULEH with WHOLE WHEAT PITA for DINNER.

Hummus and quinoa tabbouleh recipes from The Vegan Table By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

Simple hummus made with garbanzo beans, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, and olive oil.

The quinoa tabbouleh is not traditional, but it turned out delicious.

Traditional tabbouleh is made with bulgur wheat and parsley.

I'm not much of a parsley fan, so I substituted with cilantro.

I also did not add mint as called for in the recipe.

Light, simple, and tasty dinner!

AZTEC SALAD

Today I Made:

AZTEC SALAD for DINNER.

Recipe from THE CANDLE CAFE COOKBOOK by JOY PIERSON AND BART POTENZA.

Mexican inspired salad with quinoa, black beans corn, red onions, red bell peppers, salad greens, and a spicy roasted tomato dressing, and topped with toasted pumpkin seeds.

I added 1 chipotle chile to the dressing, as suggested by the authors.

Just looking at the picture above makes me smile.

So much color.

You just know its good for you.

And so tasty.

QUINOA VEGETABLE PAELLA

I used my new Le Creuset Braiser to make tonight's DINNER.

We are so lucky to have a Le Creuset Outlet 15 mintes from our house.

Today I Made:

Quinoa Vegetable Paella AND SALAD for DINNER.

Quinoa, tomatoes, kidney beans, red bell peppers, zucchini, and artichoke hearts, cooked in vegetable broth with cumin, cayenne, smoked paprika, and saffron.

One pot meal.

Easy to make.

Again, you MUST have all your ingredients prepared and ready to go.

Took me less than 1 hour for all the prep work and cooking.

Overall, this dish satisfied my craving for a one pot meal.

CAULIFLOWER STEAK WITH QUINOA

Two Days Ago I Made:

CAULIFLOWER STEAK WITH QUINOA, SPICY GARLIC SPINACH, CAULIFLOWER SOUP, AND GARLIC BREAD for DINNER.

Steak recipe from GREAT CHEFS COOK VEGAN by LINDA LONG.

Simply browned 1" cauliflower steaks atop a bed of creamy quinoa with leeks, zucchini, and chives.

This is another example of a fine dinning dish.

Hearing that, you'd think that this was an extremely difficult and time consuming dish.

But it wasn't.

It's all about being organized and having your ingredients ready to go.

It takes no longer than 10 minutes to brown the steaks.

In the meantime, you cook the quinoa in vegetable broth.

And while all this is happening, you cut the remaining cauliflower florets, blanche, then throw in a preheated oven for 15 minutes or until they have dried up.

Then you saute the leeks, shallots, and garlic.

Add the florets and puree.

In a large saute pan, saute the zucchini.

Add the quinoa and more vegetable stock and the rest of the ingredients, including 2 T of the cauliflower puree.

To plate, you place the cauliflower steak on a bed of quinoa.

The original recipe calls for BASIL OIL to be drizzled over and around the plated steak, but I used chipotle adobe sauce instead.

*With the leftover cauliflower puree, I made a simple soup just by adding vegetable stock, salt and pepper as suggested in the book. I topped the soup with even more chipotle adobo sauce.

For the SPICY GARLIC SPINACH, I used my usual recipe of olive oil, chili pepper flakes,minced garlic, salt and pepper.

And for an added crunch, our favorite garlic bread.

I highly recommend making this entire meal for a fancy dinner.

Your guests will be highly impressed.

PINEAPPLE-CASHEW-QUINOA STIR-FRY

Yesterday I Made:

PINEAPPLE-CASHEW-QUINOA STIR-FRY for DINNER.

Recipe from Veganomicon.

A South Asian inspired dish with a South American Flair.

Quinoa cooked in pineapple juice.

Then stir-fried with green onions, pineapple chunks, peas, ginger, red chili, basil, red bell pepper, soy sauce, mirin, and toasted cashews.

Interesting mix of flavors that actually turned out quite tasty.

Sweet and spicy, with a hint of saltiness from the soy sauce.

This dish comes together in a flash, as long as you have all the ingredients set up and ready to go.

This dish would be great for a get together or just for a warm summer night.

Although, it sure warmed us up last night after a rainy day in Southern California.

*If you desire a less spicy stir-fry, remember to remove the veins and seeds from the red chili.

GREEK-STYLE QUINOA BURGERS

Today I Made:

GREEK-STYLE QUINOA BURGERS for DINNER.

Recipe from Body+Soul Magazine.

Quinoa, carrots, green onions, navy beans, and spices.

Then topped with a tangy, spicy yogurt sauce and cucumbers and stuffed into a whole wheat pita.

Another simple yet satisfying meal.

This meal will surely be made over and over again.