I have a bit of spring fever. Yes, I know, I know, it's only March 3nd, and it's below zero. Regardless, I am itching for spring, and Heather's Quinoa by Heidi Swanson has contributed a bit to my spring like temperament. It all started last year in April when was on a 101cookbooks.com kick. I made Heidi's recipes all the time. It was exam time, I had just cleaned the entire house, it was a beautiful day, and I picked up some fresh pesto from a natural food store in uptown Waterloo, a store that I dearly miss. I bought the pesto to specifically use in this recipe. It was my first experience with fresh pesto, and boy was it memorable. I thought I didn't like pesto; turns out I was wrong.
To this day the thought of this dish, and particularly the combination of corn and basil brings me to that pleasant spring day when I was very, very happy in that simple moment. I had made some modifications to the recipe a year ago, and I have done it again today. The reason this time being that I have been dying to try wheatberries. I had purchased them over the Holidays and have been waiting for the perfect recipe to use them in. So in this case, instead of 3 cups of Quinoa, I used 1 cup cooked wheatberries, and 1.5 cups cooked quinoa.
You can find the recipe here and I highly recommend that you make this recipe soon. It is easy to make, quick, full of flavour and is easily modified. One note I do have however is that the quality of pesto makes all the difference. Last year, I used a fresh vegan pesto that was purchased in the refrigerated section and was in a container, not a jar (therefore not heated). I couldn't find fresh pesto at my local grocery store, and since it is the winter I do not have an excess of fresh basil to make it myself. I was not overly impressed with the jar I ended up buying. It looked good on the label (fresh basil was 1st ingredient, and didn't have anything I would not have added myself) but it just didn't suit my tastes. This pesto had Parmesan cheese in it and maybe that is what made the difference. Morale of the story: make your own fresh pesto or use a brand that you love the flavour of becuase it will make all the difference. And if you can avoid jarred pesto, then avoid it.
In other news, I have joined the twitter world. You can follow me at @ddidonat
Anyone else suffering from or experiencing premature spring fever?
Showing posts with label beans. corn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beans. corn. Show all posts
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Heather's Quinoa and Wheatberries
Labels:
basil,
beans. corn,
kale,
pesto,
quinoa,
shallot,
tofu,
wheatberries
Monday, November 29, 2010
Lentil and Black Bean Vegetable Soup
As promised here is soup #2 of the winter season. I made it quite a while ago now (nov 19) and as usual I didn't write down what I put in it! So let's see how my memory will serve me today. Usually when it comes to soup I go light on the seasonings and stick to the basil, bay leaf, rosemary variety. That's just how I like it. This time however I went for the cumin, garlic, coriander, chili flavours. While still mild in flavour it was just different enough to make this soup a little bit more exciting.
What also made this soup exciting was that I literally emptied my crisper and made a dent on my pantry while making it. I was just grabbing veggies, cans, and jars left right and center. To my pleasant surprise it turned out rather delicious and not so surprisingly, very hearty.
Lentil and Black Bean Vegetable Soup
1 carton vegetable broth
1 can of stewed tomatoes
water (about a tomato can full)
1 can black beans
red lentils (1/2 cup?)
1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 crown broccoli, chopped
1 can sliced mushrooms
1 can corn
4 celery stalks, chopped
1 bunch of kale, chopped
cumin
garlic powder
coriander
dried chili pepper
cayenne pepper
1. Heat broth, stewed tomatoes, and broth on medium-high until a simmer is reached.
2. Add all veggies (except for kale), black beans and lentils.
3. Once a simmer is reached, reduce heat to medium-low and add spices. I don't remember the measurements but it was about 2:2:1 for cumin to garlic powder to coriander. I just sprinkled them on there. Then the chili pepper and cayenne pepper is to your own taste. Depends on how hot you like it!
4. Simmer for 30 minutes or so until the lentils and squash are soft.
5. Add the kale and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

What also made this soup exciting was that I literally emptied my crisper and made a dent on my pantry while making it. I was just grabbing veggies, cans, and jars left right and center. To my pleasant surprise it turned out rather delicious and not so surprisingly, very hearty.
Lentil and Black Bean Vegetable Soup
1 carton vegetable broth
1 can of stewed tomatoes
water (about a tomato can full)
1 can black beans
red lentils (1/2 cup?)
1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 crown broccoli, chopped
1 can sliced mushrooms
1 can corn
4 celery stalks, chopped
1 bunch of kale, chopped
cumin
garlic powder
coriander
dried chili pepper
cayenne pepper
1. Heat broth, stewed tomatoes, and broth on medium-high until a simmer is reached.
2. Add all veggies (except for kale), black beans and lentils.
3. Once a simmer is reached, reduce heat to medium-low and add spices. I don't remember the measurements but it was about 2:2:1 for cumin to garlic powder to coriander. I just sprinkled them on there. Then the chili pepper and cayenne pepper is to your own taste. Depends on how hot you like it!
4. Simmer for 30 minutes or so until the lentils and squash are soft.
5. Add the kale and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
This soup is very thick and hearty. Almost like a chili. I added some black pepper and crumbled goat cheese on top. I suspect cheddar would be fantastic as well.

Yup, that is me eating in front of my computer. Not as much of a regular affair as it used to be (a positive thing I think).
I have quite the lineup of food photos for you. I don't think this one post a week deal is nearly enough to handle them. Hopefully I will be able to post some more as the term comes to an end and the Holidays begin!
I have quite the lineup of food photos for you. I don't think this one post a week deal is nearly enough to handle them. Hopefully I will be able to post some more as the term comes to an end and the Holidays begin!
Labels:
beans. corn,
black beans,
broccoli,
butternut squash,
celery,
kale,
mushrooms,
red lentils,
soup,
tomato,
vegan,
vegetarian
Monday, July 26, 2010
Crostini and Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers
For my parent's anniversary they received a wonderful gift basket from a friend with lots of Italian food products. It came with a jar of mushroom bruschetta and ever since, my Mom and I have been thinking about eating it with some nice crusty bread. While we were at the store yesterday we picked up a whole-wheat french baguette. We had all that we needed.
Before we began I wanted to make sure I would like this mushroom bruschetta. It looked delicious but I had no idea what it would taste like. So I tasted a bit and wasn't a big fan. I love mushrooms but didn't enjoy this preserve at all. So this led to creating two different kinds of crostini since my Mom liked the mushroom brushcetta.
I sliced the baguette thinly. Normally when making crostini you would toast the slices first, and then top them, but I was a little impatient. I topped half of the fresh slices with the mushroom bruschetta, and half with thinly sliced tomato and jarred hot banana peppers. Then I sprinkled them all with a bit of Parmesan cheese. I set the oven to broil and they took about 5 minutes to toast. So simple and delicious!
I had my crostini with barbecued eggplant and zucchini that my Dad had made the day before. I am not quite sure how he does it, but this is the BEST way to eat eggplant and zucchini. I will make a post on that recipe in the future.

Before we began I wanted to make sure I would like this mushroom bruschetta. It looked delicious but I had no idea what it would taste like. So I tasted a bit and wasn't a big fan. I love mushrooms but didn't enjoy this preserve at all. So this led to creating two different kinds of crostini since my Mom liked the mushroom brushcetta.
I sliced the baguette thinly. Normally when making crostini you would toast the slices first, and then top them, but I was a little impatient. I topped half of the fresh slices with the mushroom bruschetta, and half with thinly sliced tomato and jarred hot banana peppers. Then I sprinkled them all with a bit of Parmesan cheese. I set the oven to broil and they took about 5 minutes to toast. So simple and delicious!
I had my crostini with barbecued eggplant and zucchini that my Dad had made the day before. I am not quite sure how he does it, but this is the BEST way to eat eggplant and zucchini. I will make a post on that recipe in the future.
For dinner I got together with Jenna to make a recipe from Healthy Girl Cooking. We have been eying multiple recipes from this site, and finally got around to making something. We decided to make Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers.
Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers, modified from healthygirlcooking.com
3 large bell peppers that stand up well
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup beans (any kind you like)
1 cup corn
1 tomato, chopped finely
10 basil leaves, chopped finely
parmesan cheese
Mix the quinoa, beans, corn, tomato and basil in a bowl. Cut off the tops of the peppers and cut out any seeds and white flesh.
Stuff pepper with as much filling as it can handle.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top and bake for another 3-5 minutes.


Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers, modified from healthygirlcooking.com
3 large bell peppers that stand up well
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup beans (any kind you like)
1 cup corn
1 tomato, chopped finely
10 basil leaves, chopped finely
parmesan cheese
Mix the quinoa, beans, corn, tomato and basil in a bowl. Cut off the tops of the peppers and cut out any seeds and white flesh.
Stuff pepper with as much filling as it can handle.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top and bake for another 3-5 minutes.
Boy were these guys filling. They are very nutritious as well. They were lacking in the flavour department though. I would not serve these to guests until making some adjustments with the flavour. We brainstormed some ideas to increase the delicious factor for these peppers and came up with a few ideas:
- after filling the peppers half-way, add a layer of cottage or goat's cheese, before filling the rest with the stuffing, OR mix in the cheese with the stuffing.
- add a bit of salt, simple as that.
- add cumin or coriander; there are endless possibilities in the spice department here.
- cooking the quinoa in flavoured broth or tomato juice, or mixing in some tomato paste after cooking.
Labels:
beans. corn,
crostini,
eggplant,
muschroom brushcetta,
quinoa,
stuffed peppers,
tomato,
zucchini
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