Quinoa and Spring Mint Salad

YAY! My mint has returned after a long, cold winter and spring. I could hardly wait to put the first green leaves in something cool and refreshing and salad-like!

If you've never tried quinoa, this is a super-easy recipe to start with and SOO good! Quinoa is a lovely (and very nutritious) grain, or seed really, that's tasty and fast to cook. Follow the directions on the box, that's all there is to it! Find it in the grains or Natural Foods sections of most grocery stores.
Quinoa-Mint Salad

• 1 cup dry quinoa, cooked according to package directions. I do mine in my rice-cooker with excellent results.

• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 3 green onions, sliced with as much of the green part as is tender
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh peppermint leaves
• 1 clove garlic, crushed in garlic press
• Salt and lemon-pepper to taste
• chopped nuts (optional)

Cook quinoa according to package instructions until light and fluffy. Remove from heat and cool on a cookie sheet.

In a bowl, mix olive oil, garlic and lemon juice into quinoa. Add mint, salt and lemon-pepper, and mix well.

Sprinkle with chopped almonds or other nuts if you so desire. I just happened to have them on hand today.

Serve chilled or at room temp.

Fluffy Quinoa Almond Pancakes

This weekend, I am cleaning out my freezer, pantry and so forth, trying to use those odd ingredients I have stuck away for whatever reason. I ran across this package of quinoa flour and decided pancakes sounded the easiest and most appropriate for a lazy stay-home morning.

This recipe is a modification of several recipes I often use and the pancakes turned out LOVELY!!! Better yet, I think(?) quinoa is gluten free, should anyone need that option.

Quinoa-Almond Pancakes

2 cups quinoa flour
2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup raw almonds (or almond meal)
1 cup warm soy or rice milk
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon light molasses or brown rice syrup

In a mixing bowl, whisk together quinoa flour, baking powder, and baking soda. In your blender or food processor, grind nuts to a fine powder, scraping the sides several times. This will take a while. (skip that step if you have almond meal, obviously) Add to blender or processor: milk, water, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and molasses.
Blend 3 to 4 minutes. Pour liquids over dry ingredients and whisk a few times, eliminating lumps. If batter is too thick, add water as necessary.

Pour a scant 1/4 cup of batter onto hot non-stick, or lightly greased griddle (heated until water dances on it) for each pancake. Turn when bubbles appear on edges and pancake is starting to brown. Cook until done to your liking.

As always, pancake recipes need a little personal "tweaking" - the batter can be made thicker or thinner, depending on your personal preference.

Tomato-Macaroni Soup, Quinoa Soup again, and the cat!!

This has definitely been a "soup" sort of week.


Not only have I been running in a thousand different directions with overtime work, classes and activities with my kids, but we've also had several nasty storms that have knocked down power lines and trees.

Fortunately we didn't lose electricity or trees at our house, though both my kids' school and the one where I teach were without for periods on Thursday and Friday, and this old tree down the street finally gave in to the winds...

OK, so...Soup, in my book, has to be quick and easy, or something that re-heats well. I'm not one for standing and stirring and simmering for hours...
First up is this stupidly simple "Tomato Macaroni" soup.

Some years back, I'm not too proud to admit, I had to make occasional visits to the neighborhood food-bank. One of the items we always received, not sure why, was several quarts of tomato juice. Maybe it was government surplus, just like the cheese?

Who knows. At any rate, at a loss for what to do with weekly quarts of tomato juice, I created this soup.

It's definitely nothing fancy, but it's quick, easy, cheap (obviously) and filling comfort food. As a bonus, my kids LOVE it and still ask for it often. Hey, tomato juice is actually good for you, you know? Lots of good stuff, including 21957 micrograms of lycopene in every 8 oz. and you KNOW that's good!

Tomato Macaroni Soup

1 large onion, chopped fine and sauteed in a tsp of oil in the bottom of a stockpot
6 - 8 cups water
2 med. baking potatoes cut into smallish cubes

Bring the above to a boil.

Boil for 5 minutes and add:

1 cup elbow macaroni (you can use whole-grain pasta here)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pickling spices tied up in a cheesecloth or put in a teaball - yes, odd, but these MAKE the soup!

Cook the above at a good boil until potatoes are soft. Remove spice bag.

Add:

1 pint tomato juice, taste and adjust seasonings, adding salt or pepper if needed. Stir until heated and serve.

We sometimes add a swirl of soymilk to cool it down and make it creamy.

Next up, my "Quinoa Peanut Soup" (which I think I posted here before). I originally posted this over at Veggieboards.com, and I was pretty impressed when Nava Atlas asked if she could include it in her latest "Soups..." cookbook. Way cool!

Still one of our family favorites, I love that it re-heats so well. My littlest sprout loves the curly-Q "tails" that the quinoa grains leave in the soup and in typical 8-year-old style, she gets a morbid kick out of freaking out her classmates at school when she takes this soup in her thermos (they're not little worms, I swear, though you might want to warn unsuspecting people...).

Quinoa-Peanut Soup

2 Tb margarine

1 chopped onion or 2 med. leeks sliced (I prefer leeks, use all of white and tender part of green)

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed (I use more because I'm a garlic fiend)

1 fresh jalapeno, minced (Again, I use more)

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 diced celery stalks, with leaves (I usually leave this out, cause I don't care for celery much)

2 small diced zucchini

1 large sweet potato, yam or peeled butternut squash, diced

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

4 cup vegetable stock (I use the "non-chicken" style broth)

1/2 cup quinoa, (some brands say to rinse and drain before using - I never have..)

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 dash cayenne pepper or to taste (I use more!!)

1/2 cup chunky organic peanut butter, no honey or sugar

Wear rubber gloves to prepare fresh jalapeno pepper if you need to - or just be careful.

In a large heavy-bottomed soup pot, melt margarine over medium-high heat. When margarine is hot and bubbly, add all veggies, and cumin and oregano. Saute 10 -15 minutes, or until vegetables are softened.

Add stock, quinoa, black pepper and cayenne.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover.

Simmer until quinoa is cooked and veggies are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.

I know it looks done at this point, but go ahead and add the peanut butter, using a wisk to blend in completely, and simmer another 10 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasonings. (Personally I use a little more salt than listed, but do what you like)

I almost always throw grated fresh ginger in there somewhere but it's not necessary.

Last, but not least, the ever-fearless, but curious cat has taken to "supervising" cooking in a new and slightly worrisome way.

If given the chance, he perches on the range hood, high ABOVE the bubbling, boiling, splattering pans... which scares me more than a little!!
We usually try to keep him far from the kitchen whenever we're actually cooking!! (Maybe it's the liquor bottles hiding in the cabinet that fascinate him, eh?)

Veggie-Roasted Pepper Quinoa Soup

This was my lunch at work today. Leftover soup from last night: Roasted Pepper and Quinoa Soup that I sort of "invented" with a bunch of odds and ends a while back... It's so simple and colorful (not so much in the picture). Every time I make it, it's a little different, but basically this is what I do:

Veggie, Quinoa and Roasted-Pepper Soup
1 large red bell pepper
1 large orange bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
8 cloves garlic
1/2 lemon
3 cups vegetable (or vegetarian "chicken") broth
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon fennel seed
2 cups misc. frozen veggies (I used corn, edamame and peas)
1 cup already cooked quinoa

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Halve all peppers (remove seeds) and peel garlic.
Place halved peppers, cut side up in shallow baking dish. Place one garlic clove in each half and squeeze lemon juice generously over peppers. Roast for 1 hour.
Meanwhile pour vegetable (or veggie-chicken broth) broth into a 2 quart sauce pan and add fennel seeds. Bring to boil, cover and simmer.
When peppers are done, remove from oven and set aside to cool. When cool enough to touch peel skin from peppers.
Strain fennel seeds from broth and return to a boil. Add cooked quinoa and frozen mixed veggies. Simmer 15 minutes, reducing amount of broth and cooking veggies.
In a blender, place peppers, garlic and a 1/2 cup broth. Blend just long enough to shred the peppers, but not puree them. You want to see the different colors. Pour the blended peppers into the broth and stir well. Add garlic salt and black pepper to taste. The bright colors will fade if not served right away.

Quinoa-Peanut Veggie Soup (from Africa)

Made soup again tonight. Thought I'd post the recipe...

This is another family favorite (one of those rare things everyone actually likes!) I made it long before I had Sprouts to cook for - (and long before quinoa was readily available. I had to mail order it... 'cause way back then, I thought it was so unique and "exotic").

I originally got the recipe from a college roommate and gradually changed it to suit my tastes over the years - I like it 'cause it's fairly quick and easy (and healthy) - my kids think the subtle jalapeno heat and mild peanut butter taste combo is great for soup!

OK, I confess... they're also amused with the way the quinoa cooks up and it's little "tail" separates - they say it looks like little worms in the soup, which, I guess if you didn't know better, might make you wonder. Either way, don't be frightened off by my description - it's good stuff.

So, a little bit of bragging here: I originally posted this recipe over at my favorite Vegetarian forums, Veggieboards.com.
Cookbook author Nava Atlas (yes, of cookbook fame) saw it there, tried it (and evidently liked it as much as we do!) and asked to include it in her latest cookbook "Vegetarian Soups for all Seasons". Woo!

So (shameless self-promotion) check out the book! Actually every recipe I've tried from the book is great - (if you have the book, you already know this). I happen to LOVE soup anyway and this is an awesome collection. But enough about that, here's my recipe (oh, it's on page 47 in the book, I think?) just in case you're interested:

Quinoa-Peanut Soup

2 Tb margarine
1 chopped onion or 2 med. leeks sliced (I prefer leeks, use all of white and tender part of green)
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed (I use more)
1 fresh jalapeno, minced (Again, I use more)
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 diced celery stalks, with leaves (I usually leave this out, cause I don't care for celery all that much)
2 small diced zucchini
1 large sweet potato, diced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
4 cup vegetable stock (I use the "non-chicken" style broth)
1/2 cup quinoa, (some brands say to rinse and drain before using - I never have..)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 dash cayenne pepper or to taste (I use more!!)
1/2 cup chunky organic peanut butter, no honey or sugar

Wear rubber gloves to prepare fresh jalapeno pepper if you need to - or just be careful.
In a large heavy-bottomed soup pot, melt margarine over medium-high heat. When margarine is hot and bubbly, add all veggies, and cumin and oregano.
Saute 10 -15 minutes, or until vegetables are softened.
Add stock, quinoa, black pepper and cayenne. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover.
Simmer until quinoa is cooked and veggies are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Add peanut butter, using a wisk to blend in completely, and simmer another 10 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasonings.
(I almost always throw grated fresh ginger in there somewhere but it's not necessary).