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quinoa
Butternut Squash with Lemony Quinoa
Talk about a marvelous new dish to lighten up the traditionally heavy Thanksgiving meal!
Ingredients
- 10 ounces butternut squash (about 2 cups)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 cup quinoa
- ¼ cup chopped shallots
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried or fresh thyme
- 2 ½ cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel and 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons lightly toasted pine nuts (optional)
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh chives (optional)
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 400F. Cut the squash in half and scrape out the seeds and strings. Peel and cut into ½-inch cubes and toss with the 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Place them on a non-stick baking sheet, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and bake for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through.
- Heat a deep, non-stick pot. Add shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until shallots soften slightly.
- Add the quinoa and toast it until it begins to exude a toasty aroma.
- Add the squash along with the thyme and vegetable broth. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook, stirring once or twice, until all broth is absorbed, about 20 minutes.
- Stir in the lemon peel and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add more lemon juice if needed.
- Serve with toasted pine nuts and chives sprinkled on top.
This dish is very intriguing to the palette; the lemon flavor in the vegetable broth is heavenly, the crunch of the quinoa is unsurpassed in its texture, and the roasted Bnut squash provides a solidity to the dish that balances the lightness of the lemony flavor… give it a try! We made this recipe at the last Eat To Your Heart’s Content cooking class, co-taught by me and Wendy Van Wagner of In the Kitchen. This is Wendy’s recipe and has endless possibilities for variations–have fun with it!
Posted in Eat, Recipes, Thanksgiving recipes | 
Tags: butternut squash, quinoa, recipes, Thanksgiving recipes | 
No Comments »Quinoa Salad
Quinoa is a super nutritious grain, chock-full of protein and fiber. The nutty flavor and slightly crunchy texture make it unique, either as an ingredient in a salad or casserole, or as a hot breakfast cereal. It cooks more quickly than most other whole grains–just 12 to 15 minutes–an important fact to remember to maintain the crunch. Enjoy the following recipe for one of my favorite ways of cooking and savoring quinoa.
Ingredients:
2 parts water to 1 part Quinoa
Grilled eggplant
Grilled peppers
Basil
Garlic
Feta cheese
Kalmata olives
Roasted pine nuts
To prepare:
- Bring water to a boil, add quinoa, turn down heat to simmer for 12 – 15 minutes. When the grains are cooked, add a bit of garlic infused olive oil to prevent them from sticking together.
- Rub the veggies w/ garlic infused olive oil, place under the broiler for 3 – 5 minutes, on both sides. Of course you can grill other favorites such as tomatoes, zucchini, asparagus…
- Chop the basil and garlic.
- Crumble the feta.
- Chop the olives in half.
- Mix it all up gently (cooked quinoa is fragile!), let it sit in the fridge for a few hours.
Then…
- Place the pine nuts in a non-stick pan, cook on low, constantly stirring to prevent burning; add these right before eating (so they do not become soggy!).
Note: Pine nuts are fabulously rich, adding not only a divine flavor to this or any dish, but are also a good source of mono- and poly- unsaturated fats and protein.
Enjoy!
