Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Fun with Quinoa

Last week I thought I would give quinoa a try. I'm always looking for good things to feed my family, and I read one of my friend's post on it, and thought I might as well give it a shot.

Anyways, so last Monday I had quinoa all day. Maybe I'm a little extreme, but I was having another friend over for lunch and wanted to serve something interesting. And then I had an eggplant to use up so I found another quinoa recipe with eggplant in it.

So, the lunch salad was Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa. It was pretty good. I think a good dash of feta cheese would have made it a bit better. And also, I won't cook it quite so long next time. I prefer my quinoa al dente, I think.

And then for dinner we had Quinoa Cakes with Eggplant-Tomato Ragu and Smoked Mozzarella. Now this one was a home run! It was delicious! I substituted regular mozzarella for smoked since the wonderful Erik is not a huge fan of the smoked variety. But everyone liked this meal. I was shocked! The eggplant tomato ragu made this wonderful sauce and then the cheese was melted in it and it was just scrumptious. The cakes were not all that difficult to make, but I did take some time with them since I didn't want them to fall apart. And it was terrific leftovers! I toasted the cake in the toaster oven and then topped with warmed ragu. YUM-OH! The only thing that could have made it even better was a nice glass of Cabernet. But, none for me right now.

So, I think Quinoa is worth the try. It's technically a seed that has great protein and amino acids, making it a real super food. And the fact that my wonderfully choosy husband liked it will make quinoa a suitable substitute for rice any day.

4 comments:

Mrs. Miller said...

That second recipe sounds soooooo good!!!!! Can't wait to try it!!!

Oh, and I'm inviting myself to your next zoo date with Heather. ;-)

Jessie said...

It would be so great to see you! We'll make another one really soon.

And the eggplant is divine! I peeled the eggplant since neither Erik or I like how the peel cooks up. It's a little too bitter for our taste. And also the ragu has a nice consistency without the peel, I think.

Heather@Cultivated Lives said...

I'm totally salivating... Your hubby and kids actually ate the eggplant?!?!?!? I LOVE eggplant and so far no one will eat it with me. I'm going to try this (probably sans peel initially at least) and see if I can trick them into liking it! :) Isn't quinoa just amazing!?!?!?

And yes, zoo date in April?!?!?!?

Heather@Cultivated Lives said...

I just had to wade through all of your posts to find this again. I'm trying the Eggplant one next week... :)

Can you add tags?!?!?!? That way I can find the food faster next time! ;)