This week's Vegan MoFo recipe comes from Jack Bishop's A Year in the Vegetarian Kitchen, a seasonal cookbook that's slowly growing on me. This was my first foray into cooking with quinoa, a super-nutritious vegetable relative that tastes like a grain and behaves much like couscous. The toughest part was getting my husband to internalize the pronunciation. He would repeat "KEEN-wah" after me like a good little pupil, eat for a few minutes, and then say through a mouthful, "Wait -- conquistador? Kimosabe? Quinceanera?"
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 1 medium bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp grated ginger root
- a dash ground cardamom
- 1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed in a fine strainer
- 3 cups water
- 1/4 cup minced parsley leaves
- salt and pepper
Steps:
- Toast the pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat. Shake the pan occasionally and toast the nuts until they're fragrant and slightly darker (about 4 minutes). Set them aside on a plate.
- Add the oil to the empty skillet, raise the heat to medium-high, and add the onions and bell pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown (about 5 minutes).
- Stir in the cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom and stir-cook for about 30 seconds. Add the quinoa and stir to coat and toast for about a minute.
- Carefully add the water to the pan (you may want to remove the pan from the heat briefly) and bring everything to a boil. Then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer gently until the quinoa is tender and the liquid is absorbed. This should take 15-20 minutes.
- Stir in the parsley and toasted pecans and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
I was fascinated by the texture of the quinoa; it's soft and fluffy but firm and chewy at the same time. It seemed light and airy at first, but I was surprised at how quickly it filled me up! I had trouble finishing the bowl I made myself. Bishop's recipe says it serves 3 or 4 as a main course, but Bryan and I got more like 6 servings from it.
I would make some changes next time, for sure. First of all, my onions and peppers didn't reach a true "caramelized" texture or color. Next time would cook them longer and in more liquid. Also, I'd cut back on the cinnamon. It adds a nice flavor, but a whole teaspoon was too much. It ended up tasting like dessert with peppers and onions in it. Plus, the recipe still needs... something. I can't put my finger on it. The pecans added a satisfying crunch, but it still needed a bit more body. Maybe some pine nuts? Maybe chunks of carrots? I'll have to play around with this one. But still, I was happy with how it turned out, considering it was my first experiment with quinoa. I want to try making quinoa for breakfast sometime!
On a related note, you may remember my stockpot disaster from a few weeks ago. After some research, I discovered that stainless steel is supposed to be the best option for glass-topped electric stoves. I'm going between an Innova, a Paula Deen, and a Calphalon. Any suggestions?
