Monday, February 23, 2009

Walnut and Beetroot Quinoa - Recipe


Today I had some quinoa that I wanted to cook, and some beetroot I needed to use up, so a quick google of beetroot and quinoa uncovered a few salad recipes, and I came up with the following after a look at the ingredient suggestions for a few of the salads. But it's not a salad, it's more of a stir-fry, or pilaf style dish.

I also have an alternative idea for this recipe, to roast the vegetables, as opposed to cooking then in the cast iron fry pan as I did this first time, so I will update with further details once I've roasted if it turns out better.

My Mum and Dad were my guinea pigs, and I had to squeeze it out of them a little, they're not huge foodies, and are not vegan, but they said they think they'd prefer the beetroot roasted. They are not use to eating raw beetroot like I am, so they thought the pieces were too big and a little bitter (?) via the following method.

Another alternative I am going to try at my Mum's suggestion is replacing the beetroot with roasted pumpkin cubes.

But for starters, if you don't want to cook all the goodness out of your veggies, I highly recommend the following cooking method.

Ingredients:
1 Large, or 2 small fresh beetroots, peeled and cubed (or 2 cups of cubed roasted pumpkin?)
1 cup fresh raw walnuts
2-3 spring onions, diced
1 red capsicum, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 x 200gm packet plain firm tofu
1 cup Quinoa
3 cups vegetable stock or water
2 tablespoons olive oil for the pan
2 tablespoons dried (or 1/4 cup fresh chopped leaves) corriander

Sauce/Marinade:
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons mustard (smooth variety)
1/4 cup veg stock or water

Method:
1. Prepare at least an hour or more ahead of cooking time, firstly combine all marinade ingredients in a container for marinating the tofu in and mix well. Place cubes tofu in marinade, coat well and store in fridge.

2. Bring veg stock to boil and cook quinoa, stirring 2-3 times, for 15 minutes, until liquid absorbed.

3. While quinoa is cooking heat a cast iron pan (or any fry pan) and add walnuts to lightly toast, set aside in a bowl.

4. Heat olive oil in pan and cook tofu until browned and a little crispy with a small amount of the marinade.

5. Add vegetables to pan and cook until beetroot is just tender and quinoa is ready.

6. Stir tofu vegetable mix, and the remainder of the marinade, into the quinoa and combine well, stirring through coriander and walnuts. Serve and enjoy!

(Serves 3)

1 comment:

  1. Ooh this is making me so hungry but I wont get home til late tonight so will miss out on a good dinner. Maybe if I keep staring at the screen I will start to taste it.... so hungry...

    ReplyDelete