Quinoa Dum Biryani

It has been some time since I made this. As usual, wasn’t disappointed. A little variation from the last time, but here’s how I made it this time.

Ingredients:
1 cup Quinoa
1 cup Cauliflower florets
1 cup beans cut into 1in pieces
1 potato cut into 1in pieces
1 cup green peas
1/2 onion sliced
1tomato chopped
2-3 bay leaves
1/2tsp cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1-2 star anise
4-5 cardamon pods
1 tsp black pepper
1-2 tsp garam masala
1-2 tsp ghee
1-2 tbsp oil
1-2 bay leaves
handful of cashews and raisins
Cilantro and mint chopped to garnish
small piece of ginger
2-3 garlic cloves
dash of turmeric
dash of red chili powder
salt to taste

Bring two cups of water to boil. Rinse and add quinoa. Reduce flame to medium. Cover and cook for 12-15 min or until the water evaporates. Set aside.

Meanwhile place a large pan on the stove. Add 1-2 tbsp oil and let heat. Add turmeric, bay leaves, cloves, cardamon, anise, cumin, and black pepper seeds. Fry lightly. Add minced garlic and ginger and continue frying.

Thinly slice onions and add to the pan. Continue frying. Add chopped potato, carrots, beans, peas, and cauliflower. Mix well and continue frying. Season with salt, garam masala, red chilli powder as desired. Add a little water, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until vegetables soften and are cooked. Add cooked quinoa and mix well.

Heat a little ghee in a pan and lightly fry cashews and raisins.

Season biryani with cilantro, mint leaves, fried cashews and raisins. Serve warm with some raita.

Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens

Happy New Year!

Staying with the ongoing tradition, I cooked black eyed peas and collard greens this New Years too. Rather than soup this year I tried this easy, quick, and simple recipe. I made no changes to the original recipe other than the quantities. It turned out delicious.

Here’s how I made mine.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup black eyed peas
• 1 bunch collard greens
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic
• salt and fresh ground pepper
• cayenne pepper
• lemon juice
• some parmesan cheese

Soak dry black eyed peas overnight or for 8-10 hours in some water.

Rinse the black eyed peas, add one cup water and cook. I usually like to pressure cook my beans.

Heat some oil in a pan. Add minced garlic and fry lightly. Add chopped collard greens and fry for 5-6 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes, and black eyed peas and continue cooking. Season with salt and peppers. Drizzle lemon juice and continue frying till moisture evaporates. Sprinkle cheese and serve warm with some bread.

Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Zoodles Week

I had a zucchini and yellow squash that were ready for use. Inspired by the Red Lentil Spaghetti from last week, I went looking for some zoodles recipes and I wasn’t disappointed. I was immediately attracted to this one: Thai Tofu Noodle Soup. Maybe it was because I recently had Panang Curry at True Food Kitchens. I only made minor changes to the original recipe, and it turned out delicious. Served with some wild rice, it was a perfect entry into the quick lunch series.

I still had left over zoodles and the second recipe I tried interestingly enough was also with Thai flavors: Thai Peanut Zucchini Noodles. I did not make too many changes to that recipe as well, other than sprinkling some sriracha, crushed red pepper, and Szechuan sauce. 

Sprinkled with cashews (instead of peanuts) and served with left over wild rice, it too was a perfect entry into the quick lunch series!

See Also:

Quick Lunch Series: Zoodles

Quick Lunch Series: Red Lentil Spaghetti

Last time I was in the grocery I had picked up some organic red lentil spaghetti. Although my original thought was to use it in a traditional pasta recipe, I changed my mind when I came across this twist on one pot Enchilada Pasta.

I did not have all the ingredients used in that recipe. As always, I improvised as I cooked. In the end, turned out great. Here’s how I made mine.

Ingredients:

1/2 packet of organic barilla pasta

1 cup of frozen Santa Fe vegetable mix

1 green bell pepper

2 Roma tomatoes

some onion and garlic

some taco sauce

roasted corn and black bean cotija cheese salsa

sour cream

cheese

salt to taste

chili lime and taco seasoning

olive oil

Heat some oil in a pan. Add onion, and garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add peppers and tomato and continue frying for a few minutes. Add salt and other seasoning, and sauces. Mix well. Add pasta whole or break into chunks. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce flame to medium, cover,  and continue cooking for about 20 minutes or until the pasta cooks and water evaporates. Add sour cream and cheese and continue cooking for another few minutes.

Sprinkle some cheese and serve warm. Makes about 2 servings.

Quick Lunch Series: Quinoa Vegetable Soup

Good recipe when you have assorted vegetables and greens that you want to use off. This recipe is loosely based on this one.

Ingredients:

1 can Great Northern white beans

1/4 cup quinoa

1-2 cups of assorted vegetables (I used bell pepper, yellow squash, carrots, celery)

2-3 Roma tomatoes

1/2 bunch of kale greens

green onions

garlic

lemon juice

salt and pepper

paprika

dashes of dried basil, thyme and oregano

Heat oil in pan. Lightly sauté onion and garlic. Add chopped vegetables and greens and continue to fry for 5-6 minutes. Add quinoa and two cups water (or use broth) and bring to boil. Reduce flame and continue cooking until the quinoa is cooked, about 15-20 minutes. Add more water if necessary.

Rinse and add beans. Season with salt and pepper and other seasoning. Stir and continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes. Makes about 2-3 servings.

Serve warm with some bread. Can also add some cheese if desired.

Mexican Cauliflower Rice with Black Beans

Here’s one more recipe with cauliflower rice that always works…

Ingredients:

2 cups cauliflower rice

1 cup black beans

1 cup corn

3-4 mini tri colored peppers chopped

5-10 mini heirloom tomatoes sliced

some chopped onion

chopped avocado

pickled jalapeno slices

cilantro

salt and pepper

chipotle chilli powder or chilli lime powder

some olive oil

lemon juice

sour cream (optional)

In a pan, add oil and sauté onions, peppers and tomatoes and continuing frying for 4-5 minutes. Add cauliflower rice, season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle some chipotle or chili lime pepper and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Drizzle some lemon juice, sprinkle some cilantro leaves.

Serve warm topped with some avocado and pickled jalapeno. Can also add some sour cream.

Cauliflower rice week

I had picked up a bag of fresh cauliflower rice this week and there were plenty of new and old recipes to try.

First there was spicy southwestern cauliflower rice recipe

Then there was cauliflower rice puttananesca

Then there was stir fried veges with cauliflower rice

All turned out great and perfect for weekday lunch choices!

Cauliflower rice puttanesca

I had some tomato sauce left after using half in zoodles and went looking for a new recipe to try with ingredients I had readily available. I chanced upon this one and it was perfect for that quick lunch on a weekday.

Here’s how I made mine.

Ingredients:

2 cups of fresh organic cauliflower rice

1 cup home made tomato sauce

some fresh green onions

2 cloves minced garlic

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

some crushed red pepper flakes

some fresh basil leaves

Can also add some cheese

Check here for the tomato sauce recipe.

Heat 1-2 tsp oil in a pan. Add sliced green onions and garlic and fry lightly. Add cauliflower rice and fry for 5-6 minutes. Add sauce and continue frying for another 6-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer to a bowl. Toss in pickled olives, capers, pepperoncini, and asparagus. Turned out delicious especially with a side of olive bread and baklava!

Quinoa Kichidi

Every now and then I soak mung beans and make sprouts. I had some left over bamboo shoots and baby corn and I immediately thought about the sprouted mung bean and Thai green curry soup.

While the sprouts take several days, I decided to try a variation of Kichdi for Sunday brunch. Kichdi is usually made with rice and lentils. I have posted a recipe in the past here.

This time around replaced rice with Quinoa. Turned out pretty good.

Quick Lunch Series: Pineapple Cauliflower Rice

I have been wanting to try this recipe for sometime now. It is one of those really quick and easy recipes if you have all the ingredients. This is adapted from here. This is how I made mine.

Ingredients:

1 frozen bag of riced cauliflower
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 small onion chopped
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tsp coconut oil
cashews
cilantro

Seasoning: cumin powder, coriander powder, curry powder, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper

In a pan heat oil. Add onion and garlic and fry lightly. Add cumin, coriander and curry powder and continue to fry for 1-2 minutes. Add riced cauliflower, peas and carrots and continue to fry for 5-6 minutes.

Add pineapple and salt and pepper and mix well. Toss in cashews and mix well. Sprinkle some crushed red pepper (optional)

Season with some cilantro and serve warm