One Pot Meal: Spicy Quinoa with Chorizo

Okay, so I dirtied two pots for this one despite the title, but it was still a quick and easy complete meal in a bowl.  You might be wondering if I ditched the whole no animal products thing after reading the title of this post.  While I did not use actual delicious and amazing authentic pork chorizo, I did find this little gem at Whole Foods: Mexican Chipotle Grain Meat Sausages by Field Roast.  Does that sound disgusting to you?  While it was definitely delicious, I completely understand should you choose to make this dish with authentic Mexican chorizo instead.

But wait!  Do you know about quinoa?  Did you just say "kwin-oh-ah" to yourself when you read it?  It's okay, Jeremy did too at first.  Of course I totally got it right the first try, duh...  It's "keen-wa".  Keen!  If you are totally keen on quinoa, you should definitely use it in Stuffed Acorn Squash.  If not, the recipe below is a pretty sweet introduction.

Quinoa is an ancient grain that was a staple part of the Inca diet.  (See how I'm totally using my Latin American Studies degree while blogging?!)  I read that on the box.  Here's some awesome stats on this awesome grain:

• It's a complete protein in and of itself.  Take that, rice and beans.
• It's got a nice little "pop" to it when you bite in that gives it a satisfying, toothsome feel.
• The germ (not like cooties, but like the part that will help it germinate, silly) is this little light yellow tail thing that swirls around the grain to make each one look like a miniature Saturn.  Trippy.
• Like couscous, it cooks really quickly and is almost fool proof to make.  But it's better for you than couscous, so try using quinoa in your next recipe that calls for couscous.  Look how smart you are.
• It's delicious!  Did you really need all those other reasons?

Ingredients
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup quinoa
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup jarred or homemade salsa verde
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 small onion, chopped
2 links meat free chorizo "sausage"
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

This dish was born out of a need for a comforting bowl of something hot and full of protein, lack of groceries, and a special ingredient that provided inspiration.  I was looking for a quick fix, but if you have more time on your hands, definitely toss in whatever veggies you might have on hand or some chopped garlic to saute with the onions for an added flavor and nutritional boost.

Directions
Cook the quinoa in the vegetable broth (instead of water) according to package directions.  While that's working, lightly coat the bottom a heavy bottomed pot with the olive oil and saute the onions on medium heat until they become translucent.  Crumble in the chorizo, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and incorporating it into the onions.  The bottom of the pot is probably starting to get little browned bits sticking to it.  You want this.  Wait until you have a good amount of browning going on (but watch to make sure it's not burning) and add in the white wine.  Make sure to use the wine and the steam it's putting off to help you scrub up and incorporate all those yummy brown bits into your mixture.

Sauteed onion, "chorizo", white wine and salsa verde.

Check your quinoa.  If it has absorbed all the liquid, dump it in the pot with your spicy onion goodness.  If not, keep it simmering until the grains are fluffy and the liquid is absorbed, but be sure to watch your onion mixture to make sure it doesn't start to brown again after the wine has evaporated.  If it does, just add in a little water to get those brown bits up again.

Cooked quinoa before combining with onion mixture.

Once you've combined your quinoa with your onion mixture, stir in the salsa verde and fold in the frozen peas.  Don't worry- they'll defrost quickly but still maintain their fresh sweetness and refreshing pop.  Ta-da!  You're all set for dinner.  Scoop out a serving into a bowl and garnish with a sour cream alternative (or plain greek yogurt if you eat it), hot sauce and cilantro if you like.

I can't wait to make something with cinnamon and watch The Family Stone soon.  I'm thinking that definitely needs to happen sometime this week because I can't stop thinking about it.  Now that the time change has happened and it's dark when I get home, I am all about transitioning into holiday mode.  Break out the crafting gear and mulling spices!

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Ecto Cooler, Anyone?

Ello, Poppet.

I have a confession, if you will.  While once I was a carnivorous, wild beast of a cook, feasting on delicious animal fats and hearty meat, cheese, and eggs (evidence here)... those days are gone.  At least for a little while.  Fear not omnivorous friends!  I'll continue to post recipes that can have meat, cheese, eggs, or what have you added to them.  But for my health's sake, I've decided to go with a largely meat and dairy free diet for a bit.  (I won't freak out if some animal product slips in unknowingly or in a pinch).

I'm not here to tell you that you should do the same either.  It's purely a personal choice, and the way I've been enjoying eating for almost a month now.  It's nice sometimes to step out of one's comfort zone and do something you thought you never (literally NEVER) thought you would or could do.  So when you see recipes on this site that use Earth Balance (a vegan butter substitute), or vegan "cheese," please feel free to substitute the real deal.  You'll also see some interesting ingredients you might not eat as a part of your regular diet- don't be afraid!  In the past three weeks I have discovered that chia seeds, hemp seeds, sea vegetables, and nutritional yeast are awesome additions to any diet and any chef's pantry.  Check out the links for more information on these power foods.

Have I lost you yet?  Leaping lizards, you're still here?!  Then let me tell you about my breakfast obsession.  It's big, green, and it's ALIVE!  Have you heard of the craze over green smoothies?  Google it.  It's rampant.  And no wonder!  Did you know that you can shove handfuls of greens like spinach and even kale into your fruit smoothie and not even TASTE IT?!  It's true.  The smoothie I made this morning was one of my favorites so far.  Behold:  The Ecto Cooler...

Okay, so it's not the ectoplasmic mucus that Slimer leaves behind in Ghostbusters, but remember that Hi-C juice box?!

Ingredients
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 ripe fresh or frozen banana
1/3 cup frozen raspberries
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 Tbsp nut butter (I used almond)
1 cup cold water
Ice cubes (optional)

Combine all ingredients except ice in blender.  Blend the heck out of it until it looks like the delicious slime above.  Add ice to thicken if needed and blend again.  This makes about a 24 oz. smoothie, or one serving.


Just in time for Halloween, this concoction looks disgusting, sounds scary, but tastes amazing and gives me enough energy that I don't even need my morning coffee!  Adding a healthy fat like almond butter, ground flax seeds, or hemp seeds gives it staying powder to hold off your appetite until lunchtime.  I have had a variation of this smoothie every single morning for the past three weeks, and I'm just getting started.  The key is to raid the frozen fruit section of your local Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, and you're always ready for a new combination.

Have you ever tried to go vegetarian/vegan/primal/paleo/etc?  
How did it go?

Asian Crunchberries

 

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Whoa!  Guess what?  I'm back.



Blogging takes a good deal of time and effort.  It's just the nature of the beast.  I can't tell you how many pictures of food I have on my phone from days that I almost got it together enough to share what I'd been up to.  I definitely missed it, and I'm so glad to be back!  But enough talk.  Let's cook!  Wheat berries. Yes, let's cook wheat berries.  I promise it's tasty. 

 This is one of those complete accident dishes that I'll totally do on purpose again soon.  I had just bought my very first pack of rice wraps so I could try my hand at fresh spring rolls.  Gotta get those veggies in.  After literally turning my kitchen upside down and having a mini meltdown when I wasn't able to find them, I was in a funk.  Seriously pouting.  I'd already chopped up a nice array of radishes, yellow bell pepper, cucumber, carrots and avocado into neat little matchsticks and slices and now my beautiful avocado was just doomed to turn brown.  In comes red wheat berries to save the day!  I'd been boiling the heck out of these babies for the last hour or so on the stove to add to salads and wraps during the week.  I'd had them once in a salad at Panera and have wanted to try them since.  They are a really affordable (bulk bin fun), delicious and chewy way to seem like your totes in the know and healthy chic. 

Because I made this in a frenzy of needing to use ingredients, needing Asian flavors (okay wanting), and needing to eat soon, this recipe is going to have a lot of approximations.  Don't let this stop you.  Make your own version and taste and season as you go, fair lad or lassie.  I promise you can't screw this one up even if you were born with hands like Edward Scissorhands.

Ingredients

4 large radishes, diced

1 1/2 cups cooked wheat berries (hard red variety)

1 large or 2 small avocados, diced

2 large carrots, diced or shaved with vegetable peeler

1/2 large cucumber, seeded and diced

handful fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

two handfuls dry roasted peanuts, roughly crushed

2 whole chopped green onions, white and green parts

1 large yellow or orange bell pepper

Dressing

1 T toasted sesame oil

juice of 2 limes

2 T tamari or soy sauce (or to taste)

1 T rice wine vinegar

Dash of Sriracha
2 t brown rice syrup or maple syrup

Generous sprinkling of dulse flakes (dried seaweed)

 You can either make the salad and the dressing separately using the ingredients listed above and then combine, or if you're totally into winging it like I did, you can toss all the salad ingredients together, and then season according to taste with the individual ingredients listed above.  Keep tossing stuff in there until it tastes good.  Chill in the fridge until you're ready to eat or serve it.  I'm a sucker for anything that has a bunch of crunch and tangy flavor, and this has it all.  Are you totally weirded out that I have seaweed in my cabinet?!  Me too.  You can enjoy this salad chilled over a bed of lettuce, on its own, or wrapped up in a ginormous collard green leaf like I did for lunch today.  It doesn't get soggy like a tortilla and gives it a lot of eye appeal.  It's totally easy to be a collard burrito pro - check out this sweet tutorial for a leak free and oh-so-chic wrapper.

You could totally throw almost any vegetable in your fridge into the mix here.  The rules are there ain't no rules!  What was your last successful kitchen accident?  Do tell.

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Spice up your Breakfast, Baby.

This is just something I make.  Is it gorgeous?  No.  Fancy?  No.  It is easy, quick, scrumptious and satisfying.  A good way to start out this gorgeous day.  I like to call it a breakfast chalupa.
A great friend of mine is getting married today, and I am so excited for her and her husband-to-be.  If I plan on dancing my socks off tonight, I better eat hearty this morning.

I made my breakfast chalupa pretty substantial today since I slept in on this Saturday morning, but it would work just as well if not better with a smaller tortilla and just one egg instead of two.  We'll call that a weekday breakfast chalupa.

In a medium or large saute pan, melt a teaspoon or so of butter on medium heat before cracking two large eggs into the pan.  Cook the eggs until the whites turn opaque, then top the eggs with shredded cheese while they are still in the pan.  I used Seriously Sharp White Cheddar by Cabot.  Toss a tortilla on top of this mess and press gently.  Let it sit and cook this way until the whole thing adheres together, about one minute.

Here comes the tricky part.  With the biggest spatula you have, scoot the spatula under this conglomeration, trying the best you can to get it under any cheese or stray egg pieces that may be hiding under your tortilla.

Get ready...

FLIP!  It doesn't matter if it's ugly.  Now top your creation with a bit more cheese if you like, and a generous portion of salsa.  I like a spicier salsa with my eggs.  Sometimes I like just straight up hot sauce, especially if I am making a weekday version of this.  Salsa verde is a great choice with this, as would be a roasted tomato salsa.  But for our purposes this morning, ChiChi's medium salsa is what I had in the fridge.  This is Saturday morning, folks.  We're not fancy.  Let this cook awhile until the cheese between the eggs and tortilla gets all melty.  I don't like to cook mine terribly long because I like the yolks to still be a little runny.  Saucy!

Now you're ready to fold it like an omelet.  If you're lucky, little pieces of cheese or egg or salsa have escaped and smeared themselves onto the outside of your tortilla.  This makes for browned crusty goodness.  This is a good thing.

Let it brown a little (maybe half a minute) before flipping to the other side and doing the same.  Slide that baby out of the pan onto a plate.  If you have some sour cream or greek yogurt, now would be a good time to get that out and add a dollop to the top of this mess with some fresh cilantro.  I don't have either, so I ate mine straight up with black coffee.

Let's get this day started!
Get me my dancing shoes.









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