Quinoa Pilaf, Black Beans and Cucumber Tomato Salad with Dill Vinaigrette

Above is the Quinoa Pilaf we made in one of my classes at Conscious Gourmet. It has organic quinoa, carrots, celery, peppers, shallots, and green peas. At home, I decided to add even more color to this already colorful dish by making half regular quinoa and half Inca Red quinoa. The other ingredients I used were the same. I served it with thick and creamy black beans and garnished both with chopped cilantro. In Yucatan, they would call the way I made the beans k'abax -they are half pureed and half whole. The salad has tomatoes and cucumbers with a vinaigrette containing fresh dill, lemon, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Spicy Vegetables with Quinoa

The vegetables are cooked in a low fat Indian-inspired spicy cream sauce and are served with Inca Red Quinoa. The ingredients in the vegetables are:

a small head of cauliflower, 1/2 pound of green beans, small container of mushrooms, a yellow onion, 1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, 15 oz can of garbanzo beans, 2 T tomato paste, 2 cups soy milk, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, paprika, turmeric, salt, pepper, cornstarch and cilantro.

To make the dish, saute the seeds (approx 1/2 teaspoon each of coriander, mustard and cumin seeds) in a small amount of vegetable oil until fragrant. Then add onion and bell peppers and saute until crisp-tender. Then add the rest of the vegetables and a can of rinsed garbanzo beans, saute a bit. Then whisk 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric and a couple of teaspoons of paprika (if it's mild) into approximately 2 cups of lowfat milk or soy milk. Pour the milk mixture into the vegetables. Simmer covered until the vegetables are tender to your preference. Then dissolve 1 or 2 teaspoons of cornstarch or thickener into a tablespoon of water and mix well into the simmering vegetables. Simmer until the sauce has thickened. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped cilantro. (Note: if you use milk instead of soy milk, you may find that it needs a bit of sweetener to balance the spiciness).

The quinoa was cooked separately in vegetable broth until tender, see package directions for ratio of quinoa to liquid. Vegan if use soy milk.

Inca Red Quinoa with Quorn

Pedro and I invented this dish together. Inca Red Quinoa w/ Quorn , tomato, carrot, red onion, garlic and roasted tomatillo salsa. Ovo-Vegetarian.