Tag Archives: vegetarian

Quinoa Pilaf

6 Jun

I have never heard of quinoa until I met Diane Carlson a few years back. Diane is the wonderful chef behind the Conscious Gourmet culinary retreats and one of the founders of the Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC.

I took one of these culinary retreats once when they were still offered in Florida and it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. I still carry with me recipes and friendships from that retreat. And at that retreat was where I learned I could use a blog to share my recipes with all of you. So many good things came about from that retreat. I am thankful…

But this is not my recipe… This quinoa recipe is Diane’s recipe that has become my way of making quinoa ever since. I have made some tweaks to it by all the times I have made it, but I can’t take full credit for it. Diane taught me how to make quinoa and she should get the credit.

Now quinoa is all the rage. I hear its super popular way west in California. And us at the yoga center make it a lot too. The first time I bought quinoa was at Whole Foods right after finishing the retreat because I thought I would not be able to find it here in Puerto Rico. Now, I can buy it at Costco in 3 lbs bags. How things change, no??

QUINOA PILAF

1 cup quinoa, rinsed under cold water and drained well
1 ¾ cup vegetable broth
½ tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 carrot, peeled and cut into very small pieces
1 rib of celery, chopped finely
½ red bell pepper, chopped finely
½ green bell pepper, chopped finely
½ cup peas, frozen works fine
Salt and Pepper to taste
¼ cup of chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
  1. In a large pot, toast quinoa over medium-hi heat. Stir it occasionally until the grain is nearly dry. Then, stir constantly about 5 minutes more until it browns evenly and gets a nutty fragrance.
  2. Add the vegetable broth to the pot of quinoa. Add ½ tsp of salt and bring the pot to a boil. Once it starts boiling, lower the heat to simmer, cover and cook until quinoa is tender. That will take about 15-20 minutes.
  3. In the meantime, in a large skillet over medium-hi heat add the olive oil and the onions. When the onions have softened a bit, add the carrots and cook for a few more minutes. Add the celery, peppers and peas. Sauté for a few minutes until veggies are cooked tender but still somewhat crisp.
  4. By now the quinoa will be cooked. Add the vegetables to the pot of quinoa and mix well. Stir in parsley. Serve immediately.

I love making quinoa because it’s a grain full of protein and nutrients and it’s very easy to make. This is the basic pilaf recipe I learned to make, but I have made this with many other combinations of veggies. Just like rice, it’s a great vehicle to use those little odds and ends you have in your fridge… go crazy and tell me what’s your favorite combination.

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Veggie Bites of Wisdom #3

5 Jun

“A mind of the caliber of mine cannot derive its nutriment from cows.”

~George Bernard Shaw

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Adelia’s Roasted Pepper Hummus

4 Jun

Adelia was one of our hostesses during our trip to Paraguay. She is the wife of Chingolo and they have been members of our Devanand Yoga group since they lived in NYC many years ago. They moved back to their beloved Coronel Oviedo where they have several businesses including the hotel where we stayed at and they help run the Devanand Yoga Center of Coronel Oviedo too.

Adelia is one of the most welcoming people I know. She was always fixing something up for us to eat. Her kitchen may not that large, but her heart and love for cooking is immense. And she loves sharing how easy her recipes are, so we spend the better part of the two weeks we were in Paraguay exchanging recipes, or better said, she sharing and me writing her recipes so we would be able to replicate here in Puerto Rico.

One of the little treats she had for us one day was this hummus recipe… I tasted something peculiar, something I had tasted before, but I just couldn’t place in a hummus recipe. What is it Adelia??? “Oh, I just like to add some olives to my hummus recipe.” I ate this hummus every day until we finished it. I even had it for breakfast once… it is that good.

ADELIA’S ROASTED PEPPER HUMMUS

2 cans organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed well with filtered water
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
The juice of 2 limes
1 large roasted red pepper, I use the jarred kind
5 green olives, pitted or with pimiento
About 1/2 cup of olive oil – enough to make the mixture as creamy as possible
2 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ cup of water, optional
1 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
  1. Place chickpeas, cheese, garlic, lime juice, roasted pepper, olives, salt, pepper, paprika and some of the olive oil in a food processor.
  2. Process until the mixture is creamy. If the mixture looks mealy and not creamy as it should be, add the water and a bit more olive oil in small increments until you reach the creamy texture you seek.

The roasted peppers add a nice sweetness and the olives add an extra layer of saltiness that gives this hummus a different character. Let me know what you think of it.

We had this with rice crackers for a gluten-free alternative to pita chips or bread.

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Brown Rice with Corn – Quickie Version

1 Jun

Arroz con Maíz, or Rice with Corn, is a very typical Puerto Rican dish. My granddad loved it very much… it was something my grandma would fix for the family quite often.

The traditional way to make it is to cook the rice with tomato sauce, sofrito and the corn, all together. It’s traditionally made in a “caldero” or large pot, but as you know me, I can make it in a rice cooker. My grad school roommate, Michelle, was a big fan of my Arroz con Maíz. I used to make it for her and leave it in the rice cooker for her to eat when she was back from classes in the afternoon.

And even though making rice in a rice cooker is fairly simple… sometimes I don’t plan too much ahead to make food. I tend to go with what I am craving at the moment. For that same reason, I have developed a method to get almost the same flavors of the traditional Arroz con Maíz but in a quick easy way using left-over rice.

Brown Rice, as easy as it is to make in a rice cooker, it just takes time. It’s not something that you just pull together as easy as boiling some pasta or making a sandwich. To me, it’s very easy to just make a cup or two of plain brown rice in the morning, right after I am done with breakfast, and then by lunch time figure out what I can have with it. Sometimes I have made a quick stir-fry, sometimes I stuff some peppers… sometimes I make this quick Brown Rice with Corn recipe.

BROWN RICE with CORN – QUICKIE VERSION

2 cups of cooked brown rice
½ medium yellow onion, diced
1 tsp sofrito
1 cup frozen corn kernels
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Garlic Salt – optional
  1. In a large skillet over medium heat, drizzle a small amount of olive oil and add the sofrito and diced onions. Cook the onions for a few minutes until they begin to soften.
  2. Add the frozen corn kernels… no need to thaw then first. Just add them straight from the bag. Mix well with the onions so the corn cooks and the flavors mix. Season with salt and pepper, or the garlic salt if using. If you have a lid, cover the skillet and let the corn cook for a few minutes.

3.  Add the cooked rice to the skillet. Mix well and cover again. The steam in the skillet will soften the rice again if it’s hardened from being in the fridge. Allow cooking for a couple of minutes and turn the stove off and leave it there for the residual heat to finish heating the rice, making it fluffy again.

You’re done… now this is the perfect accompaniment to your favorite main course. I personally like to have it AS THE main course with a drizzle of ketchup on top and a salad on the side. Some sweet plantains or even some tostones – plantain or breadfruit – would work well with this too.

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The Shape of Foods Help our Organs?? – FIGS

30 May

This is part of a series on how our food can help certain organs that resemble their same shape. I already shared with you how the following foods benefit these organs:

Carrots – Eyes

Tomatoes – Heart

Grapes – Heart

Walnuts – Brain

Celery, Rhubarn, Bok Choy – Bones

Beans – Kidneys

Sweet Potatoes – Pancreas

Eggplant, Pear and Avocados – women organs and issues

After discussing women issues… the guys can’t be left behind. Apparently, figs resemble the male testicles, therefore they seem to be beneficial in the production of male sperm.

Photo Courtesy of Meeta @ http://whatsforlunchhoney.net

Figs are also very effective at increasing libido in both males and females due to the high levels of amino acids, which play a vital role in normal sexual function. The fig is said to also increase sexual stamina. See? Who needs oysters when we have figs??

On a less sexual note, figs are a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps to control blood pressure. Figs, like other high fiber foods, are also helpful to manage weight and the leaves of the fig have repeatedly been shown to have anti-diabetic properties and can actually reduce the amount of insulin needed by persons with diabetes who require insulin injections. Fig leaves have also been shown to lower levels of triglycerides.

I have discovered using figs in my cooking just recently. Before, my fig intake came from Fig Newton cookies. Now I can also enjoy them in:

Spinach, Figs and Blue Cheese Salad

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