Quinoa and Red Lentil Daal (slow-cooker)

[tweetmeme source="VeganChickie"]I can never remember the right way to spell daal! Oh well! Today’s recipe is a quinoa and red lentil daal in the slow cooker, you could probably do it in a big pot on the stove if you wanted to easily enough though. My version is quite spicy, so you might want to reduce the chillies if you like things mild. I recommend serving it with some sweet chutney or jam and some crunchy poppadums or warmed taco shells.

Quinoa and Red Lentil Daal

Ingredients:
1/2 tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
3 small red chillies, chopped finely
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped finely (optional)
1 medium leek, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
10 button mushrooms, quartered
1/2 small cauliflower, broken into small florets
3/4 cup red lentils, rinsed
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp hot curry powder
2 tsp cayenne pepper
7 cups of vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh coriander to garnish

Method:
1. Turn the slow cooker onto HIGH and add oil, garlic and leek. Cover and leave for 10 minutes.
2. Add the zucchini, celery, mushrooms, cauliflower, lentils, quinoa, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, thyme, tumeric, cumin, ground coriander, mixed spice, curry powder, cayenne pepper and water. Mix and cover.
3. Heat on high for 4 hours, or on low for 7 – 8 hours

(If you are cooking this in a pan, cover and keep on low heat, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender and vegetables are cooked)

PS: I discovered today that it is entirely impossible to photograph daal and make it look appetising! Impossible I tell you!

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Pineapple Cashew Quinoa Stir-fry (vegan)

There was some contention in the foodie household this evening about this recipe. I loved this dish, it was a lovely, light, tropical meal (perfect for summer!), but the bare-chested chef felt it was a little too sweet. I do generally have quite a sweet tooth so I guess that is why I liked it so much, but I think even if you don’t have too much of a sweet tooth it is still a really great dish, there is such great contrast between the sweetness of the fruit and the spicyness of the chili and the crunch of nuts.. I have to say that I am really loving quinoa at the moment, and the great thing about cheffy not liking it is that I get it for lunch tomorrow!!!

Pineapple Cashew Quinoa Stir-fry
(Veganomicon)

Ingredients:
Quinoa:
1 cup quinoa, well rinsed and drained
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup cold water
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce

Stir-fry:
4 ounces cashews, raw and unsalted
3 tablespoons peanut oil
2 scallions, sliced thinly
1 clove garlic, minced
1 hot red chile, sliced into very thin rounds
1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, rolled and sliced in thin shreds
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
10 ounces fresh pineapple, cut into bite sized chunks
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable stock
1 tablespoon mirin
Lime wedges for garnish

Method:

For the quinoa: Combine the quinoa, juice, water and soy sauce in a medium sized pot. Cover, place over high heat, and bring to a boil. Stir a few times, lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 12 – 14 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa appears plumped and slightly translucent. Uncover, fluff and let cool.

For the stir-fry: Use a large frypan or wok. Have all your ingredients pre-chopped and in reach. Place the cashews in the dry pan and heat over low heat, stirring them, until lightly toasted (4 to 5 minutes).

Remove the cashews from the pan, raise the heat to medium and add the peanut oil, scallions and garlic, when the garlic starts to sizzle, add the sliced chili and ginger.

Stir-fry for about 2 minutes, then add the bell pepper and peas. Stir-fry for another 3 to 4 minutes, until the bell pepper is softened and the peas are bright green.

Add the basil and mint, and stir for another minute before adding the pineapple and quinoa.

Combine the soy sauce, vegetable stock and miri. Pour over the quinoa mixture. Stir until the mixture is coated. Continue to stir-fry for 10 minutes (it helps to use two spoons/spatulas to scoop the quinoa around). Serve with lime wedges.

Anasazi Chili with Quinoa

It is a accepted fact in our household that eventually I will become a vegan. Chef pretends to fear it, claiming I already make his life difficult enough with my food choices, but I know that deep down he is looking forward to the challenge. As part of this progression from Vegetarianism to Veganism, I try to eat a few vegan meals throughout the week at dinner time. Some weeks are more successful than others and this week so far is one of them. Tonights foodie adventure was a good one, another first time attempt of a recipe with a first time ingredient.. tonights feature guest: Quinoa.

According to good old Wikipedia Quinoa “originated in the Andean region of South America, where it has been an important food for 6,000 years. Its name is the Spanish spelling of the Quechua name. Quinoa is generally undemanding and altitude-hardy, so it can be easily cultivated in the Andes up to about 4,000 meters. Even so, it grows best in well-drained soils and requires a relatively long growing season”. I’m not sure why it hasn’t appeared in our ingredient list before, but we were pleasantly surprised with the result. This recipe is another one which we will be coming back for down the track. I must say it did look a little unnerving on the plate at first, like little white worms were enjoying my dinner but once I got passed that I really enjoyed the meal.

Anasazi Chili with Quinoa
(Vegan Planet)

Note: We actually used Adzuki beans instead of Anasazi beans in this one.. just because this is what we had. Also, we generally substitute onion with leek, I prefer the flavor of leek to onion.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons chilli powder (we made our own using chipotle chillies and Ancho chili seeds ground up in the bullet with hot paprika)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 can tomatoes drained and chopped
3 cups cooked anasazi beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups water
4-6 cups freshly cooked quinoa

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and bell peppers, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Add the tomatoes, beans, and water and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and season with salt and pepper if required. Too easy! We serve it with oven warmed taco shells. Just scoop up the chili and quinoa on a broken piece of the taco shell and munch away! Fabulous!