Ingredient cooking challenge, Final week: fresh basil and/or pumpkin
We are going to do an ingredient cooking challenge, starting after the blog recipe cooking challenge is completed. This will be a great opportunity to try some new ingredients, new dishes with ingredients, and just to have fun with cooking, and talking about food. There are 13 weeks/13 ingredients, and the last week will be a surprise challenging ingredient. Try to make dishes that have the ingredient as the star, or one of the main ingredients. Get recipes from books, blogs, wherever! Come back, and talk about them.
Feel free to discuss where you've found your ingredients. Some things might be harder to find in certain areas.
1. okra (Jan.25-31) (look in fresh produce, frozen)
2. quinoa (Feb. 1-7) (look with grains, bulk bins, "health" food)
3. kale (Feb. 8-14) (look in fresh produce)
4. plantains (Feb. 15-21) (look in fresh produce, ethnic markets)
5. avocado (Feb. 22-28) (look in fresh produce)
6. edamame (Mar. 1-7) (look in frozen)
7. jackfruit (Mar. 8-14) (look in ethnic aisles, markets)
8. barley (Mar. 15-21) (look in grains, bulk bins)
9. wild mushrooms (Mar. 22-28) (look in fresh produce, spices (or wherever dried mushrooms can be found)
10. collard greens (Mar. 29-Apr. 4) (look in fresh produce)
11. tarragon (Apr. 5-11) (look in fresh produce, spice aisle, bulk bins)
12. nuts and seeds (Apr 12-18)
13. basil and/or pumpkin (Apr. 19-26)
Those do look nice, amy.
I'm making kmouse's enchiladas (or casserole) today! Excited.
This ingredient cooking challenge was the gentle nudge I needed to try out a recipe with my bag of bulk quinoa. I kept it simple, and made the Indian Spiced Supergrain Cereal in Radiant Health, Inner Wealth instead of the usual oatmeal. This hot cereal combines quinoa, amaranth, with ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla and is sweetened with maple syrup. I used a teaspoon, instead of a tablespoon, of maple syrup. A splash of apple juice complemented the flavors nicely.
I've been wanting to make this as well. Thanks for the reminder!
I also want to make my quinoa beet salad with sesame miso dressing because my bf loves it and hasn't had it in ages. But I don't have quinoa. I saw it at a store and it seemed way more expensive than I was used to it being so I figured I'd try to find it cheaper at a different store. Well I went to 3 different stores yesterday and couldn't find any. I guess I'll have to spring for the pricey stuff.
I already reviewed this under the recipe, but...
Kmouse's quinoa veggie bean enchilada (casserole): Yum, yum, yum!!! I've wanted to make this for a while, because of all those great kmouse photos. I now know why it's one of your staples! It did it casserole style, didn't have zucchini, used rotel for the tomatoes, canned corn, and enchilada sauce. I also added some black olives to the top. I sadly couldn't enjoy the vegenaise drizzle, because I only had some gross nayonaise, and didn't want to ruin the dish. I did make some, but couldn't even taste it. I added FYH monterey to the top. Very tasty!
Pictures again:
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs239.snc3/22663_457757860532_507120532_11077446_5843558_n.jpg
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs239.snc3/22663_457757880532_507120532_11077447_6860232_n.jpg
Yummy AC those look good :)
I made the Sweet Potato Ginger Quinoa Cakes from a vegweb recipe.
-Eh, nothing to get excited about. I couldn't taste the sweet potato with all the ginger in there and the quinoa didn't stand out, though it did make the cakes more satiating. I made my own creamy cilantro-lime-chili dressing/dip for them and all the flavors together were a bit overboard.
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss15/erthfemme/003-3.jpg
Served with vwav's garlicy (collards)kale and tahini dressing - which ruled.
I did try some breakfast quinoa too this week and it was yummy. Of course I put lots of agave on there and blueberries and a little PB.
Digging the quinoa, going to have to buy some in bulk from the co-op!
I went to a store today where I KNEW they'd have quinoa and they were all OUT! I guess I have to wait until Monday...
I sprout them...
or if cooked add cashews, tahini and pineapple. YUM
Almond-Quinoa Muffins in Veganomicon: I was pleasantly surprised by the delicate balance of ingredients-agave, almond meal, cinnamon, cardamom, flaxseeds, quinoa-in this moist muffin. I folded a dried fruit mix of apricot, pineapple and coconut into the batter since I didn't have any dried apricots or currants. Even without any dried fruit this would be a great muffin. Healthy. Hearty. Filling. Not overly sweet. Rose nicely.
Great idea from Saskia!!!
Almond quinoa muffins
-I can't adequately review these muffins, because I didn't have any dried fruit to add. I wasn't sure if the quinoa was supposed to be cold, but I prepared some specifically for this, so it was still warm. I used about 1/8 cup agave, plus some raw sugar (not enough), so they weren't quite sweet enough. I ground my own almonds (is that the same?), and added some slivered to the top. I also added almond extract, and coconut extract, plus some shredded coconut. I was disappointed that I didn't sense any "crunch" from the quinoa, or really notice that it was there...maybe it needs to be cold? I love the idea of these, and really should try them with the fruit. Oh, I had to add an extra splash of soymilk, and was afraid about the batter, but the muffins rose very nicely, and looked great.
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs239.snc3/22663_461394360532_507120532_11097874_5093838_n.jpg
I'm really enjoying the challenge so far! I've loved using quinoa more.
I made a very nice quinoa salad with black beans and mango, using the recipe from Veganomicon. I've made similar recipes and this one is quite good. I used only 1/2 cup of scallions as I thought a full cup would be too much. Maybe next time some fresh jalapeno's for added spice would be good.
I made a warm salad with mixed beans and spinach, just a simple dressing. I just bought some last week so its nice to get some new ideas.
Great idea from Saskia!!!
Almond quinoa muffins
-I can't adequately review these muffins, because I didn't have any dried fruit to add. I wasn't sure if the quinoa was supposed to be cold, but I prepared some specifically for this, so it was still warm. I used about 1/8 cup agave, plus some raw sugar (not enough), so they weren't quite sweet enough. I ground my own almonds (is that the same?), and added some slivered to the top. I also added almond extract, and coconut extract, plus some shredded coconut. I was disappointed that I didn't sense any "crunch" from the quinoa, or really notice that it was there...maybe it needs to be cold? I love the idea of these, and really should try them with the fruit. Oh, I had to add an extra splash of soymilk, and was afraid about the batter, but the muffins rose very nicely, and looked great.
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs239.snc3/22663_461394360532_507120532_11097874_5093838_n.jpg
I'm really enjoying the challenge so far! I've loved using quinoa more.
Those muffins look great, AC! Thanks for launching the quinoa challenge. I might not have discovered how to revolutionize my baking with quinoa. I did wait for my quinoa to cool. My muffins didn't have a noticeable quinoa crunch but more a subtle taste, which I liked. So much that I decided to try another muffin recipe with the leftover quinoa.
Quinoa Raisin Muffins from 500 Vegan Recipes: Not your traditional muffin but very, very good. This meal muffin is packed with protein and peanut buttery goodness. Tastes like a chai-spiced peanut butter cookie in muffin form. Dense, sweet, moist with touches of vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg and sweet plump raisins.
Batter is thick. I scooped it evenly into muffin tins with an ice cream scooper. Muffins only rose a little. Only problem with this recipe is that I don't know why the author didn't put "peanut butter" in the title since it's the dominant ingredient. Overwhelms the quinoa. But I'm not complaining though because I just really love peanut butter.
Here's the pic.....
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs123.snc3/17037_1235106716622_1197836956_30566528_1161911_n.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/11vpr9j.jpg
I made quesadillas last night and actually remebered to take a picture of them. I served them over a bead of lettuce, rice, black beans and QUINOA. Yummy...they weren't from a recipe, just tortillas with a cheezy sauce http://sweetvegannectar.blogspot.com/2010/01/grilled-cheese.html
in them...that was about it....I cooked the quinoa in veggie broth and that made it a little more tasty....I'm cooking my first breakfast quinoa upstairs right now...I'm excited!
Tweety-that looks good!
thanks AC, I just tried to fix it and repost it...hopefully its working now? ((someday I will be able to do this whole posting thing right I swear!!!))
It's working! I'm going to switch over to kale, but I think I'm going to make those quinoa burgers today.
yay! Kale here we come!
For my last quinoa recipe, I made the molasses quinoa burgers that berryraw posted about. I used chili beans, instead of black, and the whole jalapeno (P thought they were SPICY), but otherwise followed the recipe. I think it would have been better for me to mash the beans with a masher first, then mix in all the other stuff. The flavor of these is great (maybe a little more salt), and I love the quinoa in them, but mine did fall apart. They formed really well, and even flipped well, but they were falling apart by the time they were browned. Oh, and I even added some panko to the mixture. I really enjoyed them, though.
Cool! AC made the burgers! I had the same trouble with them coming apart. Everyone's quinoa pics look tasty. ;)b
On to Kale!
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss15/erthfemme/006-3.jpg
Wilted Kale Salad with Creamy Chipotle Dressing from http://veganguineapig.blogspot.com/2008/10/wilted-kale-salad-with-creamy-chipotle.html
-This is pretty good though it wasn't spicy enough for me and could use a little garlic. I used less oil than called for and hemp seed instead of sunflower seeds. I do like the creaminess and it's nice to have a raw kale salad (as opposed to cooked kale) now and again.
I stuck with Veganomicon and made kale and potato enchiladas.....sounds weird but it works very well. Nice and spicy. Nothing to drool over, but good.
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs123.snc3/17037_1236687476140_1197836956_30569892_8024862_n.jpg
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