Ham Asparagus & Swiss Quinoa Quiche

This week I was lucky to come across quinoa flour at the Leduc Bulk Barn!  No more lame attempts to grind whole quinoa in the food processor!!

I was going to do some baking with the quinoa flour this afternoon, but opted to go out for a pedicure instead.  When I got home, I flipped thru my faveski cook book Quinoa 365 and got some inspiration from their recipe titled "Vegetable Cheddar Quiche" - I used different flavours and ingredients based on what I had in the fridge, and what came out was awesome!!  The funny thing about quinoa is that it stinks before you cook it, then turns into something completely different after baking (at least that's what I've noticed with all my quinoa baking recipes).

Anyways, check out this quiche - something that you could totally fool around with and use your fave flavours - the crust is really unique - it's rich and buttery, but a bit crumbly around the edges. 

Ham Asparagus & Swiss Quinoa Quiche
Crust Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup butter, melted & slightly cooled
1 tbsp water

Filling Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cup chopped asparagus (discard woody ends)
3 shallots, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 cup grated swiss cheese
1/2 cup shaved Black Forest ham, chopped into "ribbons"
5 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp quinoa flour
1 tbsp dijon mustard
salt & pepper

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter in microwave for about 30 seconds and let cool slightly.  Add quinoa flour and mix well.  Add the water and form a little dough ball.  Grease a 9 inch baking dish with butter and press the dough into the dish, then set aside.

In a medium frying pan, melt butter and saute shallots, garlic & asparagus until tender, about 7-8 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, dijon, salt & pepper, making sure that there are no little flour balls floating around.  Fold in the cheese.

Once the vegetables are tender, remove from heat and layer in the prepared pie crust.  Sprinkle with the shredded ham then top with the egg/cheese mixture.

Put into the oven and bake for 45 minutes.  When time is up, remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Refrigerate leftovers and enjoy for brunch the next day or pack up in a lunch. 

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Carrying on with the theme of pre-planning meals, here's an easy recipe that utilizes left-over (or reserved!) pasta sauce and pre-cooked quinoa.  These stuffed peppers are easy to assemble, super healthy and freeze awesomely for quick lunches during the week!

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients:
1 cup pasta sauce
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/3 cup crumbled feta
1/3 cup chopped green and/or red peppers
3 large green bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
2 tbsp Italian breadcrumbs
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup water


Method:
Preheat oven to 400degrees.  Line a deep baking dish with tin-foil and set aside.  Line up the peppers, cut side up and ready to be stuffed.

In a large bowl, combine pasta sauce, quinoa, feta and chopped peppers.  Distribute evenly between the 6 halves.

In a little bowl, combine the breadcrumbs and parm; sprinkle on top of each of the peppers, pressing into the stuffing with your fingers.

Carefully add the water into the dish - this helps "steam" the peppers as they're cooking.  Shove into the oven and bake for about 25 minutes. 

This gives you softened peppers, but doesn't cook the crap out of them - they will still appear green!  I remember my mom making stuffed peppers and they would practically be grey b/c she cooked them for like a hundred hours!!  Anyways, if it's your preference, cook longer for softer pepper shells!

Spicy Shrimp Quinoa Bowl

Do you ever get home after work and want a healthy dinner but don't really feel like cooking?  Here's a strategy I have been using lately: cook a larger than normal batch of quinoa at the beginning of the week and you'll be half-way there to a healthy dinner like this quinoa bowl!  Or, sprinkle it into salads for a boost to your lunch salads!

Spicy Shrimp Quinoa Bowl
Ingredients:
1/2 lb raw shrimp
1 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (cooked in chicken broth)
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic (about 2 large cloves)
1 tsp sriracha chili sauce
1/2 cup frozen or fresh peas
1/4 cup diced red pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp agave syrup

Method:
Get everything ready before you start cooking: grate your ginger, mince your garlic, chop the red pepper and cilantro and set aside.  In a medium sized non-stick skillet or wok, heat sesame oil and add the shrimp.  Cook for 4-5 minutes and add the garlic, ginger and sriracha.

Continue cooking until bubbly.

Add the peas, pepper and cilantro and stir-fry for a couple minutes, until peas are heated through.

Serve on top of warmed quinoa and dinner is served!!

Banana Chocolate Chunk Quinoa Cookies

Last night I was trying to explain the health benefits of quinoa to the seven year old... while he was marginally okay with eating quinoa in a main course, I'm not going to lie - it took a lot of soy sauce to get him there!  So I told him that I also had to ease into liking quinoa, and how bout I bake it into something for him instead - like in something like a breakfast cookie...  Cookies for breakfast??  Yep, that got his attention!! 

So I combined a couple of recipes that I've already busted out (Healthy Craisin Quinoa Cookies and Banana Chip Breakfast Cookies) and came up something new!  These suckers are not only packed with quinoa, but they have super moist and sweet bananas, whole wheat flour, bran, tons of oats and I decided to chuck a bunch of chocolate in there too!  These turned out really moist and almost cake-like in texture.  Super nom.

Banana Chocolate Chunk Quinoa Cookies
Ingredients:
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup quinoa

1 cup butter
1 cup golden yellow sugar
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat bran
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Method:
Get the quinoa going: in a small saucepan, combine the water and quinoa and bring to a boil over high heat.  Lower heat, put a lid on it and simmer for 10 minutes.  Keep the lid on, and keep that pot on the burner for another 6 minutes, then remove from heat, take off the lid and fluff with a fork.  Set aside to cool and be ready for the cookies!

Preheat the oven to 350degrees.  Line cookies sheets with parchment paper and set aside.  In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter and the sugar.  Using an electric mixer, beat in the eggs and vanilla, then mix in the bananas.

In a large bowl, combine all of the dried ingredients.  Slowly add the wet ingredients and blend well with a wooden spoon.  Add the quinoa and continue mixing.

Add the chocolate chips and you're ready to start making your cookies! Using two teaspoons, drop the batter onto the parchment - you can flatten slightly, but you don't really need to b/c these cookies fluff up and rise, but still spread out a bit.

Bake one sheet at a time in the centre of the oven, for about 13 minutes.  Keep a watch on that first sheet because all of the sugar in the bananas could mean quick burnt cookies if you're not careful!

Wasabi Salmon with Asian Flavoured Citrus Quinoa Salad

Today my love came home from nearly a week in Arizona without me.  I'm not going to lie and say I didn't enjoy having the place to myself, but I sure did miss him while he was gone!!  After catching up and checking out all the prezzies he brought back, I cooked up a quick healthy meal for us:

Wasabi Salmon with Asian Flavoured Citrus Quinoa Salad
Salmon Ingredients:
2 salmon filets
1 clove garlic
1 1" piece of ginger, grated
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp wasabi paste
olive oil

Quinoa Salad Ingredients:
3/4 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cup water
1 red pepper, chopped into about 1cm pieces
1 mango, peeled and chopped into about 1cm pieces
1 large shallot, chopped finely
3 ribs celery, chopped finely
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1" piece fresh ginger, finely grated
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp agave nectar
1/4 tsp orange zest

Method:
Get your quinoa going in the usual way; bring quinoa and water to a boil in a small saucepan.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat, take lid off and fluff with fork. 

Make the wasabi mayo by combining the mayonnaise, wasabi paste, ginger and garlic.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 450degrees.  Heat your baking dish in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Rub the garlic, ginger, salt & pepper into the salmon filets.  Place in the pre-heated baking dish and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake for 15 minutes.

What the fish is baking, chop your veg and make your vinagrette.  Combine with the cooled quinoa and vinagrette.  Set aside.

When the fish comes out of the oven, plate your dinner: a big scoop of the quinoa salad, place the salmon filet on top and then top with a dollop of the wasabi mayo.  All the flavours together: NOM.

Baked Basil Chicken & Caprese Quinoa

This has been a great week!!  It's been busy, but totally worth it!!  One cool thing is that Dose Coffee downtown on Ross Street actually served one of my blog recipes yesterday as their  lunch specials!!  I ate it and it was delicious - couldn't have cooked it any better myself!!  If you're downtown, head in (they're on the top floor of Sunworks) for some of their delicious coffee, lunches or pastries - they are even open on Sundays, which is a complete shocker for this damn town, but hopefully their success will show the other businesses downtown that it's worth it to open their doors on Sundays - yeah! Let's rock out downtown Red Deer!!!

Sadly, Scotties is over tomorrow :(   Erin and I have met lots of fun new (ha ha  -old) friends and we've realized that we are both pretty awesome ambassodors of Red Deer!!  On Wednesday night, we enjoyed the Italian BLT's and was left with some basil spread; I saved it and used it for dinner on Thursday - check it out:

Baked Basil Chicken & Caprese Quinoa
Basil Chicken Ingredients:
4 organic chicken breasts
3-4 tbsp basil spread (leftover from the Italian BLT's)
non-stick cooking spray

Caprese Quinoa Ingredients:
3/4 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup bocconcin, shredded or chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, sliced thin into ribbons
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
fresh cracked salt & pepper

Method:
In a small pot, combine the water and quinoa and bring to a boil over high heat.  Lower heat, cover and simmer for about 18 minutes, until all of the water is absorbed.  Remove from heat, get rid of the lid, fluff with a fork and leave to "cool" slightly.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400degrees.  Spray a  baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Arrange the chicken breasts in the dish, then baste with the basil spread.   Chuck in the oven for about 25 minutes. 

While the chicken & quinoa are cooking, chop the romas, bocconcini and basil.  Put ingredients in a medium sized bowl and set aside. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic & olive oil; pour over the ingredients and stir.  I let the quinoa cool off so it was warm, but not steaming like crazy anymore - stir it into the ingredients and you're good to go!  This salad tastes great warm or cold.

Once the chicken is out of the oven, thinly slice and serve atop a bed of the quinoa!  Yummy!

Before I sign off for today, I just wanted to quickly say how fun it's been to be part of Scotties this year; we've met so many new buds and learnt a lot about the crazy insider world of Curling!!  The pins, the beers, the mascots, the super fans and best of all - all the new pals!  Below is a picture of us with a new pal "Dave" and he's an avid volunteer (like us) and a blogger too!!!  Check out Dave's Blog which chronicles his adventures in volunteering!!

Shout out to our new friend Dave!!

Balsamic Glazed Salmon with Quinoa Tabbouleh

What a busy long weekend it`s been!  Todd got home from Canmore safely and I made him a simple healthy dinner since I figured he had probably eaten his fair share of hockey arena food! 

I just got the March issue of Canadian Living and could not resist their recipe for Quinoa Tabbouleh: two of my favourite things: quinoa AND tabbouleh - combined together to make one awesome salad!!! Then to continue the ``Meditteranean`` theme, I oven-roasted a couple of Atlantic Salmon filets and then busted out a balsamic glaze.  Together these two make the most fresh and delicious meal...  Erin and I ate the left-over tabbouleh salad at Scotties today in the Heartstop Lounge after our shift!

Quinoa Tabbouleh (March 2012 Canadian Living)
Salad Ingredients:
3/4 cups quinoa
1 cup chopped parsley
1 cup chopped English cucumber
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1 large Roma tomato, seeded and chopped

Dressing Ingredients:
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp each salt & pepper

Balsamic Glazed Salmon:
2 salmon filets
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, crushed

Method:
In a small saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to boil; add quinoa and return to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simer for about 18 minutes.  Remove from heat, fluff with fork and set aside.  Chop the parlsey, cucumber, green onions, mint & tomatoes.  Combine the dressing ingredients.  When the quinoa is cooked, combine the chopped vegetables, dressing and quinoa - set aside.  This salad can be served at room temperature or you can cover it now and refrigerate for an hour and serve.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400degrees. Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray; rub salmon filets with olive oil and salt & pepper.  Set aside for now... get the balsamic glaze going: combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Now it's time to put the salmon in the oven. Bake for about 10 minutes, then take out and baste with your glaze.  Put back in the oven for another 5 minutes; remove from oven and then baste again with the glaze.  Let rest for about 5 minutes.

Serve on top of the tabbouleh - omg so delicious!!!