Recipe: QUINOA WITH VEGGIES

I haven't posted a recipe in a while ... and I have a feeling that I say this in every recipe post. Oops :)

Anyways, today we are cooking with quinoa. I love quinoa, because it's so versatile, you can eat it salty (with veg, like I'm showing you today) or sweet (for example: cooked in soy milk with apple and cinnamon).

Last time I showed you how to make quinoa pancakes, if you haven't seen this recipe yet, make sure you check it out here.
Now, let's start with the recipe :)

Ingredients:

- quinoa
- olive oil
- chickpeas (I used already cooked chickpeas in a jar, but you can cook them yourself or you can skip them :))
- salt
- mixed vegetables (I chopped one onion, zucchini, broccoli, two carrots)
- water

Preparation:

Pour some olive oil in a hot pan. Put all the veggies in it and cook them on medium heat. I cooked them until they became slightly soft then I added quinoa. How much quinoa will you use, depends on how much you eat and how many people you're cooking for :). I used slightly less than half of the packaging and it was cooked for 2 + we had leftovers for dinner.

Add water - I usually eyeball it, but all veggies and quinoa should be covered in water, add pinch of salt. Cook on medium heat until all water evaporates (it should take about 20 minutes).

 

Rinse chickpeas with water and add them to quinoa, stir so it's all well mixed. You can add other herbs to taste and serve.

I served it with some iceberg salad with chickpeas and mozzarella cheese.

Bon apetit!

And thank you, dear friend, who took these pictures for me ;)

Recipe: QUINOA PANCAKES

I'm trying to eat gluten-free for a month or so now. And I'm doing pretty well, I must say :). Finding gluten-free flour can be challenging in Slovenia, I've been searching for coconut, almond, quinoa ... flour, but no luck. I found a recipe how to make a quinoa flour at home and so I made my first quinoa pancakes and I've been obsessed with them ever since :).

Ingredients:
- 2 cup quinoa flour (recipe how to make it here) - we don't use "cup" measurments here, but I take one random cup and measure it out (today I used 90 grams of flour)
- you need the same amount of water
- pinch of salt
- baking powder (for 2 cup measurement use 4 tsp, I used around 2)
- olive oil (around 2 tsp)

Firstly, mix all dry ingredients together.

Then add water and oil and whisk them all together until well combined. Add water if it's too thick, add flour if it's too liquidy, but if you followed the instructions, it should be ok.

If you use 2 cup measurement (2 cups of quinoa flour and 2 cups of water), it should make around 10-12 pancakes. Pancakes should be smaller and thicker, because consistency of pancake won't allow you to make them bigger and slimmer.

Today I made them too big and they fell apart. But no biggy, they are still good tasting!

Put little bit of olive oil in a pan and use spoon to take mixture and create little pancakes. Flip them around when slightly brown.

They should be slightly brown on both sides.

Et voila, you (successfully) made your first quinoa pancakes. I like to eat them immediately, still slightly warm. You can also store them and use them instead of bread and I always love pre-planned meals :). They can be served with veggies or with fruit, can be perfect breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner option, so versatile! :)

Today I had them with spinach, red chicory and hummus. I ate 2 of them, they are quite filling!

If you try them out, tell me, how did you like them and how did you serve them? :)

Oh, and here are some other options:
1st picture: with spinach and portobello mashrooms and little bit of mustard;
2nd picture: half of banana, homemade chocolate and tea (made this for my mother for Mother's day, I'm such a good daughter ;)).

 

Bon apetit!