Keenwhat? That’s how I felt the first time I was introduced to quinoa (pronounced keenwah). It took me a while to know how to pronounce it and even longer to be willing to try it in my own kitchen. I’ve seen it on various salad bars and sitting next to couscous, rice and pasta, it never looked very good. But, it must be good. I am hearing about it over and over and, perhaps, in my own kitchen, we can get properly acquainted.

When I originally wrote this post back in 2009, I wanted to try a lot of new things in the kitchen. I really wanted to make tarts and thought that would be so hard. Now six years later, I’m making them in my sleep. I had recently started using cast iron and now I have cast iron pans and put them up there with air conditioning in the South. I wanted to get comfortable with alternative flours, and this was before I heard about Einkorn. Quinoa was new to me, and in reflection, I made a pretty good dish for not knowing anything about it. I’ve made several quinoa dishes here and here, but this one with red quinoa is the biggest favorite.

Quinoa is packed with goodness. First the texture: crunchy, chewy, satisfying. Second the taste: nutty and earthy, adaptable to sweet or savory. Third, the nutrition: a complete protein, meaning quinoa includes all nine essential amino acids, especially high in lysine, essential for growth and tissue repair. And, a bonus for Mr. Spinach Tiger, it is helpful with migraine headaches.

And, lastly: the fascinating history of a food that has been . Thought to be sacred by the Incas who have eating this for over 5000 years, quinoa has been referred to as chisaya mama or mother of all grains. But, quinoa is not a grain and is related to the spinach, chard, and beets family. Who knew? But, it cooks like a grain, and can easily replace rice or barley in a savory dish, or be served as hot breakfast cereal.

Typical of my creative chaos in the kitchen, I didn’t measure or seek out any  directions. I didn’t know you should soak quinoa for 15 to 30 minutes to loosen the soapy saponin which gives quinoa a bitter taste. I did give it a good rinse and that seemed to work.

It’s very cold outside and I’m holding onto joy of wintry vegetables that are comforting. A few days ago I bought the smallest butternut squash, with plans for a nice soup for lunch. But now I’m envisioning it roasted, and layered with red caramelized onion atop a crunchy, savory quinoa pancake. A recipe was forming in my head.

Chop, chop, slice, slice, I took my baby butternut squash and sliced it across, leaving skin on and taking out seeds. And, I was on my way. The pancake exceeded my expectations, and, the taste and combination of textures was delicious. It’s the kind of crunchy, crispy salty, mouthful of flavor and interest that will make me want to eat this again and again.

The Quinoa pancake is made with pecorino cheese, and fresh thyme.

Assemble by alternating onion and squash on top of quinoa pancake.

How do you eat your quinoa? What new food or cooking method do you want to tackle this year?

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Butternut Squash Stacks on Crispy Quinoa Pancake

A great way to eat quinoa, roasted and topped with butternut squash.

Ingredients

• Recipe for Butternut Squash Quinoa Pancake
• 1 cup quinoa yields 3 cups cooked
• 1 small butternut squash
• 1 medium red onion
• 1 t fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 3 tablespoon grated pecorino romano
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Sea salt pepper

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 450
• Preheat baking stone
• Soak quinoa in water 15 minutes, rinse well
• Slice butternut squash in half inch pieces with skin on, discarding seeds. Slice red onion. Chop herb
• Quinoa should be ready to cook. Put in pot with 2 cups water, salt, bring to boil, lower heat, cover, simmer for 15-18 minutes. This will yield 3 servings or 3 pancakes.
• Arrange butternut squash and onion on roasting sheet. Roast squash and onion, not overlapping . You can put them on same or different sheet. Brush LIGHTLY with olive oil and roast 6 minutes per side. Onion should be caramelized. (I roasted my squash on a baking stone).
• Once quinoa is cooked, fluff, mix in pecorino, herbs, and season to taste. Flatten into three discs on parchment paper placed on baking stone or cast iron griddle. Place in lower part of oven, bake for 8-10 minutes, turning once browned. It easily falls apart, so I put a dish over it and used two pot holders with a covered dish to flip.

The post Butternut Squash Stacks on Crispy Quinoa Pancake, Gluten Free appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

This is an ancient food that could be THE food of the moment, because it’s perfect protein, has a low glycemic index, and is gluten free.

The only problem I see with quinoa is that it can get a bit boring and bland. I know you could say the same thing about rice, but quinoa cooks up almost like a porridge, and that is not a texture as easily adaptable to some recipes as other grains….

…unless, you take a different approach, and roast it to get a crispy texture.

I first got this idea back in January when I fell in love with using cast iron, and made an amazing wintery dish with butternut squash. Quinoa continued to intrigue me as a quite perfect meal, and this dish was submitted for the Blogger Aid Changing the Face of Famine Cookbook, which was published.  My photo was chosen as one of the few to be published and I think probably the ingredient (quinoa) helped with that decision.

I took a strong mediterranean approach and incorporated this into my series on purple foods using purple onions. Purple (red) onions are high in flavenoids and are much more than just “flavor” contributors.

The Process
While you’re cooking the quinoa on top of the stove, you can grill the vegetables. I chose red bell pepper, red onion, grilled fennel and breaded eggplant. If you want to be completely gluten free, the eggplant can also be grilled. The capers add enough bite and tang as there is no dressing necessary for this salad. I topped it with the last of our basil, and some chopped herbs from the fresh fennel, but you could certainly take your herbs in another direction with thyme, rosemary or parsley.

The lovely thing about a dish like this is that it is complete and needs nothing else.

One other variation of this uses more quinoa, and fluffs it up a bit, making a layered look.

Alternate Assembly: Layer Quinoa between grilled vegetables

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Not So Naked Roasted Quinoa

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 3 cups uncooked quinoa
• 6 cups salted water
• 3/4 cups grated parmigiano reggiano
• 2 tablespoons capers
• extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt freshly ground pepper
• 1 fennel bulb sliced crosswise
• 1 red bell pepper seeded, sliced crosswise (optionally use red and green)
• I small eggplant sliced, sweated,
• 1 egg beaten for eggplant (skip if grilling eggplant)
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs skip if grilling eggplant
• 1 red onion sliced cross wise
• A few torn basil leaves or several thyme sprigs removed from stem or parsley
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Cook Quinoa before Roasting

• Rinse several times really well. This is an important step to rid quinoa of soapy saponin which, if not rinsed well, will emit a bitter taste.
• The ratio for cooking is 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa.
• Once rinsed, add to salted water, bring to boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Once cooked, add 1/2 C parmigiano reggiano, a drizzle of olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
• Allow to cool enough so you can handle.

To Roast Quinoa: Preheat oven to 425 F

• Use a cast iron pan, pizza stone, or parchment paper and baking sheet.
• Press quinoa with palm of your hands, keeping it together in one form, about 3/4 inch high.
• Roast quinoa in hot oven of 425 degrees.
• Turn after 10-15 minutes once you see edges browning. Don't worry about keeping it all
• together. Just use as large a spatula as you have and turn it over to
• continue until the top is toasted.

Grilled Vegetables

• Brush with olive oil and grill either on grill pan, or outside gas grill until done.
• Sweat eggplant first by salting both sides then placing on paper towels for 30 minutes.
• Rinse off excess salt. Dry.
• Eggplant is dipped into egg and then panko and fried in pan until crispy on both sides.
• Optionally, grill eggplant.
• Arrange vegetables stacks, using either one layer of quinoa or alternating quinoa with some of the vegetables, adding in capers. Add in herbs of choice
• Optional Garnish: Add a drizzle of olive oil if necessary, and some grated cheese.
• Serve immediately or at room temperature.
• This is best eaten at room temperature, or warm.

The post Purple Food: Not So Naked Roasted Quinoa appeared first on Spinach Tiger.