Quinoa Casserole

Today turned out to be just as great as yesterday!  We spent the day outside again and I feel totally rested (but also exhausted somehow?) and ready for the week.  We had my in-laws over for dinner and I thought we'd all really enjoy this quinoa casserole that I found on Savvy's website.  I served it with these black bean burgers (sans feta and curry paste but added parsley), and grilled asparagus and corn on the cob.

Quinoa Carrot Zucchini Casserole

1 cup quinoa

1/4 cup currant

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup chopped celery

2 chopped carrots

2 chopped small zucchini

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp paprika

pinch cayenne

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 cup vegetable stock

* * * * * * * * * * * *

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

ground pepper

*Soak quinoa in water for 1 hour

 *Saute celery in olive oil until translucent, add carrots and cook 5 minutes, add zucchini and cook 1 minute.

*Add remaining ingredients (up to the asterisks and not including the stock) and stir until browned

*Pour into casserole dish, along with boiled vegetable stock and cook (covered) at 350

*Cook until stock is absorbed (about 20 minutes) and remove bay leaves and cinnamon stick

*Add parsley and ground pepper and serve!

It was a bbq kind of day! BBQ Seitan Ribs :)

The seitan that I made last week went over so well that I wanted to make it again.  This time I tried the Veganomicon cutlet recipe which was slightly easier for some reason.  My friend, Heather (that hero, she keeps coming up!) mentioned to me that when she made this recipe she had bbq'd it and that sounded perfect for our family.  I cut the cutlets into rib shapes and then cooked them on low coating it with a homemade bbq sauce.  Here it is, served on some rice with a green salad and some bbq'd pineapple, it was such a beautiful day for a bbq <3

Seitan Cutlets

broth

6 cups vegetable broth

3 tbsp soy sauce

cutlets 

1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten

1/2 cup cold vegetable broth

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp lemon zest

*(for the broth) In a large sauce pan, bring vegetable broth and soy sauce to a boil.  Cover and turn off heat.

*Place the vital wheat gluten in a large bowl

*In a large measuring cup, mix together cold vegetable broth, soy sauce, olive oil, minced garlic and lemon zest

*Pour the wet mixture into the vital wheat gluten and mix well (and quickly)

*Knead for 3 minutes and roll into a log and cut into 6 equal pieces

*Turn and knead each piece into a cutlet shape (this takes several minutes and I ended up using a rolling pin)

*Pour first broth mixture into a glass 9x13 casserole dish and place cutlets in it

*Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, turn pieces and bake for another 20 minutes

Kabobs and more kabobs!

Despite the fact that it is snowing outside, I am continuing on with my spring themed meals.  It is okay to pretend it's not snowing outside because it REALLY IS spring.  Tonight we had tofu kabobs in a marinade that I really just threw together last minute this morning.  I thought about searching around for a new recipe but decided to go with my tried and true non-recipe recipe.  We had the kabobs with some rice and a simple green salad, and for dessert... fruit kabobs!  The ones I am posting a picture of are mine, the kids made their own so there was a lot of grape-grape-grape and watermelon-watermelon-watermelon versions ;)  I am going to continue ignoring the snow and am planning on taking the kids on a hike/picnic tomorrow for our last day of spring break.  Think of me tomorrow and pray I'm not knee-deep in slush with a baby on my back!!

Tofu Kabobs

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

3 cloves minced garlic

1 inch grated ginger

1 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary

2 tbsp fresh chopped basil

1 tbsp fresh chopped thyme

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

1 tbsp honey

small squeeze of lemon

pepper

1 block tofu

1 chopped red pepper

1 chopped green pepper

cherry tomatoes

1/2 chopped zucchini

*Combine all ingredients and pour over cubed (pressed and dry-fried) tofu

*Keep in a covered container all day in the fridge

*After placing all tofu and veggies on a kabob-stick, brush remaining marinade over the veggies

*BBQ on medium-low, turning often.

What was supposed to be burgers with spicy guacamole...

We are pretending it's spring here.  It's after March 20th, it's warm(ish), the birds are chirping... so let's just ignore the feet upon feet upon feet of snow left on the ground.  That might depress me if I weren't pretending that it's spring!  With spring comes bbq'ing and we love to bbq in this house.  Tonight I was going to try this bean burger with spicy guacamole recipe that I found in the Eating Well magazine that I love so much.  I made the burgers early this afternoon and then right before supper I got out the ingredients to make the spicy guacamole, and they weren't ripe enough!  I was so disappointed!  The burgers were good but they were missing that bite that I love so much.  We had them with bbq'd potatoes and asparagus and now we are off for a walk to get some dairy queen... because it's spring, right??

Pinto Bean Burgers

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup quinoa

olive oil

1/2 a chopped red onion

3 cloves minced garlic

2 1/2 cups cooked pinto beans

1 1/2 tsp paprika

2 tsp cumin

3 tbsp chopped cilantro

3 tbsp cornmeal + more for dipping

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

*Cook quinoa in water according to package instructions.  Cool.

*Saute onion, and garlic in olive oil.  Add mashed pinto beans, paprika, and cumin.  Stir well.

*Place in a large bowl along with quinoa, cilantro, salt, pepper and 3 tbsp cornmeal

*Form into patties and roll in remaining cornmeal.

*Place in fridge for 30 minutes to firm.

*Heat olive oil in frying pan on low/medium and cook burgers for 5-6 minutes per side.

*This is where I placed them back in the fridge for the rest of the afternoon and bbq'd them to warm at dinner time.

First Day of Spring?!

You wouldn't know it by looking out our window but today is the first day of spring!  So even though it is raining and we have mountains of snow, we decided to celebrate by bbq-ing.  A few weeks ago my friend, Heather (my hero remember?), gave me a terrific recipe for baked beans and pointed me in the direction of Vegan Dad's pinto bean sausages.   I couldn't wait to try both recipes and thought today would be the perfect day for it.  I served them with bbq'd corn on the cob and asparagus.  Our favourite neighbourhood friend was visiting for the afternoon and he LOVES to bake so we decided to make a Pear Apple crisp for dessert (with ice cream of course)!

Baked Beans

1 lb dry beans (I used a mix)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 cup ketchup
approx 3 cups hot water
1 med onion
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/8 to 1/6 cup molasses

*Rinse and soak beans overnight well covered in water with a dash of baking soda.
*In the morning cover with new water and bake at 350 for 1 hour.
*Mix remaining ingredients except water into a paste and add to beans

*Add water and cover and bake at 300 for 3 hours or until beans are soft

*Uncover for last 1/2 hour

VeganDad's Sausages

1 cup cooked pinto beans

1 3/4 cups cold vegetable broth

2 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp soy sauce

4 cloves minced garlic

2 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp crushed fennel seed

1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 serving of your favourite homemade bbq sauce

*Prepare steamer because this goes a lot faster than you'd think

*Get 12 pieces of tin foil ready to wrap sausages in

*Pulse pinto beans several times in food processor (or mash well)

*Mix together with remaining ingredients

*Divide into 12 pieces and place each into the prepared tin foil

*Wrap each pieced like a tootsie roll and place in steamer (I used 2 layers of bamboo steamers)

*Steam for 40 minutes

*Brush with bbq sauce and grill as you like

Pear Apple Crisp

4 good sized pears, peeled and cut

4 good sized apples, peeled and cut

2 tbsp flour

2 tbsp brown sugar

juice from one lemon

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

pinch nutmeg

1/2 cup melted butter

*In a large bowl, toss together pears, apples, first helping of flour, first helping of sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon

*Pour into an 8 inch square glass baking dish

*In a small bowl, mix together oats, remaining sugar and flour, and nutmeg

*Drizzle butter over oat mixture and mix well

*Sprinkle over fruit mixture

*Bake at 350 for 1 hour