Quinoa

Quinoa Tabbouleh

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031Today’s recipe is another entry to my healthy eats category. We have been having Quinoa for quite some time now, probably for a year or so, and I am on the lookout for any new recipe that has Quinoa as an ingredient.

023Recently, we went to a mediterranean restaurant and I came across a new type of salad made with Quinoa. I got hooked to it and was eager to try it out myself. The name of the salad is Quinoa Tabbouleh salad and that is the recipe I have posted here.

024Quinoa Tabbouleh salad is very easy to make and very healthy as well. On days when you don’t feel like cooking or doing a take out, Quinoa Tabbouleh salad is the one to go for. Very few ingredients are needed to make this salad. Also, there is an accompaniment to the Tabbouleh salad called the Zough. It is a condiment relish made from green chili. The mild taste of Quinoa Tabbouleh and the spiciness of Zough make the perfect pair.

030Quinoa Tabbouleh salad can be had as a light dinner or for lunch. Quinoa in general is rich in calories and having it as a salad will not get you full or bloated. Try this wonderful mediterranean salad in your home and let me know your comments 🙂

 

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Tabbouleh
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2
 
Ingredients
Tabbouleh:
  • Red quinoa – 1 cup
  • Chick pea or garbonza beans or sundal – ½ cup
  • Olive oil – 3 tbsp
  • Lemon juice – 3 tbsp
  • Cucumber, finely chopped – 1 no (I used Persian Cucumber)
  • Tomato, medium, finely chopped – ½ no (2 tbsp)
  • Green onions, finely chopped – 2 tbsp
  • Carrot, finely grated – 2 tbsp (optional)
  • Cilantro, finely chopped – 2 to 3 tbsp
  • Salt as required
Zough – green chilli sauce
  • Cilantro – small bunch
  • Garlic cloves, small to medium – 3 nos
  • Lemon juice – 1 ½ tbsp
  • Olive oil – 1 ½ tbsp
  • Cayenne pepper – ½ tbsp
  • Pepper – ¼ tsp
  • Cumin powder –a generous pinch
  • Green chilli – 4 nos
  • Salt as required
Instructions
  1. Soak chick pea overnight and pressure cook for 6 whistles adding enough water and salt. Drain the excess water and set aside.
  2. Wash the quinoa thoroughly and drain them using strainer, pressure cook adding enough salt and 1½ cup water (not more than that) for 3 whistles. Or you could parboil them adding the same amount of water in a sauce pan, covered for 15 minutes. Drain the excess water if any.
  4. Finely chop all the above given ingredients and keep them ready.
  6. In a large mixing bowl, add olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Mix well.
  8. Add cucumber, tomato, carrot, green onion and cilantro. Mix well.
  10. Finally add quinoa and chick pea. Mix them well until well combined.
  12. Have it right away or Cover and leave it at least for ½ an hour in the refrigerator and serve chill for better taste.
For making zough
  1. Blend all the above given ingredients to a fine sauce without adding any water.
  2. Have zough sauce as a side for yummy quinoa tabbouleh. Enjoy! :)

028

Beetroot Quinoa

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Beetroot QuinoaToday’s recipe is a continuation of my resolution to post healthy recipes as much as I can, going forward. Beetroot Quinoa is a dish made from a well known legume, beetroot and a not so common grain variety called the Quinoa. Like I had described in one of my earlier posts, Quinoa is a South American grain crop well known for its edible seeds. Quinoa is a super food that is rich in calories and easily digestible. Beetroot, as you may all know, is a very good source of iron and vitamins.

beetroot quinoaBeetroot Quinoa is a very easy dish to make. It literally takes 15 minutes to prepare. Also, with the way it’s made, you can either have Beetroot Quinoa as is or have the cooked beetroot only with rice. Beetroot Quinoa is a cold food and can be retained by refrigeration, making it the go-to food for bachelors and single ladies that is if you want to have healthy food, if not there is always pasta and noodles :). Also, it is a very good menu for lunch box, especially for kids 🙂

Beetroot quinoaFor those who worry about getting Quinoa back home, no worries, Quinoa is quite popular there and is called as (Seemai Thinai, literally known as foreign grain 🙂 ). Don’t miss out trying this truly healthy food which I believe will be a good alternative to have once in a while amongst the mundane dishes that we have often.

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Beetroot Quinoa
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2
 
Ingredients
  • Olive oil or cooking oil – 1 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
  • Urad dal – ¼ tsp
  • Curry leaves – half sprig
  • Onion, finely chopped – 1 no
  • Green chilli, finely chopped – 2 nos
  • Beetroot, medium, grated – 1 cup
  • Quinoa – 1 cup
  • Salt as required
Instructions
  1. Wash and drain quinoa using strainer. Pressure cook for 3 whistles adding 1 ½ cups water and enough salt.
  3. Heat a pan and add oil. Season with mustard seeds and urad dal.
  5. Add finely chopped onions and sauté until they turn translucent.
  7. Add chopped green chilli, and curry leaves. Give a quick stir.
  9. Now add in finely grated beetroot. Add enough salt and sauté well. Drizzle few drops of water (2 tbsp) on top, cover and cook for 5 to 8 minutes.
  11. Open the lid and sauté until all the water is absorbed. you can have this as a side or poriyal.
  13. Finally add cooked quinoa and mix well. Enjoy the yummy beetroot quinoa with papad! 
Notes
you can substitute quinoa and add rice instead.i.e beetroot rice.

Beetroot Quinoa

Quinoa

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lemon quinoa

Quinoa (pronounced as Kin-wa) is a product of South America and is a relative of spinach and beets. It looks like a variety of grain but actually is grown as plants. The part we eat is the seed which is gluten-free. You can even eat the leaves of a quinoa plant!

While no single food can supply all the essential life sustaining nutrients, quinoa comes as close as any other in the plant or animal kingdom. That’s because quinoa is what’s called a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine of the essential amino acids, which cannot be made by the body and therefore must come from food.

quinoaThere are different varieties of quinoa but red, white and black quinoas are the most widely available. Among these white quinoa is the most popular variety. Red quinoa is more often used in salads. Black quinoa has sweeter taste. I have had only white quinoa so far. I find its taste closely resembling to rice but much healthier as mentioned above. I have given a detailed description of what quinoa is because I was not sure about the prevalence of this super food among people and wanted to create awareness as well.

lemon quinoaQuinoa is very easy to cook and there are no special instruction as far as cooking is concerned. Just follow the same steps that you normally do for cooking rice. Below I have given the recipe for lemon quinoa which is very similar to lemon rice except that we substitute quinoa for rice. You can also alter this recipe to make tamarind quinoa just like tamarind rice. My dear friends have been requesting for a while to post quinoa recipes and I can’t wait to share the interesting recipes that I have in store.  🙂

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Quinoa
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2
 
Ingredients
  • Quinoa – 1 cup
  • Water - 1 ½ cups
  • Salt as required
  • Oil – 1 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
  • Urad dal – ½ tsp
  • Curry leaves - a sprig
  • Red chilli – 3 nos
  • Asafetida or hing – a generous pinch
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  • Lemon, big – 1 no (or 2 if small)
Instructions
  1. Wash the quinoa thoroughly in water, add 1 ½ or 2 cups of water and enough salt and pressure cook for three whistles.
  2. Squeeze the juice of lemon and keep it ready. Heat a tempering ladle with oil and temper with mustard and urad dal. When they start to sizzle, add split red chillies and curry leaves. Add turmeric powder and hing. Switch off the flame and add lemon juice.
  3. Add the tempering to the cooked quinoa. Mix well and serve it hot with potato fry or chips on the side. Enjoy! 

lemon quinoa