I made tacos with friends and had a bunch of leftovers, as well as a bunch of veggies I needed to use. The original plan was to use a low-sodium vegetable broth as the base, but spicy black bean soup was on sale today (and you can't tell me spicy black bean doesn't sound more delicious!)
I used:
2 TBS olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion
1 green bell pepper
1 ear corn, boiled and cut off of cobb
1/2 packet (1 1/2 TBS) taco seasoning
2 c chopped red cabbage
1 zucchini, cut into bite-size pieces
1 box (~4 c) spicy black bean soup
2 c water
3/4 c quinoa
1. Heat olive oil in a large (!) pot. Saute' garlic and onion.
2. Add taco seasoning, green bell pepper and zucchini and cook, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add cabbage, corn, black bean soup, water, and quinoa. Stir, bring to boil, and let simmer until quinoa is cooked (about 30 minutes).
Easy enough, right? This makes enough soup (or stew... the quinoa sucked up all the water and thickened it) for 5-6 people... which means a week of leftovers for me!! This would also be good over a baked potato or as taco filling.
Sep 16, 2011
Sep 3, 2011
Ginger Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
1 red bell pepper (Recipe makes enough filling for 2-4)
2 carrots
2 cloves garlic
1/2 yellow onion
1C quinoa
1Tbs ginger
salt/pepper
non-stick spray
soy sauce
~2c water
2 TBS olive oil
Preheat oven to 350F
1. Boil water and add quinoa. Quinoa cooks a lot like rice - it will absorb the water as it cooks., which takes about 30 minutes. When it's done, fluff it with a fork.
2. While the quinoa is cooking, heat olive oil over medium heat (NOT HIGH HEAT!) in a nonstick pan.
3. Dice garlic and onion, and cut carrots into small pieces (1/4 inch coins worked well) and add to oil.
4. My green pepper was huge, so I cut the top off, and then cut a 2-inch section off the top of the "bowl" part. I cut that into bite-size pieces and added it to the oil as well.
5. Add salt and pepper to the pan. Cover the carrots, onion, garlic and pepper and cook for 10 or so minutes on medium heat.
6. When the quinoa is almost cooked, add the ginger and stir gently.
7. Cut the seeds and white ridges out of the middle of the pepper.
8. When the quinoa is cooked and veggies are almost soft, combine the two and fill the pepper(s) with the mixture.
9. Top the mixtures with cheese or the pepper lids.
10. Bake in a sprayed baking dish for 25 minutes or until the pepper starts to wrinkle and gets soft.
11. Add soy sauce
Nom!
2 carrots
2 cloves garlic
1/2 yellow onion
1C quinoa
1Tbs ginger
salt/pepper
non-stick spray
soy sauce
~2c water
2 TBS olive oil
Preheat oven to 350F
1. Boil water and add quinoa. Quinoa cooks a lot like rice - it will absorb the water as it cooks., which takes about 30 minutes. When it's done, fluff it with a fork.
2. While the quinoa is cooking, heat olive oil over medium heat (NOT HIGH HEAT!) in a nonstick pan.
3. Dice garlic and onion, and cut carrots into small pieces (1/4 inch coins worked well) and add to oil.
4. My green pepper was huge, so I cut the top off, and then cut a 2-inch section off the top of the "bowl" part. I cut that into bite-size pieces and added it to the oil as well.
5. Add salt and pepper to the pan. Cover the carrots, onion, garlic and pepper and cook for 10 or so minutes on medium heat.
6. When the quinoa is almost cooked, add the ginger and stir gently.
7. Cut the seeds and white ridges out of the middle of the pepper.
8. When the quinoa is cooked and veggies are almost soft, combine the two and fill the pepper(s) with the mixture.
9. Top the mixtures with cheese or the pepper lids.
10. Bake in a sprayed baking dish for 25 minutes or until the pepper starts to wrinkle and gets soft.
11. Add soy sauce
Nom!
Sep 2, 2011
Tomato Basil Hummus
So much basil, so little time!!
You will need:
1 big tomato (I used a hothouse tomato, you could probably use 2 or 3 romas)
5-6 basil leaves
3 TBS olive oil
1 can garbanzo beans/chick peas
salt/pepper
1TBS lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
1. Heat olive oil over medium heat (olive oil has a low smoke point, and heating it too high can damage the molecules, which in turn causes problems when your body tries to use those fats... more on this later).
2. Cut tomato into chunks so the blender can tackle it. Add to oil.
3. Roughly cut the garlic cloves. No precision needed here, it's going into the blender anyway.
4. Wash and cut basil leaves by stacking the leaves, rolling them, and cutting across the roll. Voila! basil confetti!
5. Let the tomatoes, garlic, and basil hang out in the hot oil, stirring occasionally, while you open, drain, and rinse a can of garbanzo beans.
6. Put the beans, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and tomato/oil mixture into the blender (or a food processor, if you're so fortunate as to have one). Blend until smooth.
Store the hummus in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Next time I make these, I think I'll seed the tomatoes or add another can of garbanzos. The hummus was less thick than I would like.
Back to super-heated fats...
When you heat an oil too high, the molecular composition of the oil changes. It becomes damaged, and lots of nasty by-products are also produced. Cooking by grilling or frying, or hydrogenating oils (like the fats in processed foods like margarine) causes these changes. When we ingest these damaged fats, the body still tries to use them. They become part of the phosopolipid bilayer in our cell membranes which causes the cells to become more rigid, and contributes to insulin resistance and diabetes. Damaged fats also create inflammation, which can aggravate arthritis and cause a number of other problems.
Moral of the story: cook low and slow. Baking, crock-potting, and boiling are some of the best ways to prepare foods without damaging the fats or other nutrients present.
You will need:
1 big tomato (I used a hothouse tomato, you could probably use 2 or 3 romas)
5-6 basil leaves
3 TBS olive oil
1 can garbanzo beans/chick peas
salt/pepper
1TBS lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
1. Heat olive oil over medium heat (olive oil has a low smoke point, and heating it too high can damage the molecules, which in turn causes problems when your body tries to use those fats... more on this later).
2. Cut tomato into chunks so the blender can tackle it. Add to oil.
3. Roughly cut the garlic cloves. No precision needed here, it's going into the blender anyway.
4. Wash and cut basil leaves by stacking the leaves, rolling them, and cutting across the roll. Voila! basil confetti!
5. Let the tomatoes, garlic, and basil hang out in the hot oil, stirring occasionally, while you open, drain, and rinse a can of garbanzo beans.
6. Put the beans, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and tomato/oil mixture into the blender (or a food processor, if you're so fortunate as to have one). Blend until smooth.
Store the hummus in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Next time I make these, I think I'll seed the tomatoes or add another can of garbanzos. The hummus was less thick than I would like.
Back to super-heated fats...
When you heat an oil too high, the molecular composition of the oil changes. It becomes damaged, and lots of nasty by-products are also produced. Cooking by grilling or frying, or hydrogenating oils (like the fats in processed foods like margarine) causes these changes. When we ingest these damaged fats, the body still tries to use them. They become part of the phosopolipid bilayer in our cell membranes which causes the cells to become more rigid, and contributes to insulin resistance and diabetes. Damaged fats also create inflammation, which can aggravate arthritis and cause a number of other problems.
Moral of the story: cook low and slow. Baking, crock-potting, and boiling are some of the best ways to prepare foods without damaging the fats or other nutrients present.
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