Lemon Veg Quinoa

Woah... it's been a while...

I've got a few new recipes that I've tried, which have been delicious! The first is a result of my new obsession with grated lemon peel. Similar to my obsession with cinnamon, I've begun putting lemon in everything - especially pasta and quinoa dishes.

• 1 c quinoa - rinsed
• 2c water
  
• 1 large tomato - diced
  
• 2 zucchini - cut in half lengthwise and then sliced into 1/2" slices
• 1 green pepper - diced
  
• 2 cloves garlic - minced
  
• 1/2 onion - diced
• 1-2 Tbs olive oil
• 1/2 Tbs black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 Tbs dried basil (I'd use fresh if I had it, but my basil plant shriveled and died a while back, 3-4 chopped basil leaves)
• 1/2 Tbs paprika
• 1 1/2 Tbs grated lemon peel
  

Boil 2c of water and add quinoa. Reduce to a simmer until all the water has evaporated. Fluff with a fork. When the quinoa is finished, gently stir in the lemon peel. While you're waiting for the quinoa to cook (about a half hour)...

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent. Add green peppers and zucchini and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add tomato, pepper, salt, basil, and paprika. Cook until the zucchini and peppers are soft. The tomato will reduce into a red, saucy mush. If you'd rather keep your tomotoes in-tact, add them later in the cooking process, about 5-6 minutes before the quinoa is done.

Scoop the vegetable mixture over the quinoa and NOM NOM NOM!

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.

Fried Eggplant and Tomato Basil Veggie Pasta

I have a basil plant that has too many leaves and gets too little water (oops). I really wanted to make pesto, but our food processor doesn't work, so I made tomato basil pasta and added the pine nuts and parmesean cheese to the pasta. I also fried some eggplant, because it sounded amaaaaazing.

You will need:

2 cloves garlic
4 TBS olive oil
4 roma tomatoes
1 large head broccoli
1/2 c parmesean cheese
1/2 Tbs paprika
salt, pepper
6-7 leaves basil
1/4c pine nuts

1 eggplant
1 egg
1/2 c milk
1TBS paprika
salt, pepper,
1 cup flour
1/2c canola oil

Preheat oven to 350F

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add minced garlic and pine nuts and cook 1-2 minutes.
2. Add diced roma tomatoes and bite-size broccoli pieces cover, and turn down heat to low. Stir in basil cut into 1/4 inch strips (like confetti).
3. In a separate frying pan, heat 1/4 c canola oil. Add more oil as needed while frying.
4. In one bowl, mix the egg and milk. In a second bowl, mix paprika, salt pepper, and flour.
5. Cut the eggplant into 3/4 inch disks.
6. Dip the disks in the egg, then the flour mixture, then into the frying pan. Cook for ~2 minutes on each side, then cool on a plate lined with paper towels.
7. Once all the eggplant disks are fried, coat a baking dish with oil. Line the bottom with the fried eggplant disks, and pour the tomato-broccoli-basil mixture over the top. Cover with Parmesean cheese and bake for 15 minutes.
8. Cook 4 servings' worth of pasta according to the directions. I like whole wheat pasta.
9. Drain the pasta, and serve pasta with the eggplant-basil-tomato sauce on top.

Om nom nom!