Rainbow Thai Quinoa

I've been eying this recipe for the loooooooooongest time, and finally had the opportunity to make it myself last Sunday. Cashews? Colourful veggies? Peanut butter dressing? Sounds like it was like designed for moi :'D

Rainbow of ingredients for Rainbow Thai Quinoa

How can this plate of fresh ingredients not bring a smile to your face? It's the definition of gorgeous! The only colour absent from my plate is yellow, which could easily be filled with some yellow bell pepper, corn, squash, or zucchini. Any dish with a whole rainbow of fresh produce in it has to be healthy for you.

Making this dish (or it could be called a salad, I suppose) is super quick and simple. Minimal cooking and lots of chop, chop, chopping! Most of the time is spent cutting up vegetables and herbs. To speed up the already short process even more, cook the quinoa ahead of time. I cooked mine in the morning before heading off to church, and threw the whole dish together for lunch when I arrived home. Easy and delicious, what more could a lazy chef like me ask for?

Rainbow Thai Quinoa ready to eat!

Although the peanut butter didn't dominate the dish like I had expected, it added the perfect hint of nuttiness and richness. I like everything sweet, so I adjusted the sauce a twinge with more honey. This quinoa dish has so many dimensions, and is a party for the taste buds to try and decipher all the components. Sometimes a little sweet, sometimes a little spicy (raw onions!), sometimes a punch of cilantro... I could eat bowls and bowls of this stuff. For lunch, for dinner, for snack..okay but maybe not breakfast. That's when I need my pancakes.

I highly recommend you push this dish to the top of your 'recipe bucketlist' because it is mind-blowing-ly delicious. This Rainbow Thai Quinoa tastes wonderful slightly warm but also great cold from the fridge. Meaning it make great left-overs, if there is any.

Rainbow Thai Quinoa

Very lightly adapted from Ambitious Kitchen

Yield: 4 really large servings

Ingredients

For quinoa

• ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
• 1½ cup chicken or vegetable stock (or water + crumbled stock cube)
• 3 handfuls of baby spinach
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• ½ red onion, diced*
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 green onion, diced
• 3 handfuls of roasted unsalted cashews
• A few squeezes of fresh lime juice, optional

For dressing

• ¼ cup all natural peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey or agave
• A dash or vinegar (apple cider vinegar is fine)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• Water to thin, if necessary
• A few cracks of freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Cook quinoa with stock in a medium pot according to package. I brought mine to a boil over high heat, then turned down the heat to the lowest and cooked for 15 minutes. Let cooked quinoa sit with lid covered for 5 minutes. Add the baby spinach with quinoa and lightly mix together in pot. Cover pot with lid; the residual heat and steam will wilt the spinach.
2. Cut, shred, and chop all vegetables.
3. To prepare the dressing, mix all ingredients together in a small bowl or custard cup. Microwave for 10 seconds or so to melt honey and mix thoroughly. Add water by the tablespoon until dressing reaches desired consistency. A viscous but steady stream flowing off spoon is good.
4. Add sauce to quinoa and spinach mixture, gently mix to combine. 
5. Pour dressed quinoa into a large mixing bowl, add all vegetables and nuts, and mix until combined. Serve with a few squeezes of lime juice if desired.

*If your stomach is very sensitive to acidic foods, omit or cook onion. Or replace with shredded purple cabbage.

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Butternut Squash Stuffed with Balsamic Quinoa

Butternut Squash Stuffed with Balsamic Quinoa

June has started off beautifully with a blue sky and warm temperatures. The weather is always unpredictable where we live; I've been going between shorts and long jeans on and off since the middle of March! It'll be super hot and sunny one week, then go back to rain for the next month, then back to summer temperatures. It's been a while since we've seen sunshine here, making me very excited for summer! I'll be sitting in class these next to weeks studying like crazy while starring out the window longing to be outside rather than inside.

On a random note, during my family's weekly visit to Costco, my mom discovered this box of amazing-ness for me. Mango. Coconut. Almond. Biscuits. -quiet scream of joy from inside of me- I've been aware of THINaddictive's cranberry almond thins (aka biscotti that has been sliced super thin) for a long time but never really took interest in those. Obviously, I have a soft spot for anything with the word 'coconut' in it, I couldn't possibly say no. There are eight grams of sugar in one packet of 3 tiny cookies, not making these the healthiest of snacks. Nevertheless, I'm very excited to taste them (with a scoop of real vanilla ice cream...:D)
 
I've been blessed with a rather carefree week with no tests and barely any homework. Even so, I usually have to wait for the weekend to roll around until I can try out those recipes I keep saving onto my computer. For lunch today, I made a radish soup. After pureeing the radish/potato mixture, it became this beautiful baby pink colour. But don't let the colour fool you, the added wasabi oil (I didn't have horseradish) gave an extra kick to the already bitter radish flavour. Looks are deceiving... I've decided not to share the recipe as I didn't think it was very good. Not a soup I'd bother making again. Roast your radishes or eat them raw instead. Maybe later tonight I'll attempt a Lemon Coconut Loaf... 

This recipe is what I had for dinner today. I know, butternut squash is totally an autumn produce, but my mom loves it so much she seems to buy one every week. Not that I'm complaining, because it's simply delicious! It's the weekend, so I have the time to experiment and cook my own meals. To season my quinoa, I used my Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing. I left out the extra olive oil today, as there is already oil used to cook the veggies. However, feel free to leave it in for some extra flavour. All the vegetables I used can be substituted for anything you have lying in your fridge; that's what I always use. This is totally a healthy recipe, filled with vegetables, low in fat, good source of fibre and protein... but not in anyway lacking flavour and texture! The rest of my family jealously watched me eat this adorable dish at the dinner table. They wish they had one too!

 

Butternut Squash Stuffed with Balsamic Quinoa

By Coconut Crumpet

Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients

• The bottom of one butternut squash, seeds and stringy bits scooped out
• 3 tbsp uncooked quinoa
• 6 tbsp chicken stock
• Oil, for frying
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 2 white button mushrooms, diced
• ½ celery stalk, diced
• ¾ cup broccoli florets
• 2 tbsp water
• 3 tbsp corn niblets
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp honey
• Salt & pepper to taste 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place butternut squash cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet (rimmed because juices may flow out near the end). Once oven is ready, bake squash for 35 minutes, or until tender.
2. In a small pot, cook quinoa in stock covered over high heat until liquid comes to a boil. Reduce heat to minimum and continue to cook covered for 15 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed.
3. Heat a frying pan. When hot, add oil, garlic, and celery until fragrant. 
4. When celery becomes translucent, add mushrooms, broccoli, and water. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to medium heat when boiled and steam vegetables for a few minutes. Add corn.
5. In a small microwaveable bowl, combine balsamic vinegar and honey. Microwave for 10 seconds until honey is melted. 
6. Fluff cooked quinoa and add to frying pan. Add vinegar mixture and season with salt and pepper. Stir fry until quinoa is dry.
7. Stuff cooked butternut squash with quinoa mixture. (There may be extra depending on the size of the hole that contained the seeds) Place back in oven and bake for another 5 minutes. 

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Beet Quinoa with Beet Greens

Beet Quinoa with Beet Greens

I have recently developed an extreme fascination for the vibrant fushia colour of beet juice. After purchasing a bunch of beets from Superstore, I have included them in two of my recipes this past weekend.