Quinoa :)

Going to a party where every one eats meat is not always easy for our family. Most people do not know how to deal with the fact that we do not eat any type of red meat. Yes, Spam is considered meat...(sort of)... The typical party food of rice with pork/beef or the baked ziti with loads of cheese and ground beef, roast pork, or beef stew, hamburgers etc... is not something my family is used to eating. 

We are going to one such party today to celebrate a family member's baby's 1st birth day. It is not a day I want to miss out on, so I offered to make things easier for the host by cooking our own meal and bringing some to share. There are so many options for delicious dishes that can be brought to a picnic, party, or any gathering.

I searched on the Vegetarian Times web site and found this recipe. This will be my first time making it, I will be tweaking it a bit, adding a few more veggies than it calls for. Hopefully it will be received well by every one.

Always make sure to rinse the quinoa thoroughly to remove any toxins, I soak mine for about 10 minutes, rinse and then soak again for another 10 minutes, then rinse it again before using it. This will ensure that the quinoa is not bitter and is safe to consume. 

Peruvian Baked Quinoa and Cheese

Serves 8

Think of this recipe as a protein-packed, gluten-free alternative to mac ’n’ cheese.

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 medium leek, white and pale green parts halved and sliced (1 cup)
• ½ cup diced red bell pepper
• ½ cup diced green bell pepper
• 1 ½ cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 1 ½ cups grated Cheddar cheese (4 oz.), plus more for sprinkling, optional

1. Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and bell peppers; cover, and cook 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in quinoa and garlic, and cook, uncovered, 3 to 4 minutes, or until quinoa grains turn opaque.

2. Add 3 cups water, and season with salt. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 3 to 4 minutes more, or until most liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 13- x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Whisk together eggs and milk in large bowl. Fold in quinoa mixture and cheese. Transfer to prepared baking dish, and bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until browned around the edges and on top.

Gluten free/vegetarian dinner

Gluten free and vegetarian does not have to mean bland or boring food. A few nights ago I made the above dish, to rave reviews from my children.

Baked sweet potatoes, mashed with butter, milk and salt. Steamed carrots and broccoli with a little bit of salt. Sauteed dinosaur kale and red onions, seasoned with salt and pepper. Dinosaur kale has a sweeter taste than regular curly kale. Along with the mashed potatoes I sauteed leeks, green onions, green peas and toasted walnuts. Baked sweet potatoes have a sweeter and creamier taste than just boiling sweet potatoes and then mashing them like regular mashed potatoes. ( I know from experience)

The flavors of each vegetable complemented each other beautifully and there were no left overs :).

For extra color you can saute some red and yellow peppers seasoned with salt and pepper as another side dish.

Home made Chinese food

  When I was a teen and young adult I loved Chinese food. I loved it so much I went to work at my then best friend's parent's Chinese restaurant as an order taker. Along with the minimum wage pay, I got to eat as much authentic Chinese food as I wanted. When I got older I realized that I had an averse reaction to MSG. So my choices in restaurant were limited to those who cooked sans MSG. Now I realize that almost all restaurants will say they do not add MSG to their food, but that it not true of all of them. I know because I've eaten at many places that claim they do not use it, but I still had a reaction.
Then once I got married our choices were limited to those who did not cook with lard or msg. Then our favorite restaurant changed chefs, our favorite dishes were no longer made the way we liked them and instead of looking for another restaurant we decided to try and make our own food at home.

 This led to my search of all different Chinese food dishes. I found a few good ones, that we all really enjoy.  Some come from recipe books and some I found online... there are so many options, you are sure to find a few that you really like.

Tonight for dinner I made chicken and bok choy stir fry with jasmine rice. I found this easy and delicious recipe online one day while searching for ideas to cook bok choy.

Ingredients:

3 medium chicken breasts, boneless and skinless  (I use 1 or 2)
3 large bok choy stalks with leaves (I use about 4 or 5)
       Marinade
1TB Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 green onion, diced
2 tbs cornstarch
       Sauce
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth  (I use vegetable broth)
2 TB water
1 tsp white rice vinegar
1/2 tsp black rice vinegar
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
       Other
1 tspn cornstarch
4 tspn water
4 to 5 tbspn oil for stir-frying as needed

Preparation:

Cut the chicken into thin strips about 2 inches long. Add the rice wine or sherry, green onions and the cornstarch. Marinade the chicken for 30 minutes.

While the chicken is marinading prepare the bok choy and the sauce.  Separate the bok choy leaves and  stalks, and cut both cross-wise into thin strips.

Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside. Combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat wok and add 2 TB oil. When oil is ready, add the chicken and stir-fry until it turns white and is nearly cooked. (stir-fry in 2 batches if necessary). Take the chicken out of the wok and put aside in a bowl.

Clean out the wok and add 2 to 3 tbsnp. oil. When oil is ready, add the bok choy stalks. Stir-fry briefly, then add the leaves.
Push the bok choy up to the sides of the wok and add the sauce in the middle. Turn up the heat to bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch/water mixture to the sauce and stir rapidly to thicken. Add the chicken, mix thoroughly and serve hot.

I like to make plain jasmine rice to accompany this dish. The rice takes about 15 or 20 min. to cook so it's perfect as the dish only takes about 20 min. or so to cook.

I can never find black rice vinegar so I just add a few more tspns. of the rice wine vinegar. I also slice red onions and add them to the bok choy stalks.  I like my chicken well cooked so I thoroughly cook it, then when it comes time to add it to the mixture I cook the whole thing for another five minutes or so. If you see that the sauce has gotten too thick add some more veggie broth to thin it out.  I use home made veggie broth with no salt so I add salt to the dish while the sauce/cornstarch mixture is cooking. If you are using canned/boxed broth I'd advise not to add extra salt as the broth already has a high sodium content.

gluten free lunch (Tuna and lettuce roll ups)

My daughter and I have discovered that our bodies do not react very well to the gluten in wheat products. This has meant having to alter some of our food choices... not an easy feat since bread and pasta play a pretty big role in our diet. Especially lunch. One idea that I had was instead of tuna salad sandwiches I'd try to make tuna and lettuce roll ups. I tried it last week for the first time to rave reviews from all my kids. Even my youngest who is not crazy about tuna said she really liked this. 

It's an easy and healthy option to a quick lunch. I decided to make it again today.

For the tuna I used two 6 oz. cans of tuna in water with half salt, a few table spoons of no egg mayonnaise, 1 grated carrot, a quarter of a red onion chopped fine, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and black pepper to taste. Mix it all together in a bowl, spoon some of it into a piece of romaine lettuce leaf and roll it up, rolling toward the stem of the leaf.  Flatten slightly so the tuna spreads to the edges of the lettuce leaf and serve. We were each able to have 3 pieces. (so that's 12 pieces)

I do not recommend having tuna more than 1x a week because of the mercury that can be found in the tuna.