I made hippy food and I didn't even know it.

And that upset me.

I scrounged around for food-stuffs in a very lacking home and found some quinoa left from a meal I made a while back there. And it wasn't infested with weevlis. Meh, it was good.
And gluten free.
And egg free.
And vegetarian.

I know...it's horrendous.
I can't even make some sarcastic title about it to make myself feel better. Don't worry, I bathe and use bleached paper when printing assignments.

Quinoa Fritters.
Makes 20-ish.

2 handfuls of white quinoa
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
salt
pepper
1/2 a market bag of baby spinach, washed
1/2 bunch of parsley, finely chopped.
1 medium sized eggplant
2 handfuls of grated parmesan
1-2 handfuls of mungbean sprouts
cashew butter, or a few handfuls of cashews pounded into butter with a mortar and pestle

Cook the quinoa with twice the amount of water as there is quinoa for 15-20 minutes with the sliced garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, grill the eggplant, peel and set aside.
When the quinoa is cooked, add the spinach and parsley and stir till wilted, throw in the parmesan and mungbean sprouts and stir. Add the eggplant while warm with a few tablespoons of cashew butter, to taste. Season with salt and pepper.

You'll have a weird looking mixture like this.
Gross...innit?

Now, heat a skillet on a high heat and fry off the fritters in tablespoons. Make sure the pan is really hot, or they will stick to the pan. You'll need to do them for about 3 minutes on each side. And no, if they stick, it doesn't mean you need more oil, it just means your pan needs to be hotter. Don't be afraid.
Or, alternatively, you could deep fry these fuckers.
But, I didn't...your choice.


Serve with a wedge of lemon.

Quinoa makes a come back.

Nothing much to say, more kitchen-bitching.

Quinoa Salad
serves 8

2 cups of cooked quinoa
1 bunch of parsley, leaves only, roughly torn by hand
1/3 bunch of mint, leaves only, shredded
2 bunches of broccolini
500 g fresh peas, podded
2 bunches of baby asparagus, sectioned
2 handfuls of almonds and walnuts, roasted and chopped
goats curd
1 lemon
salt
pepper

Mix the quinoa and herbs together while warm. Blanch the broccolini, peas and asparagus and add to the quinoa mix and toss. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Dollop goats curd over the top and top with the nuts and serve.

In English, please.

I made quinoa. As I said, I needed to get back into it, and well, I did. Not only did I make the quinoa, but I also watched Twin Peaks with my wife while it rained.

I believe that would be called a little bit perfect.

And just to benefit people who are unsure of what this hippie food it, it's a grain. Well, technically, a leafy plant. But, it is gluten free, about 14-16 percent protein and tastes nutty. Personally, I love it, and I love the texture, but of course, like all foods, it is subjective. When I made this meal, my wife commented on how she would be afraid of growing muscle right after eating. I quickly corrected her and said that she didn't exercise other than bike-ride anyways. That, and she ended up having about 3 dinners in one sitting. And that isn't saying that she had three serves, I served her three meals on request.


Another story for another day.

So, this is what quinoa looks like. Well, ok, it is in a pot with some water getting ready to be cooked, but you get the idea.




Oh, and I almost forgot...it is pronounced "Keen-wah."




I would have given you an overabundance of photos, but I really couldn't be bothered uploading them today, to be honest. It's been a rough day, and not in Garfield "it's Monday" hard, but in the, "if-I-shaved-my-fingers-off-with-a-knife-it-wouldn't-have-made-a-difference" hard.

Warm Quinoa Salad
Serves 4
1 cup quinoa, uncooked
2 eggs
6 dutch carrots, cut in 2cm lengths
1/2 head of broccoli, florets sectioned and stem diced
1/2 punnet off cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and sectioned
1/2 block of firm tofu
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 bunch of silverbeet, washed, ribs diced and leaves sliced in 1 inch thicknesses
1 spanish onion, thinly diced
2 handfuls of walnuts
rice bran oil
extra virgin olive oil
Merideth marinated goat's feta, 2 cubes, crumbled
Hummus
Lemon

Put the quinoa in a pot and bring to the boil with 2 cups of water. Cook for 15 minutes or till the water has soaked in and the quinoa tastes cooked.
Set aside in a large bowl
Meanwhile, cook the eggs till they are hardboiled, peel and quarter lengthways.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and roast the carrot, broccoli, and tomatoes for 20 mintues in rice bran oil and season to taste.
While this is happening, dice the tofu and fry off in a hot pan till crunchy and browned and season to taste.
Now, roast the diced onion and asparagus with oil and seasonings.
While this is happening, saute off the silverbeet with the garlic and season to taste.
Roast the walnuts in a pan and crush.
Combine all the cooked ingredients and nuts in the bowl with the quinoa and mix. Crumble the feta throughout the quinoa.
Serve with a dollop of hummus and a wedge of lemon.




It may be hideous, but it was fucking awesome. Omnomnom.