Despite

having got up this morning and gone to the gym and the market, I am wrecked. My partying has finally caught up to me and I am in a momentous amount of pain.
Oh, and I threw up a few times.

So, ambitiously, I made this to bring to my friend's birthday of food and drinks and sadly, I can't move. And I think if I have thrown up, other people should probably not be exposed to this. Even though it is a really good salad.

*Sad face*

Excuse the shitter than usual photo, I kind of didn't care by the time I finished and this is the strange lighting we have in the house in the late afternoon.

Don't eat this unless you want to contract the plague in your brains.
Um, but feel free to make it.

1/2 pumpkin, cleaned, skin still on, diced
1 red onion, halved and sliced
1 stalk of rosemary, stolen from the neighbour's front garden
sage, torn
2 cloves of garlic, diced
salt
pepper
salt
oil

1 handful of hazlenuts
half that of walnuts
A few big handfuls of baby spinach leaves

1/2 a block of feta (don't ask me what type, I just stood at the counter asking the person at the counter at the market until I liked one...I know, irresponsible blogging), diced

Dijon mustard, the dregs in the bottom of the jar (probably 2 teaspoons)
Extra virgin olive oil (a few glugs)
salt
pepper
juice of 1 small lemon
honey (to taste)

Preheat the oven to 200 and combine the pumpkin, onion, salt, pepper, sage, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper and oil and place on a baking tray. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
In the last 10 minutes, throw in the nuts.
Meanwhile, whisk together the mustard, oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and honey until you have a dressing balanced to your liking.
Crush the nuts.
In a large salad bowl, throw in your spinach leaves and the cooked pumpkin and etc. Stir to wilt the leaves a little. Mix in the nuts and the feta and dress with the dressing so that it is coated, but not leaving a pool a the bottom.
Serve with crusty bread and apologise to your chicken friend.

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.