Weekly Lunch: Quinoa with Black Bean Hummus

Are you familiar with jicama? I have enjoyed this vegetable in restaurant salads for a few years now, but have never purchased one or cooked one myself. Actually, I don't know if anyone ever cooks them, or if they are only eaten raw.

Jicamas are kind of gnarly looking on the outside, but the flesh is crunchy, mild and slightly sweet - kind of like a cross between an apple and a potato. Jicama is a great addition to veggie trays, too, it is a sturdy vegetable and will stand up to a variety of different kinds of dips.

On Sunday I cooked up some plain quinoa, and I made a batch of black bean hummus (slightly spicy, with cilantro and lime). So, packing my lunch this week was a snap - couple handfuls of baby spinach, pile of quinoa, big scoop of black bean hummus, and some crunchy jicama and bell peppers (which I sliced ahead of time) on top. When I remembered, I drizzled some extra lime juice on top right before serving. Very refreshing.

I had extra black bean hummus, so I added it to some breakfast burritos I made for dinner one night, with scrambled eggs, bacon and leftover roasted potatoes. I love multitasking meals like this!

Black Bean Hummus
Makes about 2 cups

1 15-ounce can of cooked black beans, drained but not rinsed

Big handful of cilantro leaves
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons tahini paste
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin seed
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
Juice of one lime
3-4 tablespoons olive oil

Directions: Put all ingredients, except the olive oil, in a food processor or blender. Process/blend for about 10 seconds, then pour in the olive oil and continue processing until smooth.

***********

Weekly Lunch: Quinoa with Roasted Fennel, Carrot and Kale

Do you ever see a recipe, or a photo of the finished dish, and immediately know that you just have to make it? It happens to me all the time. When I saw Shauna's post on Roasted Vegetable Salad I loved the look of the roasted fennel and carrot, and I liked the idea of cooking kale in the oven, just barely, so that it wilts but isn't crispy like kale chips.

I went to the farmer's market last weekend, and even though it's early in the season, there was an abundance of beautiful produce. I got a huge bunch of lacinato kale, and I bought a fennel bulb for the first time ever. I've enjoyed it in salads before, but had never tried roasting it. I'm so glad I branched out! When was the last time you tried a new vegetable? It's been way too long for me.

From left to right: collard greens, lacinato kale, green garlic, shallots, fennel, broccoli raab, and shiitake mushrooms.

The recipe is simple. Chop some veggies (I used the fennel and a few carrots) into large chunks, toss with oil, salt and pepper, and roast in a 375F oven for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, I chopped up the kale into small pieces. After the 20 minutes, I piled the kale on top of the carrots and fennel, and put it back in the oven for about 4-5 minutes. Afterward, it looked like this:

I also cooked a pot of quinoa, and made a simple dressing with lemon juice, a splash of white wine vinegar, dijon mustard, green garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. I used a small plastic container that I can easily keep in the office refrigerator and shake up each day at lunchtime.

Mix it all together and top with goat cheese and a hard boiled egg. I love how the fennel got so caramelized. The sweet roasted veggies, slightly bitter kale, tangy goat cheese and lemon juice dressing was a great combo.

Weekly Lunch: Waldorf Quinoa Salad

I am totally digging my lunch this week! I wanted something a little different, and I thought, "fruit!" I hardly ever put fruit in my salads but I am starting to rethink this...

Here's a fun riff on a waldorf salad. No mayo, but instead a creamy, tangy yogurt-based dressing. I topped each serving with a hard boiled egg for a protein boost.


Waldorf Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups quinoa
2 cups water or vegetable stock

1 cup walnuts
5 stalks celery
2 large apples
4 oz. baby arugula
Hard boiled eggs (optional)

1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
Pinch of salt, several grinds of black pepper


Directions:
Bring the water/stock to a boil in a medium saucepan. If using water, add a pinch of salt. Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer, then add to the boiling water. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 5-10 minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking, toast the walnuts either in a 350 degree oven or on the stove over medium heat, for about 8-10 minutes. Chop the celery. For the apples, I chopped enough for 1-2 days at a time, then sprinkled a little lemon juice on top.

In a small jar or other sealable container, mix the yogurt, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Shake well before using.

Mix the quinoa with the celery, apples, walnuts, and arugula, then drizzle with the dressing just before serving. Top with a hard boiled egg if desired.

*******************************

Here are a couple of other things I am digging this week:

A new batch of granola bars with chocolate chips and dates, (and, surprisingly, no more sugar than my regular granola bars). The chocolate was requested by my sweetie. Who says women are the only ones who love chocolate?

And, finally...

YAY! It's about time!

Weekly Lunch: Broccoli Pesto Quinoa

Time for a shock: I used a recipe for this week's lunch! An honest-to-goodness recipe!

Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks is a big source of inspiration for both recipes and photography. When I first saw her recipe for Double Broccoli Quinoa I was skeptical - broccoli pesto? Really? But I've been eating a lot of broccoli these days, and I'm starting to get sick of it. So I decided to give this recipe a try, and I'm glad I did - it's really garlicky and nutty with this great freshness from the broccoli and lemon juice.

Also, I don't use slivered almonds enough. Something about the size is just perfect in salads.

 

I love the color of this pesto. So bright and refreshing in January! In addition to the broccoli, it contains toasted almonds, grated parmesan, garlic, and lemon juice.

Mix pesto with quinoa and you get greenoa!

I bulked up the dish with some chickpeas (of course), a hard boiled egg, and some sesame seeds. I promise the quinoa is underneath all of the deliciousness!

 

I used the leftover broccoli pesto to make chicken tenders! First, I spiked the pesto with a little sriracha, then I mixed about a cup of panko breadcrumbs with some smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Then I spread the pesto all over the chicken tenders, dredged them in the breadcrumbs, and placed on a metal rack on a baking sheet. Sprayed with an oil sprayer, then baked for about 15-20 minutes (you could pan-fry too) and they turned out really well. The chicken stayed moist, and the pesto turned it into something different and a little special!

I want to use more actual recipes this year. I have some great cookbooks but rarely use them!

Weekly Lunch: Chickpeas and Quinoa (again) with Delicata Squash

You may be able to detect a formula with my weekly lunches by now: some kind of whole grain, some kind of legume, a couple of veggies, and one or two "extras" like cheese or nuts. Add in a simple vinaigrette and you have lunch!

Luckily, it's a formula that allows for a lot of variety, so I don't get bored with it. The star of this week's show was a lovely delicata squash - one of my favorites. Here is what I did with it:

1. Peel your squash with a vegetable peeler. Unless of course you have a thick-skinned squash, in which case you will need to use a sharp knife. Delicata tend to have a thinner skin so a veg peeler works well, which is one of the reasons I like them so much.
2. Cut the peeled squash in half, lengthwise, and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. If you are not lazy, you can free the seeds from the squash innards, parboil them in salted water, and roast them! But this was a small squash (with a small number of seeds) so I decided it wasn't worth the effort.
3. Cut the squash halves into slices, then cut the slices into 1/2" chunks. 
4. Toss the squash chunks with equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar (I used about 1 tbs. each for my small squash) and a bit of salt and pepper. 
5. Spread squash chunks on a foil-lined baking sheet (again, laziness requires easy cleaning) and place in a preheated 375F oven for about 20 minutes. I usually check on them halfway through and turn them over to encourage even browning. 
6. Try not to eat them all in one sitting!

And here is the finished product: baby greens, quinoa, canned chickpeas, toasted hazelnuts, a sprinkle of feta, the lovely squash chunks, and my favorite balsamic-mustard vinaigrette. Yum!!

Weekly Lunch: Chickpea Salad #2 (with Quinoa)

This salad is all about late-summer abundance. Roasted cherry tomatoes, purple (!) bell peppers, cucumber, and parsley join up with some feta cheese, chickpeas and quinoa, dressed simply with a drizzle of walnut oil and lemon juice.

For the roasted tomatoes, I took a pint of yellow and orange grape tomatoes, cut them in half, tossed with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and placed them in a baking dish with the cut sides facing up. Into a 375F oven for 30-40 minutes until the tomato skins look partially caramelized. This is a matter of preference. Sometimes I prefer to use a lower heat for a longer period of time to allow the tomatoes to dry out more and become almost chewy.