Eat Well: Quinoa Base that's Ace

The following post was written by my mom, WWW, who is currently at my house taking care of me because I am now home from DC/dead with sickness. Thank you x 798789789, Mom. 

Rebecca's daily lunch salad

I know Rebecca and I have worn out our welcome in the quinoa department, but I hope you don’t mind if I share with you one more SIMPLE and delicious quinoa recipe that is adaptable as a base for whatever you want to add.  Quinoa is such an amazing complete protein for those of us who don’t eat meat and it isn’t a grain for those of you who like to limit your grain intake.

Rebecca's Informal Gathering Salad
Rebecca's Quinuevos Rancheros Blueberry & Pine Nut Salad
Rebecca's Terriyaki Tempeh with Quinoa and Baby Bok Choy 

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Rebecca's BLD Veggie Quinoa 

Quinoa Mdarda

I personally like it better than rice or couscous as a side dish.  The other thing I want to give a shout-out to this week is Better Than Bouillon Vegetable base for both its economy as well as its wonderful flavor as a substitute for boxed vegetable broth.  

It is vegan, gluten free, and has less sodium than conventional bouillon.  I also love the mushroom one for making mushroom gravy. They have many other flavors, too, including No Chicken Base, No Beef Base, Lobster Base, Clam Base, and lots more.  (Some are organic and some aren’t.) I have stopped buying the boxed broths as they are much more expensive and don’t have nearly the flavor. (One jar of Better Than Bouillon makes the same amount of broth as 9 ½ quart boxes of vegetable broth—all for about  $5.00-$8.00 a jar, depending on whether or not it is organic.) That said, quinoa and Better Than Bouillon make a perfect pair. Just add some browned onions and whatever vegetables you want and you have a complete meal. I like adding my sprouted lentils and beans for added protein and texture.  I add them at the end of the cooking time so they stay a little crunchy. I use a little less water than is usually called for because I don’t like my quinoa too wet and clumpy.

Scrumptious Quinoa Base

1 ½ cups quinoa, rinsed well and drained well

2 ¾ cups filtered water

2 ½ teaspoons Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base

1 large onion, cut into wedges from pole to pole

Olive oil

1.  Put oil in a heavy pan on high until hot.  Add onion wedges and cook until brown around the edges and flavorful, stirring frequently.  Set aside. 

2.  Combine water and quinoa and bring to a boil.  Add bouillon and stir well to dissolve. Turn down heat to low and cover for 12 minutes.

3.  Uncover pot of quinoa and cook an additional 5-7 minutes or until all water has been absorbed and quinoa is fluffy and translucent.  Stir in the browned onions.

This is the base.  For sprouted lentils, add 1 cup after 12 minutes when you uncover the quinoa. 

For vegetables, roast, stir fry, or steam cauliflower, carrots, spinach, peas, cabbage, or other veggies and add at end with browned onions.

In other news, I wasn’t aware that you could eat the WHOLE fava bean, pod and all, until recently. 

They are delicious roasted at 425 until brown (about 15 minutes) and seasoned with salt and pepper (or of course my favorite Vital Salts trufflesalt).  

You can eat the whole pod or squish out the beans (like edamame) and eat the pod separately.  Or, you can separate beans and pods and cook each separately.  Steam the beans and fry the chopped pods in oil on high until brown.  Add to crispy onions for even more flavor.  Fava beans are awesome to grow since you can eat everything… the leaves, the pods, and the beans.  I also wanted to mention that for those of you who want to grown favas, here is the variety I planted. They have especially long pods with very tender and tasty beans.

Enjoy!

Love,

WWW