VegMoms

Monday It’s Vegan Night: We serve two incredible quinoa salads at the natural foods market where I work, one with black beans, the other cranberries and walnuts. I love quinoa and I know other people do, too. But I think a lot of people don’t even try this protein-packed ancient grain because they’re veg and don’t want to butcher anything, including this word’s pronunciation.

Well, at this point in the history of ethic food availability in America, ordering something made of quinoa (keen-wah, for the record) is kind of like going into a confessional and being afraid you’re the first one to tell the priest your particular sin. Trust me, anyone who works anywhere with quinoa has heard them all: “Qu-own-a”, “Kin-I-wa”, “Quin-wa”, “That curly stuff,” “Whatever the hell that is,” etc.

Just order it or make it yourself so you don’t have to say it. It’s great for you and tastes amazing. Light, nutty, filling. Here’s one of my favorite quinoa recipes from one of the best all-time veg cookbook authors, Jay Solomon, in his classic The Global Vegetarian.

Vegetable Quinoa Bake

1 TB canola oil

1 med yellow onion

8-10 med button mushrooms (I like baby bellas here instead, cut in small chunks)

1 large green or red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (optional, don’t use if serving to kids)

1 small zucchini, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups water

1 and 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained (important! if you don’t rinse it’s bitter)

2 cups peeled, diced butternut squash or red kuri squash

1 cup peeled, diced carrots

1 cup chopped kale, spinach or escarole

1 and 1/2 TB dried parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper (if using), zucchini and garlic and saute for about 5 to 7 min. Stir in the water, quinoa, squash, carrots, kale and seasonings and bring to a boil.

Transfer mixture to a 9 by 13 inch casserole dish and cover. Bake for 30 to 40 min, until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from oven and fluff with fork. Let stand five min before serving. Yum!

(page 88, The Global Vegetarian. by Jay Solomon published in 1995 by Contemporary Books)

Friday’s Vegan Gourmet…Broccoli Rabe (a.k.a. Rapini) is my favorite new yumilicious vegetable and an amazing source of protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron and calcium. The nutritional values in this superfoodare unreal, and the taste in a leafy green is unparalleled: peppery, dense, crisp yet chewy. Plain old broccoli seems so pedestrian after eating broccoli rabe that I don’t know if I can return to eating it with anything but disappointment. So tonight my husband prepared a broccoli rabe topping, inspired by a recipe in Giada De Laurentiss’ Everyday Italian, one of our favorite Italian cookbooks we use recipes from to veganize. We topped some quinoa I had made with it and it was a Friday night dinner to remember. The amount of protein from the broccoli rabe and quinoa trumps almost any meat dinner without question.

Here’s the recipe for the broccoli rabe (For the quinoa, just follow package directions).

3 TB cashews

4 bunches of broccoli rabe, 1 in. off of stems cut off

1/4 cup olive oil

3 garlic cloves, slivered

1/2 tsp dried crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries

1.) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Working in batches cook the broccoli rabe in the boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 1 min.

2.) Transfer the blanched broccoli rabe to a large bowl of ice water to cool.

3.) Drain.

4.) In a large heavy skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, cashews and red pepper flakes and saute until garlic is golden, not burnt!

5.) Add the broccoli rabe, dried fruit and 1/4 tsp salt to pan, and toss to coat.

6.) Cook until the stems are tender, about 5 mintues.

7.) Place over quinoa. Enjoy!