Kate's Kitchen: Asian Fried Quinoa

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Asian Fried Quinoa

Do chocolate biscotti count as a spring vegetable? How about blueberry muffins? Or homemade semolina pizza dough? I suppose the latter could be topped by spring vegetables and thereby qualify as my April Blogger C.L.U.E. Society post. But, I was determined to find a recipe chock full of veggies. Little did I imagine that I’d find THIS recipe. This bowl full of awesomeness!!!

Kim's blog is chock full of wonderful recipes so I always have an easy time finding something I want to make. In this case, I found a recipe that not only met the month's assigned theme of spring vegetables but also met my easy to make during moving requirement. Yes, you read that right. We're moving. Long story short, we looked at renovating our current home and adding on a bit. But, we still had a master bedroom and laundry on the 2nd floor problem. We hired an architect, got quotes and about had heart failure over said quotes. An appraiser concurred with us and said it wasn't a smart move. So, we called our intrepid friends Joe and Susan and asked them to see what kind of inventory was available. On house number eight we hit gold. Three days later after the usual back and forth, we had an accepted purchase offer. And, six weeks to get our house packed up. Seven boxes a day is my goal. We're running a bit behind that but have still made good progress. Needless to say, complicated cooking is out of the question. We'll be focusing on grilling for the next month or so. Actually as I type this, it's five weeks and two days!

Here's my confession and funny story about my moving addled brain... One of the rules with Blogger C.L.U.E. is that we're not supposed to make major changes to the recipe. Kim had listed what she'd included and what she'd not included. Here's a link to her post so you can see: Asian Fried Quinoa. We'd gotten home late and Connie had immediately headed to the store for a few things. Then, as I started to assemble the ingredients the doorbell rang. The guy to do the quote for washing the windows after we move out and before we list this house. Back to assembling ingredients. Doorbell again. Quote is ready. When Mom lived in her condo, Rick did her windows. Conversation ensued. As he left, Connie got home. Update on lots of things. The quinoa went into a saucepan to toast. I started chopping veggies. Connie and I were talking about what we'd need to work on packing next. I grabbed a can of vegetable broth out of the pantry. Now, here's where I got REALLY lucky. I was cutting Kim's recipe in half. My brain knew to do one-to-one on the liquid even if I didn't have a recipe that said so. Thank goodness for habits! Veggies went into a skillet to cook. Once they were almost done I moved them to the side and cracked in a couple of eggs. Quinoa was done. The dish went together. We sat down at the dining room table and Connie asked me about the quinoa and why it was so much like couscous. OMG!!! This IS couscous. The quinoa is in a different place in the pantry. So, I made a huge change to Kim's recipe. Couscous is not nearly as healthy as quinoa. And, my guess is not as flavorful in this dish. But, my friends, I have now proven that the dish can be equally well made with couscous! And, it was still fabulous!

Now, you have the opportunity at the end of this post to go visit my fellow Blogger CLUE members. Believe me, they're all wonderful cooks and will be sharing some delightful recipes. Personally , I can't wait to see what they've all made!!

Asian Fried Quinoa (or Couscous if you're a doofus like me...)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c quinoa
3 c water or vegetable broth
2 T olive oil
1 T sesame oil
1 1/2 chopped medium onion
1/4 c chopped shallot (didn't use)
4 large garlic cloves
2 T grated fresh ginger
1 c finely chopped green onions
1 c diced carrots
2 c shredded baby bok choy or spinach
1 c finely diced celery
2 c shredded napa cabbage or slaw mix
1 c diced sugar snap peas or asparagus
3 T low sodium soy sauce
2 large eggs

Directions:

You can use either a large skillet and a small skillet plus a large saucepan or you can use a large skillet and a large saucepan. I used the latter. Get your mis en place ready. That means having everything cut and ready to go.

Put the carrots in one bowl. the onion, shallot, celery, green onions, cabbage and snap peas can be combined in another. The spinach in yet another. Cook your quinoa in the vegetable broth. The original recipe called for toasting the quinoa first. Kim said she tried it both ways and both tasted fabulous. In the large skillet, heat 2 T of olive oil to shimmering. Add the carrots. Cook until they're slightly softened.

Add the sesame oil and the bowl of mixed vegetables. Stir fry until the veggies are slightly softened. Add the spinach and soy sauce and stir fry until the spinach is just wilted.

Now, you've got two choices here. You can crack a couple of eggs over the veggies or you can fry them sunny-side up separately. I chose to do them at the side. Combine the veggies and the quinoa and either top with the egg or enjoy the fact that the eggs are already incorporated... Inhale!

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