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Showing posts with label quinoa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quinoa. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Autumn Muffins (GF and Vegan)

Dog, seen on bike ride
Until recently, I worked at an Inn, where I made breakfast for people a lot. I love this work, because as you're probably aware (if you're a regular reader), I enjoy feeding people and forming a connection with others and with the environment via the things we put in our bodies. For me, cooking for others -- and eating with others -- creates a sense of community that I think is often overlooked in the way we usually run our lives. Unfortunately, a lot of the time at the inn, I made one of a dozen or so dishes and it quickly becomes pretty routine. I didn't always get to talk to our guests after they've finished their meal (there are so many things to do at an inn!), and I only had the opportunity to try one new recipe on guests (and this isn't it).

Happily, however, one of my co-workers (we'll call her J) and I started eating brunch together after work about once a week -- it was a wonderful opportunity for us to just relax, to talk about life, and generally hang out. We worked together in the kitchen, lovely change from the Sunday evening cooking I do for a handful of friends, and reminiscent of the Friday breakfasts I shared with friends when I lived in the Midwest.

Tree, no pretty leaves yet...
These breakfasts also presented an opportunity for me to actually feel inspired to try new things, or to make modifications to recipes I didn't like as much the first time around but see potential in. That's what happened with these muffins, which were inspired by a non-vegan recipe from my food co-op. These muffins are moist and taste like autumn -- perfect as the weather starts too cool off. Lately, I've even seen a few trees with red and yellow leaves!

We had these vegan, gluten-free muffins with a lovely veggie saute, made entirely with veggies from J's garden. They rise well, are moist, and hold together nicely (especially for a gluten-free product). If you decided to make these in loaf pans, you could definitely do that and because it holds together well, you could probably turn it into french toast (easier if you're not vegan). Afterward, we went for a bike ride together, and these muffins combined with the veggies, gave us plenty of energy for a 20 mile trip.

Don't let the ingredient list intimidate you. If you're already gluten-free, you probably have many of these ingredients around -- and if you're not, but are cooking for someone who is, these ingredients are available at most grocery stores. If you like nuts (I don't in baked goods), consider sprinkling a few chopped walnuts on the top of the muffins before throwing them in the oven.

Autumn Muffins (Gluten-Free)
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1 medium, overripe banana, well mashed
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup water
15 ounces roasted butternut squashed (mashed)
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup quinoa or millet flour
2 teaspoons guar gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup chopped dates, raisins, or dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil muffin tins*, or line with paper liners. Beat flax seed, banana, oil, agave, and water until creamy. Fold in butternut squash.

In a separate bowl, sift together all dry ingredients (brown rice flour through nutmeg). Fold the wet and dry ingredients together. Fold in coconut and dried fruit. The batter should be pretty thick, but add more water if it's the consistency of extra-firm cookie dough. Divide batter into muffin cups (3/4 full). Bake 25-30 minutes, until tops begin to brown and spring back lightly when touched. Allow to cool for five minutes before removing from the pan.

Serve warm. Store in an airtight container, and refrigerate after the first day. Keeps 2-3 weeks in the freezer.

*I come out with 12 regular sized muffins, plus 1 mini-loaf (which cooks another 10-15 minutes.
The Muffins!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Butternut Squash Quinoa Oat Burgers

Sundays are "family dinner" night with my roommate and several of our friends. The actual number of us any given Sunday is between two and four, with occasional exceptions. I love Sunday dinners because it means



1) I'm actually eating with other people
2) I often get the opportunity to cook for others
3) Everyone's willing to contribute, if asked

When I lived in the Midwest, I ate with people a lot more often than I do now and I miss the social aspect of eating with people I care about -- even if we're not actually eating the same thing (though it's nice when we are). Sundays help fill this gap.

In the skillet
One recent Sunday dinner, there were just going to be two of us and I decided I wanted to make veggie burgers (just fyi, if you're wondering, most store-bought veggie burgers contain gluten). I thought about asking the woman who was coming to bring GF buns, but then decided we could just throw the burgers on corn tortillas since I already had those around and we're both operating on a budget. I thought I had an old can of beans at home, bought in the fall before I decided to stop buying cans of beans in favor of just making my own beans from dried and freezing some for later use. As it turns out, I didn't. And the only beans I had prepped were chickpeas. No thanks, not for this.

What I had instead was a can of butternut squash (bought cheap, organic, and still in date, don't worry). I decided to work with it and this recipe is what resulted. The nice thing about this is that the butternut squash acts as a really good binder, the oats help absorb extra liquid and add a little fiber, and the quinoa provides plenty of protein. I served this with homemade sweet potato fries (oven baked). Play with the spices a bit, if these don't appeal to you.

Butternut Squash Quinoa Oat Burgers
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon hot chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon onion powder, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cardamom

1 14-ounce can organic butternut squash (or equivalent fresh -- baked & pureed)
1/2 cup gluten-free* rolled oats (not quick or instant)
Oil

Cook the quinoa in the water, simmering over medium heat about 20 minutes or until tender and water is absorbed. Careful not to scorch the quinoa. Mix in the spices, and then combine with butternut squash and oats. Let rest for 20 minutes, to allow flavors to blend and oats to absorb extra liquid. Form into patties an appropriate size for your bun, and about 1/2-inch thick.

Cook patties on a lightly oiled pan, over medium-high heat, about 3-5 minutes per side (depends on how evenly your pan heats and how moist your squash was), until both sides are brown and firm. Serve.

*Remember, some people with gluten-sensitivity don't react well to GF oats either, so be sure to check. If you don't have gluten-sensitivities, you can use regular oats. If you, or the person you're cooking for is sensitive to GF oats, substitute rolled quinoa flakes, if available.
Done!b

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Baked Butternut Squash Oatmeal with Quinoa

My friend Rachael recently came to visit and we spent lovely days baking, cooking, hiking, and talking. One morning, we went out to breakfast. One morning we cooked together. One morning, I made this dish, based on a baked oatmeal recipe from a cookbook Rachael brought with her called Simply in Season. It seemed like a delightful base recipe to prep us for a long hike and it's nice to eat seasonal foods, even when some of my ingredients come from a can (more on this later).

Why this dish? When we were planning our day, the evening before Rachael said she'd never had baked oatmeal--not true, I reminded her. When we both still lived in the Midwest and ate breakfast together on Friday mornings with two other friends, I'd made a baked oatmeal recipe a handful of times. Baked oatmeal was something introduced to me a year ago this past summer, at a retreat center I stayed at while on a field trip focused on sustainable agriculture.

One of the lovely things about baked oatmeal is that it's warm, hearty, and can be prepped the night before. The recipe from Simply in Season did not recommend mixing everything the night before and then just sticking it in the oven. But, you could do this, I think, based on my previous baked oatmeal experiences. This is especially good if you're rushed in the morning. And, you could make this vegan by substituting the egg for either a commercial egg replacer, or a flax seed egg. You don't have to use the quinoa, if you don't have any on hand, but I wanted to include it to up the protein a little. If you decide to leave it out, you should increase the oatmeal to 2 cups.

We used butternut squash, because that's the puree I had on hand. At times, I might make my own rather than buying processed, but honestly I could pick up these cans of organic butternut puree for ridiculously cheap and it wasn't nearly as labor-intensive, and when I have butternut squash I've baked, I really just want to eat it. Immediately. You could also use pumpkin for this, or applesauce (as the original recipe suggests).

You could use pumpkin pie spice for this, if you didn't have these spices on hand, or leave the spices out entirely--the original recipe didn't use spices. I might have also added cardamom, if I'd thought about it early enough, but this combination of spices created a lovely taste reminiscent of autumn.

Note: although I've labeled this gluten-free, some people with Celiacs and gluten-sensitivity also do badly with oats, including gluten-free oats. If you are one of these people, or preparing this for someone who is gluten-sensitive or gluten-intolerant, please check to make sure GF oats are okay.

Baked Butternut Squash Oatmeal with Quinoa
Dry Ingredients
1 3/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats (GF)
1/4 cup quinoa
1/4 cup demerara sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup raisins (or other chopped, dried fruit, optional)
3 tablespoons chopped almonds (optional)*

Spices
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Wet Ingredients
1 cup milk (I used coconut)
1/2 cup butternut squash puree
1 tablespoon oil
1 egg

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix in the spices.
Add the wet ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees, in a greased 8 x 8 pan (or equivalent) 25-30 minutes, until a knife stuck in the center comes out moist, but clean. Serve warm with milk.

*I didn't incorporate the almonds, but left them chopped, on the side to be added later. You could also use walnuts or pecans, if you prefer.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Gluten-Free Yeasted Bread (Oat, Brown Rice, & Quinoa))

Multigrain Bread with Cream Cheese
When E wanted to make a creamy artichoke pasta with garlic bread, and I made her a French-style bread, I wanted to make myself bread also. I haven't done much with gluten-free yeast breads, but I do get tired of buying them, because most seem far too expensive and often don't taste that great.

In my current town, the GF bread options are better (and tastier), but still pretty expensive for the size loaves I get. I figured, if an attempt at GF bread didn't work, I could go buy one of these breads (or, more likely, go without garlic bread). But, I miss trying GF baking experiments and I'd been keeping my eye on a gluten-free bread recipe from Moosewood Daily Special for a while. Since I had some non-wheat flours on hand, I decided to give it a try--making a LOT of substitutions.

I think it turned out fairly well, and what I found interesting was that because I didn't stick it in the refrigerator for the first two days, it developed a nice sourdough flavor. It slices easily and is better toasted (much better toasted, in my opinion). Many gluten-free breads seem to be that way--better toasted. It still stays pretty moist after it's toasted, unless I leave it in our toaster oven for a long time.

The first time I made this bread, I didn't include quinoa and as you'll see here, there still isn't much--quinoa flour is expensive (about $11 for 1.5 lbs online through two different companies)! I like both ways, but the variety of grains is fun and adds complexity to the flavor. This bread is easy to make--you literally mix all the ingredients in one bowl at the same time, toss it in a greased pan and let it rise in a warm place before baking--which I appreciate, especially with a busy schedule. It doesn't feel (too) inconvenient to make myself a loaf of bread after work that will last me for a week (or more!).

I use a base of rice and oat flour here, but I know some people are sensitive to oats (use certified GF oat flour and if it bothers you, using millet works out pretty well too--but lends a very different flavor) and rice. If you have a rice allergy, check out my friend Victoria who is creating GF bread-y recipes that are also rice-free.

Multigrain Gluten-Free Bread
1 cup oat flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour or corn starch
1 tablespoon guar gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon light brown cane sugar
1 1/4 cups water
1 tablespoon dry yeast (or, if you don't buy it in bulk, 1 package, close enough)
2 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon cider vinegar

Loaf, close-up
Using a wooden spoon, combine all the ingredients. Mix pretty well--you could also do this with an electric mixer, but I think the dough is too thick if you only have a hand-held mixer. Scoop the dough into an oiled 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and smooth the top. Spray or brush the top with a light coating of vegetable oil (not imperative if you're using foil or plastic to cover the dough while it rises, definitely necessary if you're using a tea towel). Loosely cover the pan and set aside, in a warm place, to rise until the dough is even with the top of the pan, about 1 1/2 hours.

After the dough has risen for 1 1/4 hours, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the covering from the bread and bake the bread until golden brown, about 45 minutes. It's done when it sounds hollow, when tapped. Remove from the oven, invert onto a rack, and cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

Look at that paleness. Toast it first!
Again, this bread tastes fine if you eat it as slices, but is much better toasted. If you don't eat much bread, it also freezes well (slice it first and toast to warm up).

Monday, October 24, 2011

Roasted Carrot Carrot Cake (and muffins!), Gluten-Free

On a mountain
It must be fall. I'm in serious baking mode. French-style bread. Gluten-free risen bread. Monster cookies. Brownies (semi-failure). Chocolate pumpkin cake. Carrot cake. If only I had more time. The day I made this cake, I also hiked a nearby mountain with a co-worker and then volunteered to yank invasive species out of the ground at a local park for three hours in advance of Make-a-Difference Day since I'll be at work on the actual day. Then, I went home to walk S (okay, okay, hike with S) and call a couple of people who I've been playing phone tag with for a week or so. There's so much to cram into weekends.

I had this much carrot
when I gave up grating
To say the least, this cake was inspired by general feeling of "there's no way I'm going to stand here for 45 minutes and hand-grate carrots for this carrot cake," which I was making at the request of my supervisor for another co-worker who's birthday had recently passed. I said yes, because I love to bake (and I knew I could try and make it gluten-free) and when I said yes, I had no idea how much time I'd invest into other activities during my weekend.

Rather than grate the carrots, I decided to pan roast them (which I define as different from sauteing only because I didn't stir them very often at all) until they were very soft and then mash them before adding them into the cake batter. Pan roasting the carrots let me:

1) work on making dinner, which was good, since I'd only had a carrot since breakfast
2) do a little kitchen clean-up
3) mix up other cake ingredients
4) turn on Chain of Lakes because I had carrot-free hands
5) feel less irritated by the very slow process of hand-grating carrots (I did hand grate about 1/2 cup before I got fed up with the process and you could do this too, if you were so inclined--I just added the grated carrot with the mashed carrots to the cake batter.)

Roasting the carrots also makes them sweeter and deepens their carrot-y flavor.
Look at those brown sugar-spots

The base recipe for this carrot cake came from one of my favorite carrot cake recipes--a vegan recipe (though I used regular cream cheese in the images you see--I have made it the other way and actually prefer the way Tofutti  Better Than Cream Cheese tastes to regular cream cheese, but that's just me--because the person I'm making this for is neither GF or vegan).

I'm still experimenting with gluten-free flours and trying to avoid that not-so-lovely GF flavor. Since I started helping a friend out with her pie stand at the local growers market, I've heard several people say "I don't like anything gluten-free," to which I have a hard time not being snarky ("do you realize how much you eat that's naturally gluten-free?"). But to be fair, a lot of gluten-free baked things not only taste gluten-free, but they have a particularly grainy texture that's not so appealing. In this cake, I used a mixture of brown rice flour, GF oat flour, quinoa flour, and millet flour.

I poured the batter into an 8x8 pan and still had plenty of batter left to make a dozen cupcakes (muffins, I'm not adding extra sugar to them all and if I were to intentionally make them as muffins, rather than cake, I'd probably scale back the sugar by at least 1/2 a cup--I think it's far too sweet right now for muffins).

Vegan Roasted Carrot Carrot Cake (Gluten-Free)
2 pounds carrots, washed and sliced into coins
Olive oil

3/4 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup millet flour
2 teaspoons guar gum
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon each cardamom, cloves, nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup light brown cane sugar 
3/4 cup cane sugar
3 egg equivalents (I've used both flax eggs and Ener-G Egg replacers with this recipe, both work fine)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 14-oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup shredded coconut
nuts and raisins, optional

Faux Cream Cheese Frosting
(again, you could use regular cream cheese and butter if you're not vegan or preparing this for a vegan, but this is really good frosting)
1 8-oz package vegan cream cheese
1/3 cup vegan margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups vegan powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (really, you should do this after you've mashed the carrots to save energy, but this type of information is usually at the front of recipes, so here you go). Roast the carrots in a saute pan, lightly coated in oil, over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the carrots are beginning to caramelize and are very soft.

Carrots ready to pan roast
If you're under time constraints* or your carrots just don't seem to be getting soft, you can add a little water to the pan and cover it for a few minutes to steam them after they've begun to brown. Let the carrots cool a little and then mash them until you've got very few chunks. You will want about 1 1/2 cups of mashed carrots total.
Carrots, almost ready to mash--get them a little browner than this
While the carrots are roasting, in a medium bowl, mix flours, guar gum, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt.

In a large bowl, mix sugar and egg replacer until creamy (use an electric mixer if you can get your hands on one--it makes life so much easier). Add the vanilla and combine, then add the vegetable oil and mix well. Mix wet and dry ingredients together, combining well (one of the great things about gluten-free foods is that it's a bit harder to over mix). Stir in the carrots, pineapple, and coconut. Add nuts and/or raisins, if using.

Grease a pan (9" x  9" pan for a thicker cake--I promise it won't fit into an 8" x 8"--or 9" x 13" for a thinner cake) and smooth the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 40-45 minutes (for a thicker cake--reduce time if you're using a 9" x 13"), or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool entirely before frosting.

Above and Below: Roasted Carrot Carrot Cake Muffins
(1/2 of which turn into cupcakes because E requested  it)
For the frosting:

Beat together the cream cheese and margarine in a medium-large bowl until smooth. Add the vanilla and incorporate well. 1/2 cup a a time, beat in the powdered sugar. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth before adding more. The frosting should be very thick. On a humid day, you might have to add more powdered sugar.

Frosted Cupcake
*For my carrots to get soft enough to mash, it took about 45 minutes of pan roasting in a medium-large saute pan over medium to medium-high heat and I did add about 1/4 of water and let them steam for about 10 minutes at the end to make sure all the carrot coins would mash pretty well.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

4 Grain Pilaf (aka at last, something besides amaranth "grits"!)

A while back, I bought some amaranth because it's a good source of vegetarian protein. Little did I know that the primary recipe available on the Internet is for amaranth grits. There are a few that call for puffed amaranth, which is fine if you buy it that way but time consuming to do.

Amaranth will pop like popcorn, if you hydrate it first and then put it in a dry skillet. And like popcorn, it goes everywhere, only the "kernels" are very tiny. However, it's got a nice flavor and is great for surprising popcorn lovers.

Needless to say, my unpopped amaranth has been living in my refrigerator for a while. I try to keep my whole grains cool if I'm not going to be using them up pretty quickly. It keeps them from becoming rancid. But the other day I was in the mood for a pilaf. My two usual pilafs are made from bulgar wheat or quinoa. They're wonderful. Those recipes supported this one, which was partially gleaned from an idea on the web. The great thing about this recipe is that it's pretty flexible. If you don't have enough of one grain, add some extra of one of the others. It saves well and is good cold--I've been taking the leftovers to work for lunch.

Use veggie broth for a richer flavor, if you've got it on hand. If you like, add some dried fruit to your pilaf. I added about 1/4 cup of dried cranberries to mine because that was what I had open. It makes for a nice sweet bite.

4 Grain Pilaf

1 teaspoon olive oil
¼ medium onion, chopped
½ jalapeno, chopped (optional)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 cup amaranth
1/3 cup bulgur wheat
1/3 cup quinoa (rinsed and drained)
3 1/2 cups veggie broth or water
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
½ cup frozen green peas
1/3 cup couscous
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon garam masala
Dried fruit (optional)
Sea Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the olive oil, onion, pepper and all the seeds in a large, non-stick frying pan. Stir 1 to 2 minutes over high heat, until the seeds begin to pop and become aromatic. Add the amaranth, bulgur and quinoa and toast slightly. Add the broth and bring to a rapid boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until grains are tender, for about 20 minutes. Add the finely chopped vegetables. Add the couscous and stir to combine. Stir in the lemon juice and garam masala. Continue to simmer, covered, another 5 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed and the grains are tender. Add the dried fruit, if using. Season to taste with salt and pepper.