Tag Archives: quinoa

Wholemeal Quinoa Apple Crumble | Vegan

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A tangy base of gently cooked organic apples bursting with cinnamon topped with a crunchy, wholesome crumble. Added quinoa ups the nutrition for a healthy dessert perfect for autumn but delicious any time of year!

Wholemeal Quinoa Apple Cumble, Vegan | The Tofu Diaries

Ever since spotting that the tree in my new back garden is an apple tree, I’ve had my eye on it just waiting for the right moment to pick the fruit. To be honest, I did have to do a bit of research to be sure that the apples would be edible. Luckily said research confirmed that no apples are actually poisonous; the worst that could happen is that the apples would be very sour but still very much edible.

Wholemeal Quinoa Apple Cumble, Vegan | The Tofu Diaries

Once a couple had started to drop, it seemed the time was nigh to pick the others if I wanted a big enough batch to make something from. With a little assistance from Pete’s shoulders, some giant tongs and a lot of laughter (let’s hope no neighbours were watching) I have a batch of organic, home-grown apples that I knew were destined for my autumn favourite, apple crumble.Wholemeal Quinoa Apple Crumble | @TheTofuDiaries

My favourite kind of apple crumble is always one where the tartness of the apple shines through and there is only a hint of tempering sweetness from the crumble. That’s why this recipe doesn’t add any sugar into the stewed apples, instead there is just a sprinkling that browns on the crunchy top. You could of course change this around to suit your taste, or even skip the sugar all together for a version healthy enough to dig into for breakfast.

The addition of quinoa was an experiment that paid off; it adds an extra layer of texture and slight nutty flavour to the crumble top, already deeper in taste through the wholemeal flour. Breaking open the quinoa seeds in a pestle and mortar before mixing them in ensures that you still benefit from the nutrients inside – otherwise, unsoaked as they are, they would pass through undigested.Wholemeal Quinoa Apple Cumble, Vegan | The Tofu Diaries

I just have one more thing to add: how gorgeous is this Le Creuset mixing bowl and utensil pot? I’m slowly building up a blue theme in the kitchen – I adore mismatched crockery and kitchenware held together by a colour theme and (despite the green dish here spoiling the illusion!) these additions have fitted in a dream. I picked them up in TK Maxx at an absolute bargain of a price and am keeping my fingers crossed I see more in this colour!

Serves 6

Ingredients: 

For the filling:

700g apples, peeled, cored, chopped

100ml water

1/2tsp cinnamon

For the topping:

150g wholemeal flour

1tbsp quinoa, uncooked

125g dairy-free margarine

2-3tsp brown sugar (optional/according to taste)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to around 180C/350F/Gas mark 4.

2. In a large pan, add the chopped apples, water and cinnamon. Cook over a medium hob for around ten minutes, stirring frequently, until the fruit has softened.

3. Meanwhile, in a pestle and mortar, lightly crush the uncooked quinoa. In a large bowl add the quinoa, flour and margarine. Rub together with your fingertips (or using a fork) until it forms breadcrumbs.

4. In a large oven-proof dish, spread out the stewed apple and top evenly with the crumble mix. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top according to taste and cook in the oven for around 20-25 minutes until the topping has turned golden with a slight crunch.

5. Serve!

Wholemeal Quinoa Apple Cumble, Vegan | The Tofu Diaries

What is your favourite autumn dessert? Have you cooked with apples lately?

Superfood Snacking – Punku Quinoa Cookies

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As far as superfoods go, quinoa seems to pretty much have it all: a complete protein full of minerals and amino acids. It is low in fat, cholesterol-free, high in fibre and a good source of iron. Not only that but it is also incredibly versatile. There are a lot of recipes out there that demonstrate the creative ways it is being used, such as in baking or pizza bases (that probably deserves a whole post of its own).

I love cooking with quinoa and have featured a few of recipes on this blog such as my Spiced  Quinoa Medallions and Curly Kale Quinoa. I’ve yet to try making anything more adventurous using quinoa though, so I was excited when I recently heard about Punku’s quinoa cookies and was offered the opportunity to try them out.Punku Cookies 01Punku Cookies 02

Punku offer two varieties of cookie, orange & mango and chocolate chips, with an orange & cranberry variety on its way. Made from organic Royal Quinoa, their vegan cookies are wheat, gluten, dairy and egg-free. Deliciously crunchy, I found the cookies to be that ideal balance between satisfying my sweet cravings whilst not actually being particularly sweet in taste.

The fruity flavours of the orange & mango variety hit you immediately with a mellow nuttiness that rounds it off beautifully. The chocolate chip ones are more subtle, with just a hint of cocoa, but have a moreish quality about them.Punku Cookies 03

Each cookie comes individually wrapped in a box of twelve. This makes them really convenient for popping your bag as a snack and removes some of the temptation to scoff a whole box (as I might have done had they not been individually wrapped). I’ve been taking one of each flavour to work everyday; one to accompany my morning coffee and one to go with my afternoon coffee. That’s the theory anyway, they haven’t always made it past lunchtime. The boxes clock in at £4.99 each. The packaging is very simple and clean-looking, although I would love to see them reflect their Bolivian roots a little more.Punku Cookies 04

Punku Cookies 05The word ‘Punku’ comes from Aymara, the language native to some parts of The Andes, meaning ‘door.’ A perfect metaphor since Patricia Estivariz, Punku’s founder who grew up in Bolivia, aims to open doors both here in the UK and in Bolivia; by bringing high quality, healthy, and natural foods from Bolivia to the UK and by creating education and health programmes for their employees in Bolivia.

The impact of quinoa’s rapidly growing popularity in Western countries has pushed prices up and made growing quinoa a more attractive trade. As more families in Bolivia become dependent upon quinoa crops, it is even more important that companies behave in socially responsible ways so it really is wonderful to hear about the positive impact Punku are striving to create.

To find out more about Punku, visit their website.

Have you ever tried any unusual quinoa foods or recipes? Share below!

Spiced Spinach & Red Onion Quinoa Medallions (with Oriental Slaw & Baked Sweet Potato Chips) | Vegan

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This Asian-inspired dish is a fusion of lightly spiced, coconut-y medallions, atop a bed of slaw rich with the contrasting flavours of toasted sesame and zingy lemon, served with baked sweet potato chips.Vegan spiced spinach & red onion quinoa medallions with Oriental slaw & baked sweet potato chips | The Tofu Diaries

If you’re a regular reader, you might have picked up on my excitement about trying out new ingredients. In which case you can imagine how delighted I was at the chance to try out a couple of products from Maille to create a new recipe with as part of their ‘Maille Culinary Challenge.’

Maille have been making mustards since the 1700s so they certainly know what they’re doing. But alongside their classic Dijon and wholegrain mustards, they offer a whole array of enticing flavoured mustards and dressings that can add a whole new dimension to a dish.

For my Maille recipe, I opted to go for Soy Vinaigrette with Toasted Sesame Seeds dressing and Mustard with White Wine, Coconut and Colombo Spices, which were kindly sent to me by Maille. As soon as I spotted these two, I knew I was going to make an Asian-inspired dish; so here it is, an entirely vegan dish of spiced spinach & red onion quinoa medallions served with Oriental slaw & baked sweet potato chips. Quinoa Medallions 4 Quinoa Medallions 3

Ingredients:

For the slaw:

175g white cabbage, thinly sliced

175g red cabbage, thinly sliced

4tbsp Maille Soy Vinaigrette with Toasted Sesame Seeds dressing (here)

Juice of one lemon

Slaw method:

Add ingredients to a bowl, mix together well and leave to soak for 30 minutes.

For the sweet potato chips:

450g sweet potatoes, cut into thick chips

2tbsp olive oil

Generous amount of black pepper

Sweet potato chips method:

  1. Preheat an oven to 200c / 180C fan / gas mark 6.
  2. Pour the olive oil onto a baking tray. Place in the oven for around 4-5 minutes until the oil has heated up.
  3. Add the sweet potatoes and black pepper onto the baking tray, covering well with the hot oil.
  4. Bake for thirty minutes or until browned, turning halfway.
  5. Once the sweet potatoes have turned brown around the edges and cooked through, turn off the oven. Leave them to stand in the oven for a further five minutes – this will give them a slightly sticky, caramelised texture.

For the quinoa medallions:

100g quinoa

500ml vegetable stock

1 large red onion, chopped

2 handfuls fresh spinach, roughly chopped

½ stick lemon grass, bruised and finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2tbsp Maille Mustard with White Wine, Coconut and Colombo Spices (here)

1tsp ground cumin

1tsp paprika

½tsp chilli flakes

½tsp garam masala

½tsp turmeric

125g wholemeal flour

125ml plant milk (I used light soy milk)

Olive oil for cooking

Quinoa Medallions method:

  1. Place the quinoa is a metal sieve. Wash well – this removes the bitter coating of the quinoa.
  2. Boil the vegetable stock in a pan, add the quinoa. Stir well.
  3. Turn the heat down slightly and simmer for 15 minutes until tender.
  4. Drain, return to the pan, cover and leave to stand for 15 minutes.
  5. Now the quinoa has cooled slightly, mix in all of the ingredients (bar the flour and milk).
  6. In a separate bowl, mix the wholemeal flour and plant milk together to form a smooth batter.
  7. Add the batter to the quinoa mix, stir well until the ingredients are fully coated and evenly mixed.
  8. In a large frying pan, heat up 2tsbp olive oil on a high heat.
  9. Drop the heat down to medium low. Using your hands or a spoon, divide the mixture into palm-sized medallions, placing them directly into the frying pan. The quinoa mixture will be sticky – don’t be too concerned by the shape as the edges can be rounded off once they are in the pan using the edge of a spatula.
  10. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, until they are golden brown on the outside and cooked through on the inside. Transfer onto a piece of kitchen roll to blot away any excess oil. Depending on the size of the pan, it may be necessary to cook in two to three batches

Serve the medallions atop a serving of the Oriental slaw with the sweet potato chips on the side. Garnish with a couple of fresh spinach leaves.Quinoa Medallions 2

As a side note, this gorgeous Batik fabric that I used as my tablecloth was picked up in Cambodia a few years back. It’s made me realise how much more creative I need to be about using props!Quinoa Medallions 5

Have you tried any new ingredients recently?

Croatia Diary: Nishta, Dubrovnik

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As far as cities go, Dubrovnik was neither amazing nor terribly difficult for a vegetarian. Plenty of restaurants had English menus and most had at least one or two suitable options, largely pasta, pizza or salads (there is a distinctly Italian influence). However, there is one shining star: Nishta.

Nishta, taken from the Sanskrit word meaning ‘devotion,’ is tucked away on a small alley up and away from the main street of the Old Town Stradun. Like the majority of restaurants in this part of Croatia, the majority of seating is outside with indoor seating limited. We booked ahead for the evening by popping in during the day and were glad we had – it filled out quickly both indoors and out even on a rainy evening.

Nishta No Sushi Quinoa Nori Rolls The menu here offers vegetarian, vegan and raw food options, as well as gluten-free dishes. The only challenge faced here was actually choosing from all the delicious-sounding dishes. I was very tempted by the raw gnocchi but in the end selected the ‘No Sushi.’ These were nori salad rolls fill with avocado and vegetables, but the real twist was that instead of rice, they were made with quinoa. This variation worked a treat with the nutty flavour of the quinoa coming though. The ‘no sushi’ was served with horseradish and ginger. Yum!

My boyfriend opted for the ‘Temperitos’ burritos. These had a rich smoky sauce and the tempeh added that bit of extra texture which was ideal for him as a non-veggie (and if you are!) Both dishes were around £7.50-£8 (70-72HRK) which isn’t too bad given that Dubrovnik’s Old Town is more expensive than most parts of the country and that it is rather specialist as the only vegetarian restaurant in the Old Town.

Nishta Tempeh BurritosTo finish, I had the ‘Rawnie,’ a raw brownie with a chewy texture and, though sugar free, a heavenly dark fruity taste. Nishta’s also has a cake of the day and on this occasion we were served a chocolate orange slice – moist, tangy and chocolate-y. It was also we could do not to order a second round of desserts.

Verdict: Imaginative menu, well-presented and expertly cooked. If you’re looking for vegetarian food in Dubrovnik, this is an absolute treat.

Returning: If only! If we’d had it my way, every breakfast/lunch/dinner would have been here… sadly I only got to visit once.

Nishta’s are open March-November and you can check out their full menu and location here.

Have you visited any vegetarian restaurants lately? Let me know below if you have any recommendations!

Curly Kale Quinoa with Sweet Balsamic Beetroot

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Cooking tends to be a fairly intuitive process for me; it’s rare that I will stick to a recipe and I have been known to start cooking without fully having decided what the finished meal will actually be. Recipes are more something to look at when I need inspiration or if I don’t really know what I fancy. Well I woke up this morning with a craving for quinoa, perhaps half as a result of having dreamt about stale food during the night (no idea) and half from knowing there’s a half bag of quinoa sat unloved in my cupboard.

After browsing Pinterest for a good half hour before getting out of bed, I’d also decided I fancied beetroot and as a result I stumbled across this recipe. I love the look of the beetroot burgers (and will definitely be making them sometime!) but for now I just took the idea of finely chopped kale mixed in with the quinoa. Another amazing recipe I found is this one. Beetroot and goat’s cheese is a dreamy combo but for today, it was the idea of chopped coriander mixed into a quinoa salad that did it for me. So, armed with a few ideas I stocked up on the ingredients I’d need and here’s the result…

Curly Kale Quinoa with Sweet Balsamic Beetroot

The flavours of the quinoa strike the perfect balance between the fresh zingy flavours of the herbs and lemon with the depth of the truffle oil. Honey and balsamic vinegar give the beetroot a delicate sweetness, mixed seeds add texture and crunch.

Curly Kale Quinoa 2

Curly Kale Quinoa 3

Curly Kale Quinoa 4

Ingredients

For the quinoa:

200g Quinoa, cooked

1 tbps Truffle olive oil (or regular olive oil)

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 red onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

Handful of mushrooms, chopped

200g Kale, finely chopped

2 tbsp Fresh coriander, finely chopped

2 tbsp Fresh parsley, finely chopped

Juice of one lemon

Black pepper (plenty of)

Hungarian paprika (just a pinch)

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat, add the shallots and red onions, gently fry for around five minutes until they are softened. Add the garlic and mushrooms, stir for a few minutes until the mushrooms begin to shrink. Turn down the heat, add the curly kale, stir on the heat for a further few minutes. Once the kale has wilted, add this mixture to the already-cooked quinoa along with the coriander, parsley, lemon juice, pepper and paprika. Stir well until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

For the beetroot:

1 tbsp olive oil

3 large beetroot, cooked and chopped into mid-sized chunks

1 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Black pepper

Handful of mixed seeds (I used a mix of sunflower, pumpkin, linseed & sesame)

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat, add the beetroot, cook for a few minutes stirring frequently. Mix the honey, balsamic vinegar, and black pepper together in a bowl, add this to the cooking beetroot. Cook for around four-five minutes, stirring constantly, until the liquid has evaporated. Add the mixed seeds to the pan and mix well to lightly coat the beetroot chunks.

Serve the beetroot atop the quinoa salad and add coriander to garnish. I made this as a big batch to have for lunch over the next few days.

Curly Kale Quinoa with Sweet Balsamic Beetroot 5

This is my first ever recipe post – would love to hear what you think! Feel free to comment below^^