Quinoa stuffed mini-pumpkins

How cute are these mini pumpkins?? I love their bright orange colour and the sweet flavour. Stuffed with a quinoa-vegetable mixture they make a perfect little starter for a dinner party or just a lovely a lovely little lunch! You could add any seasonal vegetables in the mix as well as any seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, hemp, for example) or nuts (soaked or toasted almonds, toasted walnuts, etc.).

 Quinoa stuffed mini-pumpkins

(4 portions)

4 small pumpkins

1 tablespoon olive oil

100g cooked quinoa

1 carrot, grated

1 green shallot, finely sliced

1/2 lime (or lemon), juiced

pinch of salt

freshly ground black pepper

seeds, nuts (optional)

1. Cut the tops off the pumpkins and carve out the seeds. You can dry and roast these seeds and add them into the stuffing, if you like. 

2. Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the pumpkins (with their tops on) on a baking tray and drizzle with some olive oil.

3. Bake for about 20-30 minutes (depending on the size of the pumpkins) or until tender. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

4. Combine quinoa, carrot, green shallot and lime juice in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into the pumpkins. Serve warm.

Snap pea, quinoa and hemp salad

I often pick up seasonal produce from the markets without knowing exactly what I might use it for. To me, fresh ingredients are all the inspiration I need to get thinking about recipes and start cooking!

This past weekend, I picked up a big bag of gorgeously green snap peas from the market, along with a ton of other fresh vegetables, of course. I really wanted to embrace the beautiful flavour of these peas and to do that, the best way to enjoy them was raw. 

I've combined some left-over quinoa, fresh parsley from my kitchen garden, a cooling and alkalising cucumber and some nutrient-rich hemp seeds to make this delicious lunch salad. Lightly drizzled fresh lemon juice and good olive oil is all you need to enjoy these summer flavours.

Snap pea, quinoa and hemp salad

(Serves 2)

300g snap peas

100g cooked, cool quinoa

1 small cucumber

1 handful of fresh parsley

3 tablespoons hulled hemp seeds*

1/2 lemon, juiced

extra-virgin olive oil

* In Australia, hemp seeds are available online - http://www.hempgallery.com.au/

1. Shell the snap peas. Combine the peas with quinoa, chopped cucumber and finely chopped parsley.

2. Lightly toast the hemp seeds on a dry frying pan. Toss them in with the rest of the ingredients. 

3. Drizzle lemon juice and olive oil over the salad. Toss to mix.

Finnish Christmas with a Twist: Carrot-Quinoa Casserole

The realisation that Christmas is only a week away suddenly came to me whilst browsing my calendar. I had clearly been so immersed in all other activities that I had successfully closed my eyes and ears from the Christmas clutter one can bump into just about anywhere at this time of the year. I deliberately avoid all shopping centres (even when it's not Christmas) and although I've written down several reminders of Christmas gifts and cards, my mind has subconsciously swept past those notes. 

It is not too late to do my Christmas shopping, however, as I'm planning to do most of it online this year. I am concentrating on ethical gifts and my reasoning for this is simple: there are simply too many unwanted Christmas gifts shared every year, too much junk that is forgotten in the far corners of your home and never looked at again. Christmas is about giving, right? So why not give a gift that passes on the goodness, a gift that gives?

There are plenty of options available for these ethical gifts. Here in Australia websites like Oxfam and other charity organisations offer suitable options for all budgets. If you're unsure about donating to international organisations, why not look for a local institution or organisation to support? I'm sure many of them will be more than delighted to receive donations at this time of the year.

Christmas shopping aside, this carrot-quinoa casserole continues my "Finnish Christmas with a Twist" series. Traditionally, this casserole is made with rice porridge, but to lift up the protein and nutrients content, I've used quinoa instead. I've replaced bread crumbs with almond meal and left out the syrup that is traditionally used to sweeten this dish. The organic carrots I bought from the farmers markets were so sweet they needn't any extra help! This is a perfect addition to my Christmas table.

 

Carrot-Quinoa Casserole*

(serves 4)

1kg carrots (sweet, organic)

1 cup quinoa**

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of sea salt

1 egg (free-range, organic)

3-4 tablespoons almond meal

* Update!! This recipe can also be made vegan! The egg is not necessary in the recipe. You can also use sweet potato (about 400g mashed) instead of carrot. Delicious!

** I used Tasmanian quinoa that has a slightly more "porridge" like texture. If you are using other type of quinoa, use a little bit less water (about 1 1/2 cups). 

1. Peel the carrots, cut them in large pieces, and place in a large casserole. Add just enough water to cover all carrots. Bring to boil, then leave to simmer until the carrots are completely tender. Drain, but save the sweet boiling water!

2. Rinse the quinoa and place in a saucepan. Use the carrot boiling water and some additional water to cook the quinoa (about 2 cups). Cook the quinoa for about 7-10 minutes, it can still have a little bite to it and some water left in the pan. Pour the quinoa in a large glass bowl (don't drain) and leave to cool slightly. 

3. Preheat the oven to 175C and grease (with oil if you want to keep this dish dairy-free) an oven dish. 

4. Mash the carrots into a smooth purée. Add the mash into the cooled down quinoa and season with the spices. Stir in the egg.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared oven dish and even the top. Sprinkle with almond meal and bake for about 30 minutes. Leave to cool slightly, but serve warm. 

Links to ethical gifts

For my friends in Finland http://www.kepa.fi/osallistu/eettiset-joululahjat
Australia http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au
For all other countries, please google "ethical gifts" to find organisations near you.

Broad Beans and Quinoa

It was a ferociously hot day here in Sydney yesterday, the hot winds were blowing straight from the Outback and the only place to hide the heat was an air-conditioned space - the office, a car or a shopping centre. I felt like melting. My body, having spent the first 24 years in the moderate climate of the Arctic circle, does not cope with heat very well. In my 6 years of living in Sydney, I still haven't acclimatised enough to handle days like this one. And It is certainly not helping that during this time of the year, my natural way of thinking would be to start preparing comforting autumn casseroles, warming soups and stews. Fortunately the vivid spring produce is gently directing me back on the right track and inspiring me to cook foods more suitable for the hot days to come.

  

 I picked up a huge bag of gorgeous broad beans from my local green grocer. Simply prepared with quinoa and some of these preserved lemons I stashed away some weeks ago, they were a perfect meal for a warm night. You could add fresh herbs, like parsley and lemon, along with some finely chopped spring onions in the dish. Be careful not to cook the broad beans for too long, you want to keep them more like al dente, than make them mushy.

 Broad Beans and Quinoa

(serves 2-4)

(recipe adapted from Gourmet Traveller)

 200g quinoa, rinsed

375ml water

1kg broad beans

pinch of sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 wedge preserve lemon*
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

shallot green/spring onion, finely sliced (optional)

fresh herbs (optional)

* see my recipe for preserved lemons here.

1. Place the rinsed quinoa in a medium sized saucepan. Add the water and bring to boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover the pan with a lid and let sit for a further 5 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and set aside.

2. Remove the outer bods of the broad beans and blanch the beans in plenty of boiling water for just a couple of minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water, then peel the inner skins off the beans. 

3. Finely chop the zest of the preserved lemon (discarding the flesh) and add it to the quinoa. Season the quinoa with some fresh lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add in the broad beans, shallots and fresh herbs. Serve as a salad or a side dish to fish.

Quinoa with asparagus and toasted coconut

Thank you all for the lovely words on my previous post - I knew you'd understand! I couldn't help myself but drop in to share this tasty spring recipe with you. We have had some wonderful spring weather here in Sydney too and I've been sitting on my tiny balcony, surrounded by all the herbs, reading and enjoying lunches and numerous cups of tea. This quick and easy lunch has everything I love - quinoa, asparagus and coconut flakes which have become my best friend after quitting sugar three weeks ago. It is perfect to whip up, scoop into a bowl and savour outside in the sun.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend too!

 

 

 Quinoa with asparagus and toasted coconut

(serves 2)

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 1/2 cups water

pinch of sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil

2 bunches asparagus

handful (1/2 cup) unsweetened coconut flakes

1. Place the quinoa in a saucepan and pour in the water. Bring to boil, then let simmer for 10 minutes. Cover the pan with a lid and leave to sit for 5 minutes.

2. While the quinoa is cooking, toast the coconut flakes on a dry frying pan until golden. Set aside.

3. Chop the woody ends off the asparagus. Cut the remaining stems into 1 cm pieces, and leave the tips untouched. 

4. Add a splash of water in the frying pan and steam cook the asparagus stems until just tender. Set aside. Steam the tips in the same pan with a bit more water added in.

5. Fluff the quinoa and season it with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add in lemon juice and olive oil, and the cooked asparagus stems. Toss to mix and scoop on a plate. 

6. Top the dish with the asparagus tips and golden coconut flakes. Enjoy immediately.

Sugar-free rhubarb macaroon slice

As I am entering week three in my sugar-free trial (read more about it here and here) , I realise that I am starting to forget that there even are foods I'm not eating any more. In the beginning of the diet, what felt like something was missing ("if no fruit, then what can I eat??"), is now something I'm not even thinking about. Some say it takes 21 days to break a habit, which in my case would mean another week, so I definitely feel like I'm on a good path here!

What has changed? Well not much after the first week to be honest, and I still feel less bloated, I feel calmer, I feel like I have more patience (although my fiancé could still argue I need to work on this) and I feel like I have more energy. I am really curious to see what the next few sugar-free weeks will bring with them!

In the meanwhile, this little treat is something that kind of grew on me. In the past (and this is obviously a while a go), I wasn't a big fan of coconut at all. I always thought it was way too sweet, which, I now realise, was probably because of all the added sugar in the coconutty foods I had tried. Once you've been off sugar for a while, and your taste buds have readjusted, you'll realise that coconut - in its natural form - is actually sweet enough on its own. 

Sugar-free rhubarb macaroon slice*

Base

100g quinoa flakes

50g coconut flakes (no sugar added)

50g rolled oats**

1 tablespoon raw pure cacao nibs (total sugars 3.6g/100g)

80g virgin coconut oil

2 large egg whites (free-range,organic)

Filling

200g rhubarb, cut into 1 cm slices

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon pure, ground vanilla

Top

3 large egg whites (free-range, organic)

50g fine desiccated coconut (no sugar added)

*If you're not on a sugar-free diet, don't expect this treat to taste very sweet. Those who are used to less sugar, will probably find it just satisfying enough, it all its natural sweetness.

**You could make this totally gluten-free by using uncontaminated oats, or simply replacing the 50 grams of oats with more quinoa flakes.

1. Preheat oven to 180C and line a 25cm x 15cm baking tray with baking paper.

2. For the filling, place the rhubarb, ground cinnamon and vanilla, along with a dash of water (a couple of tablespoons) into a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to boil, then let simmer while you make the base and the filling. Stir the mixture every now and then and just let it cook until quite thick. Set aside to cool.

3. For the base, place the quinoa flakes, coconut flakes, oats and cacao nibs into a food processor. Grind the ingredients into a fine-ish mixture, then add the coconut oil and grind until the mixture comes together. Beat in the egg whites. Spoon the dough in the baking dish and, using your hands, spread on the baking sheet into a 1-2 cm thick base.

4. For the topping, beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until thick. Carefully fold in the coconut. 

5. Spread the rhubarb filling on the base into a thin layer. Spread the coconut 'meringue' on top.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, then let cool completely before cutting. This is best eaten within 2 days. The top doesn't freeze very well, so I recommend eating it while fresh.