Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Today, with the extra cabbage from the egg rolls, I made cabbage rolls!

Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (loveandlentil)

Ingredients:
2 cups dry quinoa, cooked
1 head of cabbage
cooking oil
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 zucchini, diced
salt, to taste
1 tsp chili flakes
fresh basil, finely chopped
1 can stewed tomatoes or ~ 4 fresh, chopped
more basil
2-3 cloves garlic
pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:
1. Cut the stalk off from the bottom and slowly peel out the layers. Be gentle and try to peel the whole leaf.
Heat up water in a big pot and bring to a boil. Also set a bowl with cold water and ice together on the side. Put a few cabbage leaves at a time in the almost boiling water and leave it there for a min.
Remove the blanched leaf gently and dunk it immediately in cold water for another minute to stop the cooking process. This also helps in maintaining the nice green color. Then gently lift the leaves out of the cold water and set aside so that all the excess water drains out.
2. Now its veggie time! In a wide pan, add about 1 tsp olive oil. Throw in the onions and saute till translucent. Next, throw in the red bell peppers, saute for a min. (Don’t overcook the veggies; they will be oven baked later.) Add green and yellow zucchinis. Sprinkle salt to taste, red chili flakes, and basil. Add the cooked quinoa to the veggies. Mix well and cook for a couple of mins.
3. Now assemble. Place one leaf on a working surface. Fill the center with a good amount of quinoa. Fold like an egg roll: top of the leaf, sides, base of the leaf. Place in a baking dish.
4. For the topping, head a can of stewed tomatoes (or about 4 fresh). Add in a handful of fresh basil, garlic, salt and pepper to taste and 2 tbsps of olive oil. Move to a pan and cook at medium heat for a few mins until the raw smell of the tomatoes go away.
5. Spread sauce over cabbage rolls. If you have a lot of sauce, you can just pour the sauce at the bottom of the pan. Seal the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven at 375F for about 20-30 minutes or until the cabbage leaves are tender.

Quinoa Salad

Today is a little rainy, but the news is that the hurricane will mostly miss us and head towards the Gulf (we’re on the Atlantic Ocean). For dinner we had another Mediterranean dish- Quinoa Salad. I realized we didn’t have a microwave (or stove obviously) so I had to figure out how to make quinoa in the oven. Turns out you can just bring the water to boil (in a covered dish) then add the quinoa for about 20 minutes or until cooked. We actually decided this wasn’t our most favorite quinoa dish.

And it was also $5 movie night so we watched the new Borne movie (Borne Legacy).

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, Avocado and Cumin-Lime Dressing
serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 3/4 cup water
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (I only had chickpeas so I used those)
• 1 avocado, chopped into chunks
• handful cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped into chunks
• small handful cilantro, diced
• 1 limes, juiced
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• salt, to taste

Directions

1. Warm the olive/coconut oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once it’s hot add the rinsed quinoa and toast for about 2-3 minutes until it starts smelling nutty and lovely. Add water, stir once, cover, and simmer with a lid on for 20 minutes (or see above about cooking in oven).
2. While the quinoa is cooking, prepare all other ingredients. Prepare the dressing by combining the lime juice, oil, cumin, and salt. Whisk it aggressively. Adjust seasoning as necessary.
3. When the quinoa has finished cooking, remove it from heat and fluff with a fork. Add black beans and toss to warm them through.
4. Let the quinoa cool for about five minutes and then add all the remaining ingredients, including the dressing, and mix. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers after a visit back home

Over the weekend, we went home to visit Patrick’s parents. The visit also included a first time golf outing for Patrick. During our visit, we acquired some lovely peppers from their neighbor. It was great timing too, because I was craving stuffed peppers!

Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers

I substituted many of the ingredients fore example I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned and an assortment of peppers instead of only bell peppers. The cheese was an organic swiss, purchased in Amish Country with my family while in Ohio. Also, since I didn’t have a stove, the vegetables (minus the peppers) were all steamed with a food steamer.

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 ribs celery, finely chopped (½ cup)
• 1 Tbs. ground cumin
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
• 1 10-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry (I used fresh)
• 2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes, liquid reserved (I only used 1 fresh tomato)
• 1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• ¾ cup quinoa
• 3 large carrots, grated (1 ½ cups)
• 1 ½ cups grated reduced-fat pepper Jack cheese, divided
• 4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed

1. Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and celery, and cook 5 minutes, or until soft. Add cumin and garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Stir in spinach and drained tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes, or until most of liquid has evaporated.

2. Stir in black beans, quinoa, carrots, and 2 cups water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 minutes, or until quinoa is tender. Stir in 1 cup cheese. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour liquid from tomatoes in bottom of baking dish. Fill each bell pepper half with heaping 3/4-cup quinoa mixture, and place in baking dish. Cover with foil, and bake 1 hour. Uncover, and sprinkle each pepper with 1 Tbs. remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes more, or until tops of stuffed peppers are browned. Let stand 5 minutes. Transfer stuffed peppers to serving plates, and drizzle each with pan juices before serving.

For dessert, Patrick surprised me by taking us to a deli where he ate lunch. It was so cute! They had one counter displaying some delicious looking pizzas, fresh bread in bushels, and three counters with little desserts!! Mmmmm! It was a beautiful feast for the eyes. We left with seven little items. I forget what they all were (except delicious) but some included: an eclair, cannoli, date bar/cookie, and raspberry petite four (cake). The winners were the date bar and the raspberry petite four. What a lovely evening!

Quinoa Feta Burgers

Dinner! with sweet potato fries

Mmmm, these ones are really good!

Quinoa Feta Burgers

Ingredients

• 1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 shallot, minced (I didn’t use)
• 1 carrot, finely grated
• 3 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I didn’t use)
• 3 tablespoons crumbled feta
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 egg whites, lightly whisked
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 whole-wheat buns, grilled
• Whole-grain mustard, for serving (I didn’t use)
• Grilled onions, for serving (see tip below)
• Radicchio, for serving (I didn’t use)

Directions

1. In a bowl, mash beans into a thick paste and mix in shallot, carrot, quinoa, parsley, feta, salt, and egg whites.
2. Form mixture into six patties and chill 30 minutes.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, directly on grill grates or on stove top, and cook patties until golden (add remaining tablespoon oil if cooking in batches), 4 to 5 minutes per side.
4. Serve on buns with mustard, grilled onions, and radicchio.

Cook’s Tip
For grilled onions, drizzle slices with oil, season with salt and pepper, and grill over medium-high heat, turning, until tender and charred, 6 to 8 minutes.