Santa Fe Quinoa Bake

Quinoa is a super food. Super good, super old (over 4,000 years old). In 1 cup of cooked quinoa there are 8g of protein and 5g of fiber. You always hear that you need a ton of protein and fiber. But what you don't hear is that the type of protein you are consuming matters greatly. That is why quinoa is so great. Quinoa is has all 9 essential amino acids, making it a highly beneficial, highly absorbable protein. Check out quinoa's additional great benefits here!

Because of the many benefits of quinoa I am always searching for new recipes. This recipe is very versitle, so feel free to add what you please to it (shrimp, hamburger, additional veggies, basically anything that tickles your taste buds). Additionally you can bake the mixture in a hallowed out green pepper, zucchini, or squash!

Tools You'll Need

Fine mesh strainer

Medium sauce pot with lid

Fork

Large skillet

9x13 Glass baking dish

Cheese grater

Ingredients

1 Cup quinoa, uncooked

1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil, divided

2 Cups vegetable stock

1 Cup onion, diced (about 1 medium)

1/2 Green pepper, chopped

1/2 Cup carrots, chopped

1 Cup cabbage, chopped

1-2 Jalapenos , finely chopped

2 Cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 Cup zucchini, cubed (about 1 medium)

1 15 Ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 28 Ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

1 Cup frozen corn

1/2 Cup chorizo, either real meat, or vegan

1/4 Cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 Tsp ground cumin

1 Tsp oregano

1 Tsp chili powder

1/2 Lemon or lime, juiced

2 Cups shredded monterey jack cheese (I used Trader Joe's brand)

1 Avocado (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

You will want to prepare the quinoa first. Rinse the quinoa throughly in a fine mesh strainer under cool water. In a medium sauce pot, heat 2 tsp of olive oil over medium-high heat. Once warm, add quinoa and stir for about a minute. The quinoa will pop a bit. Add vegetable stock to pot, stir, and bring to a boil. Once boiling turn heat down to low, cover pot, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove pot from heat, keep covered for an additional 5 minutes.

Now, on to the veggies. Heat a tbsp of olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add your onion, green pepper, carrots, and cabbage. Cook for about 8 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add jalapenos, garlic, and zucchini, cook for another 5 minutes.

Fluff quinoa with a fork and transfer to a large bowl. Add in vegetables, black beans, tomatoes, corn, chorizo, cilantro, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and lemon/lime. Stir well. Place mixture into baking dish, spreading it evenly, and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, top with shredded cheese and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

I garnish with an avocado because, well, avocados taste good with just about everything.

Adapted from The Live In Kitchen

Vegetable Biryani (shortcut version)

Second to Italian food, is Indian food in my family. My Aunt and Uncle worked for an Indian restaurant years ago in exchange for cooking lessons. About once a week Indian is consumed in their household. And I am not talking about a frozen Indian meal from Trader Joes (although, those are quite good). I'm talking about homemade, simmered for hours, each spice added to the pan in a particular order, Indian food. Large portions of Vindaloo, Butter Chicken, and Bhindi (I could go on) are prepared, and frozen in small containers, making it an easy way to consume when desired. Indian food is similar to Italian food in that if you're going to make it, you're going to make a whole damn lot of it because it's a process.

Today I will share with you my families shortcut version of Vegetable Biryani. Vegetable Biryani is arguably one of my favorite Indian dishes. The reason it is a shortcut recipe is because we will be using a store bought biryani paste instead of creating the biryani paste ourselves. But don't you worry, there will be plenty of Indian recipes in the future that take up hours of your time.

Tools You'll Need

2 Large sauce pans

Wooden spoon

Cutting board and knife

Ingredients

2 Tsp vegetable oil

1 Cup Jasmine rice

2 Cups water

2 Tbsp fresh ginger

2 Cups fresh or frozen vegetables of your choice (I use brocoli, carrots, cauliflower, green beans, and if I'm feeling crazy, peas)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 can(6oz)tomato paste

1/4 Cup water (more if using fresh vegetables)

2 Tbsp(heaping) biryani paste (I use this one.)

1/4 Cup golden raisins

1/8 Cup roasted cashews

First lets prepare the rice. Traditionally Jasmine rice is used. The length and cook time are perfect for this recipe. If you choose to use a different variety of rice, just adjust the cook time.

Add 2 tsp of vegetable oil to sauce pan and heat on medium/low. After a few moments add rice and stir.

Cook rice for a few minutes until it starts "popping". Stir rice regularly to prevent burning.

Once rice is light tan color add water. (Add water slowly, to prevent splashing). Increase heat, stir and bring to boil.

Once rice is boiling, decrease heat to low and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. While rice simmers lets get started on our second pan.

Peel, grate, and add the ginger to a medium/low heat pan with 1 tbsp vegetable oil. As this simmers chop vegetables.

Vegetables should be cut relatively large. You want them to give definition to the rice, instead of getting lost in it. Add vegetables to pan, stir, and cover. After a few minutes add tomato paste, biryani paste, and water. Stir. Let mixture cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender, but not well done. A good indicator is when the brocoli is a bright green color.

The amount of water needed is going to depend greatly on if you are using fresh or frozen vegetables. Fresh vegetables will require more water as the cooking time will be greater.

Take pan off heat and slowly add rice.

Add raisins and cashews. As for the cashews you can either buy roasted or roast raw ones in the oven at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes. Keep an eye on the cashews. They can burn in the drop of a dime.

Let cool and serve.

Warning: Share at your own risk. From my experience biryani is very addictive and can turn a person who is normally a "food pusher" into a selfish food hoarder.

Food Pusher: One that will not/cannot/is not satisfied until you have eaten the allotted amount of food to their likings.

Traditional Meat Ravioli

Ravioli are brilliant. The different combinations that can be tucked between the dough of a single raviolo are endless. I had long since thought that only my Grandmother possessed the power to create ravioli that we had on special occasions and holidays. It wasn't until a couple years ago that the skill was passed down to me. Today I will be sharing with you my family's traditional meat ravioli.

Tools you'll need

Wooden cutting board

Pastry cutter

Knife for slicing dough

Kitchen towel

Mixing bowl

Ingredients

Pasta

3 Cups of unbleached all purpose flour.

4 Eggs

Filling

1 1/2 Cup ricotta cheese

1/2 lb ground beef

1 Small onion (optional)

2 Cloves of garlic (chopped or pressed)

4 Eggs (room temperature)

1/4 Cup breadcrumbs

1/4 Cup mozzarella or pecorino romano

3 Tbsp fresh basil

Dash of salt and pepper

First lets work with the dough. You have a few options here. You can use a food processor, a Kitchen Aid mixer, or your hands. Attach the appropriate tool (dough blade for food processor or dough hook for Kitchen Aid mixer) if using a machine. Add 4 cups of flour, and add one egg at a time. It is important to add the eggs slowly. Another important tip is to make sure the eggs are room temperature. Take them out of the frige an hour or two before you're ready to begin. Working with room temperature eggs is much easier, and provides a more desired texture to the dough.

As for the flour, my Grandmother swears by Gold Metal Flour. But you can use whatever your go-to flour may be.

If you would like to work the dough by hand place your flour on your wooden cutting board. Hollow out the center of the pile creating a crater like illusion (see photo below). Crack at least 2 of the eggs inside the crater you've created. Scramble them a bit with your finger or a fork. Begin to fold the flour into the dough.

No matter what method you are using you want to get the dough to a consistency where it is moist but not sticky. It should not stick to your hands. If it does, add a bit more flour. If it is flakey and falling apart, add a little more egg. (I always keep an egg to the side in a small bowl, pre scrambled.) It may take a moment to get the dough to the proper consistency, but once you do, you'll know.

Once your dough is ready shape it into a log like shape, place it to the side of your cutting board, and place a dry cotton kitchen towel over it. (The traditional Italian word for this shape of dough is sanya).

While dough is resting, prepare the ravioli filling. Cook the ground beef and let cool. I like to add an onion and garlic as meat is cooking. Add the filling ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix together.* I like to use my hands but you can use a spoon. Again with the filling you want it to be moist but not sticky. Because of this you may need to adjust the amount of eggs or breadcrumbs.

*If you use granulated garlic use about half of the required amount of fresh garlic. It is much stronger. Same goes with dried basil. If you want to make this recipe meatless, just use 1/4 cup of both mozzerella and pecorino romano cheeses.

Uncover your dough (sanyas) and cut into slices about an inch thick.

Next you want to flatten the pieces of dough. You can use the pasta attachment for the Kitchen Aid machine, a pasta rolling machine, or a rolling pin. I use a pasta machine similar to this one.

Start at the widest setting and gradually work your way to the second to last setting. You want the dough to be thin, but also thick enough to hold the filling.

Once you have a few rolled out, lay one on your cutting board and place small piles of filling (about a tbsp worth) in a row towards the bottom of the dough, leaving 1/2 inch of space at the bottom.

Fold dough over filling. Press down with your hands around filling to ensure excess air is removed. You don't want too much space between the filling and the dough.

Take your pastry cutter and run it along the bottom edge of the folded dough. Then carefully cut about a 1/2 inch around each pile of filling. If the dough tears, don't fret, take some of the extra dough you've shaved off and use it like a bandage over any tears.

This process can take a while, depending on how many ravioli you are producing, so in order to ensure that the dough does not get too warm and sticky, place the individual ravioli on a baking sheet and place them into the freezer. From here if you prefer to eat the ravioli right away, submerge them into boiling water for about 5-7 minutes, or until dough is al dente. If you would like to store them for later, make sure they have been in the freezer for about 10 minutes (or long enough for the dough to become stiff) and then place them into freezer bags. Ravioli hold up quite well in the freezer for a few months.

Serve ravioli with any type of sauce. Classic meat sause is my favorite.

I now keep a small journal solely dedicated to ravioli recipes. But no matter how creative I get with my ravioli filling, I always come back to this recipe.