Quinoa Vegetable Paella

Quinoa Vegetable Paella

This is one of those dishes that seem to improve overnight. Reheated leftovers make a great lunch. Spicy food lovers note that this is a subtle dish, not a spicy one.

Lark’s Note:  We first had this on April 23^rd, 2012, at the Flemings’ new home, 3160 Upland Dr.  It was Craig’s first visit to the house, and for FHE we brought the new little family with Bob “Papa” Fleming as the latest addition, dinner and a wee bit of help unloading boxes, besides a good deal of Oooing and Ahhhing.  Picture us with paper plates on knees, feeding a hungry little Aaron.

Craig told the friendly ward members bringing banana bread that the Flemings were nudists.  Then it turned out that we knew them several ways!

Also, this website sources notwithstanding, you can't do without everything!  I sauteed the onion and garlic in olive oil.

It really can't be called paella, it's so much more fun to think of it as that.  Served it with lemon, of course.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1/4 teaspoon saffron, crushed
• 2 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• dash cayenne
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 14-ounce can light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 3/4 – 3 cups vegetable broth
• 2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced (we could fit only one on top)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
• 1 can artichoke hearts, rinsed and cut into quarters

Instructions

1. Put the quinoa into a large bowl. Cover with water and stir well to wash the grain. Pour off the water and then repeat the washing process. You may also put the quinoa into a fine mesh strainer and rinse thoroughly.
2. Sauté onion and garlic in a deep non-stick skillet with a little water until soft. (I use my inconveniently-named “chicken fryer” for this.) Add the quinoa and saffron and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes. Add paprika, cumin, cayenne, tomatoes, peppers, beans, and 2 3/4 cups vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to very low, and cook covered for 15 minutes.
3. After 15 minutes, check to see if more broth is needed. If it looks dry, add the remaining vegetable broth. Place the zucchini on top of the quinoa and re-cover. Cook for about 5 more minutes, until quinoa is done. Remove the cover, stir in the peas, and cook uncovered until peas are warm and all liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Arrange the artichoke hearts on the top and serve. Add salt at the table, if necessary.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s) | Cooking time: 40 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 6

Per serving: 288 Calories (kcal); 3 g Total Fat; (9% calories from fat); 13 g Protein; 55 g Carbohydrate; 0 mg Cholesterol; 307 mg Sodium; 10 g Fiber

From fatfreevegan.com

Italian Veggie Marinade

Aunt Patty asked for this recipe today, and since she's so lovely and had a big BIG birthday this week, I'll put it up.

We have used it on grilled vegetables, but today I was in a rush, and I'll let you know my secret. I sauteed the vegetables on very high heat in olive oil on the stove in a large frying pan in batches, so that while the onions were sauteeing, Fei Fei and I were slicing peppers and cutting asparagus. Ditto later with giant portabello mushrooms. As batches were finishing, we dumped them into a large bowl, then added the marinade on the whole lot.

I'll put the official recipe below, but admit that today I used three cloves garlic, minced, the zest of one orange, the juice of two medium small oranges, almost the same amount of balsamic vinegar and some olive oil (no more than 1/2 cup), sea salt and fresh ground pepper. That provided a lot of liquid, but it was good as it sat on the warm vegetables for a half hour and then made a nice sauce for the rice we had. An easy and delicious way to eat your vegetables!

Here is the official recipe.

2 T Orange Juice
1 T Balsamic Vinegar
1 Clove garlic, minced
Olive oil
1/2 t Salt
1/4 Pepper

I note that in the past, besides adding orange zest, I have added basil, parsley, and a little mint.

Speaking of vegetables, for our family date this week, we watched "Forks over Knives". If you are interested in learning more about the effects of animal protein on disease and don't have time to read Eat to Live, by Joel Furhman, that movie will give you an overview of the subject.

We love you, Patricialicious!

The Most Unhappy Family

According to a study cited by a NY Times blogger, of all the family combinations, four girls is the least happy family composition.  Here are the reasons they listed:

NEGATIVES OF HAVING FOUR GIRLS:
1. Fight and argue all the time
2. Difficult to reason with
3. Ignore and dislike each other
4. Bedtime routine is a nightmare
5. Create a lot of noise around the house
6. Rarely confide in you
7. Hard to deal with when ill
8. Takes ages getting ready for school
9. Had to buy a bigger house and car
10. Hard to cope with on a daily basis

Sound familiar, Mom and Dad?

For your information, this was the list of potential sibling combos and how they rank in happiness.

1. Two girls
2. One boy and one girl
3. Two boys
4. Three girls
5. Three boys
6. Four boys
7. Two girls and one boy
8. Two boys and one girl
9. Three boys and one girl
10. Three girls and one boy
11. Two boys and two girls
12. Four girls

Mom and Dad, looks like you would have done a lot better statistically by finishing while you were ahead (right after I was born).  JK, LE and HR :)  I'm glad that Mom and Dad kept going, even if we were rather "hard to deal with when ill."

Also, for your information, Sherry Turkle did a TED talk that was really good (remember?  She was the one who had the good podcast about the alienating potential of technology).