Mo-roccan This Dish! All Aboard the Marrakesh Express!

Got a lot of requests for my recipe for my spicy toasty quinoa dish whose photo I posted to our Facebook page last week, so, flushed with appreciation, je te presente!

I've been reading Jack Turner's Spice: A History of a Temptation recently. Lazing on the front porch in the steamy humidity of our mid-Atlantic Memorial Day weekend, it was not hard to drift away to the spice islands. Dinner beckoned, and well, "When the schmeckon beckons" whom am I to say no? The cupboard yielded: organic red quinoa, cashews, and chickpeas, cumin, and garam masala (an aromatic, sweet, slightly spicy blend of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, black pepper,and coriander). The fridge yielded organic carrots, gold beets, Medjool dates, and a lemon. The freezer had a bag of frozen peas to be used before I could get fresh in season. The garden begged me to pick from our already groaning mint bushes. What to do? Spices always take me to those colorful towering cones of spices in the Moroccan Medina, so some kind of Moroccan inspired dish. Who was I to know that later that week Bravo TV's Around The World In 80 Plates would land in the Medina in Marrakesh? Incidentally, kudos to the copywriters at the Bravo website for coming up with a line I'd be proud to have owned, "Funky cold Medina!" Without further ado, voila!

Toasted Spicy Quinoa (serves 4)

 Quinoa is an ancient grain of the Incas and contains all the essential amino acids necessary for our bodies to synthesize protein. As such quinoa is a complete protein and is a low-cost, healthy substitute for all or part of meat in a dish. I love to cook with spices - any dish when cooked fresh, or added to leftovers can be enriched.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup red quinoa
• 1 15oz can chickpeas
• 1/3 cup cashews
• 2 large carrots
• 2 small (1 large) yellow beets
• 1 cup petite peas
• 1 large lemon (use organic since we need the rind)
• 4 Medjool Dates (roughly chopped into 1/4 inch pieces)
• 2 teaspoons garam masala blend
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (or 1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds)
• 2 large sprigs fresh mint (yields 2 tablespoons chopped). Any variety. I had chocolate mint.

Directions

• Rinse the quinoa with water in a sieve. Set aside.
• Heat a dry cast iron skillet. (no need for oil). Add quinoa and cumin, and spread with a spatula. Heat for a couple minutes. Add drained can chickpeas and cashews. Continue heating, spreading with spatula. Remove from heat when quinoa starts to jump and smells like popcorn. Do not burn the quinoa. It will spoil the dish. It is OK to have a little 'char' on the cashews and chickpeas.
• Remove chickpeas and cashews from quinoa and set aside.
• Boil 1 cup water and add quinoa. Simmer covered for about 15 minutes until the little 'tails' pop out of the quinoa seeds. It's OK to have the quinoa 'al-dente', just not rock hard!
• Roughly chop the carrots and beets. Add together with peas to a steamer and steam until still a little crunchy.
• Zest the lemon. 
• Chop the mint.
• In a non-reactive bowl, combine the freshly squeezed juice of the lemon (about 2 tablespoons) with the garam masala and chopped mint.
• Add vegetables, chickpeas, cashews, chickpeas, Medjool dates, and cooked quinoa to dressing. Mix well.
• Plate. Garnish with lemon rind and fresh mint.
• Eat immediately. Also delicious cold when made ahead. Popular at summer cookouts. 

Read More

Some days are baking days, some are not.

With, "All apologies" to Amazon Kindle, artists Ashley & Little, and proof in the power of advertising, I can't get the Kindle song out of my mind.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon baking - proofing a blackberry custard tart recipe for the store. The whole time, I hear, "Bake Me Away..." on loop in my head.

I think this was an autonomic reaction to baking with 3 Jack Russell Terriers under my feet - I needed a stress diversion. You can't bake when you're stressed. Ever seen a Pastry Line Cook? "Bake Me Away!"

This blog entry is a shout out to home designers. Sure, I get the, "Be in your kitchen and be able to talk to your guests thing." However, whomever came up with the idea of an open plan kitchen/family room/dining room combo clearly does not use the kitchen 'area' very often! Or they don't have dogs/cats, kids, or curious spouses. File this under, "What we want is not what we need!"

So, before I hang up my apron, home designers, please, either start a new trend for 'private' kitchens, or come up with a solution for us to be able to close them off.

Go ahead, "Bake My Day!"

Read More

I'm on a gnocchi roll this week. Gnocchi are so easy to make, there's no excuse for discarding any less than perfect vegetables in your pantry. Just peel, cube, and steam the vegetable of choice. Then mash it, or, if you have a potato ricer (and why not if you don't?), it's a breeze.

I've been experimenting with Rutabaga, Yukon Gold Potatoes and Spinach, or Broccoli, Winter Squashes (Butternut, Acorn, Kabocha), Carrot, Gold Beets, Red Beets, Sweet Potatoes, and Parsnips. The result has been a range of flavors (mild to sweet and earthy), and color (pale green, pale yellow, golden orange, and deep red).

I'm working on an article for The Grapevine (Good For You Market's E-newsletter) and my Organic Living column in the E-zine Coastal Sussex Weekly. I'll post photos of my gnocchi, together with a discussion of Gnocchi in a few days when I'm done experimenting and come out of my starch induced high!

Spread the word about Good For You Market and our E-newsletter and this blog. This time of year is especially hard for beach area businesses and we need all the support we can get. Help us change the perception that we are an expensive, "Healthfood Store." We're a serious food market that also carries health food. We're cheaper than the big boxes and have better quality food, and rare, 'Foodie' items you just cannot find elsewhere at the DE beaches. Send us a message you value this choice before I give up working like a dog on this business!

To sign up for The Grapevine, our E-newsletter, visit the Good For You Market website http://www.good4uorganic.com/

To follow or read our Blog Curious and Cooking, well you're already reading it aren't cha Blanche?

Follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/g4umarket

Read More