quinoa with cumin and tumeric

I have a ton of spices in my cabinets that I don't use. I also have a bunch of grains I need to use up. Plus an Instant Pot and a day off from work.

Unused spices + lots of bulk grains + Instant Pot + snow day = quinoa with cumin and turmeric.

I don't even remember what I bought the turmeric for at this point.

I didn't want to make plain quinoa, since that can be boring. And I don't have a ton of ingredients in the house to make a quinoa salad or one-pot meal. After Googling for a bit I settled on this recipe, which you can find here.  The only change I made is I didn't add any fresh herbs. I just have them. Although I do have rosemary, but it's buried under a foot of snow at the moment and I wasn't going out there to get it.

This was really easy to make.  Just saute the smashed garlic gloves in olive oil, add the cumin, turmeric, salt, quinoa and water, and then set the Instant Pot for 1 minute at high pressure.

As far as taste, I felt this needed more salt and could have benefited from some onions. I also think it needs less water, as the finished result was a bit mushy and not fluffy like it should have been. I might make it again with the modifications I mentioned, and I might add some chicken to it, too.

bbq chicken quinoa casserole

I tried a new recipe over the weekend:  BBQ Chicken Quinoa Casserole.  

A few weeks ago, on my "me" weekend, I cooked a bunch of quinoa and stuck it in the freezer for just such an occasion when I wanted something different and didn't want to wait for the quinoa to cook.  This was the perfect opportunity to use it.  Surprisingly, I didn't need to buy anything. I had everything on-hand for once.  Shocking, I know.

This was super easy to make.  Basically, just dump all the ingredients in a bowl, mix them up, put in a casserole dish and bake until it's heated through and the cheese is melted.  I had to cook chicken breast ahead of time to make this, but I was planning on cooking a package of it anyway.  I just used a couple breasts for this, and then packed the rest away for lunches during the week.  You could definitely use a store-bought rotisserie chicken if you want it even faster.

It tasted great, although quinoa and BBQ sauce together seemed a bit strange at first.  It was more of a texture thing, though.

I will say that this is NOT light on calories or carbs, BUT it's got a lot of protein.  And it's not pasta, which is something I'm supposed to stay away from.  Plus, it's much more interesting than boring old pasta.  I put the recipe into My Fitness Pal and it came out to more than 600 calories per serving.  But that assumes 6 servings.  A weight loss surgery patient is going to get at least double that.  I changed it to twelve servings and it comes out to 337 calories, 15g fat, 31g carbs (!), 12g sugar (from the BBQ sauce) and 21g protein (!!). I'm guessing you could probably squeak out another couple servings if you wanted to, which would lower the calories more.  Or you could maybe cut back on the quinoa or cheese a bit.

I forgot to take the picture before we dug into it.  As you can see, I used quite a bit of cheese.

spinach pesto quinoa

Last week a recipe popped up on my bariatric surgeon's Facebook page, so I decided to try it.  It was a perfect way to use up the pesto I bought for my department's holiday potluck, as well as some quinoa and Parmesan cheese I had hanging around.  The only thing I needed to buy was some spinach. 

I went to the store Friday night after work to get the spinach and a few other things, which was the eve of the big East coast blizzard.  I expected the store to be mobbed, but it wasn't; however, the salad isle looked as though there had been a run on salad.  In my experience, customer usually buy all the milk, bread, and junk food prior to a big storm.  Not salad.  (I now know it was likely due to the Dole recall.) Even the salad bar had been completely emptied.  There were spinach leaves, but they looked like something the cat dragged in. So, I was stuck buying a giant container of spinach. I now need to figure out what to make with that.

I made the recipe over the weekend. It was very easy.  Just cook the quinoa according to the package directions.  When it's done, stir in the salt, pesto, spinach and cheese.  That's it.  I only made half a recipe, since this is something Bob isn't likely to eat.  He tried it without the spinach and liked it, but I don't think he would sit down and have a big serving of it.

It tasted pretty good, but I wasn't happy that it kind of formed this big mass of quinoa and spinach.  I'm guessing it's because of the cheese, which, of course, melts when you put it into a pot of hot quinoa.  Next time I might save the cheese for topping, rather than mixing it in. Or maybe I can have it as a cold salad and mix the cheese in once it's cold. 

Here's the recipe if you're interested in making it:  Spinach Pesto Quinoa.

southwest quinoa cakes

Since my surgery, I've discovered quinoa.  I knew about it before surgery, but now that I don't eat pasta this acts as my "pasta."  It's very versatile and has a nutty taste and chewy texture.  I'm always looking for quinoa recipes to try and I came across one in my latest Eating Well magazine.  (The subscription fairy struck again!  Every year I get new magazine subscriptions from someone in the family and never know who.  I suspect it's my in-laws, who order for school fundraisers.)

The recipe calls for making the cakes in a muffin tin (easy!) and then making a homemade salsa for the topping.  I'm not into making homemade salsa, mainly because it requires me to go to the store a couple miles away for ingredients I never have.  But looking through the recipe for the cakes I noticed that, without the salsa on the top, I'd have to find a way to make the cakes themselves more interesting; the recipe lacks seasoning.  I decided I would add the salsa (store-bought) directly into the cake mix and also add some taco seasoning.  I also would add some raw onion.

So, I made the recipe with those additions and they were great!  As soon as I took them out of the oven, it smelled like tacos in the kitchen.  The taste was good and not spicy.  Good moisture and texture, too.  Next time I might add some corn just to make it a little more interesting.

I'm thinking I will take these for lunch this week.  I don't know how they will do with reheating, but I'm pretty sure the addition of the salsa will avoid any drying out.

Here's the recipe (adapted from eatingwell.com).

Southwest Quinoa Cakes

Makes 12

1 cake contains: 221 calories; 7 g fat; 30 g carbohydrates; and 12 g protein.

2 cups water
1 cup quinoa, uncooked
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed
3/4 cup reduced-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup medium salsa
1/2 cup raw yellow onion
1/4 cup sliced scallions
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp taco seasoning
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (I skipped this)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 12-cup nonstick muffin tin with cooking spray.

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in quinoa. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until the grains are tender and reveal their spiraled germ, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool for about 10 minutes.

Add eggs, beans, cottage cheese, salsa, scallions, onions, taco seasoning, flour, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt to the quinoa and stir until well combined. Divide the mixture among the muffin cups. Top each quinoa cake with about 1 tablespoon cheese.

Bake the cakes until puffed and a little brown on top, about 20-25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Gently loosen and remove with a paring knife.

You can top with more salsa, sour cream, guacamole, etc.  Anything you want!

quinoa mac and cheese

I found this recipe on my bariatric surgeon's blog, The Skinny.  Although I don't miss pasta, I do miss the occasional macaroni and cheese dinner.  After all, I'm a cheese lover.  And it doesn't get much better than gooey cheese and crispy, browned corners.

One thing I CAN have now, instead of pasta, is quinoa.  It's a grain and the texture is a little chewy.  I don't care for it on it's own, but it's good mixed with other things.  It's pretty versatile.  It can be expensive, though.

I made this yesterday and it came out really good.  It wasn't really gooey, but it had a good cheese flavor.
As usual, I made a couple modifications.  All that really means is that I skipped the optional veggies and used more cheese.  Oh, and added bacon.

Here's how I made mine.  If you want the original recipe, click here to get it:  Quinoa Mac and Cheese

Quinoa Mac & Cheese

This makes about 12 servings, give or take.  For someone who's had bariatric surgery, it might be more like 14 servings.  For someone who hasn't, it's probably about 8-10 servings.

Each serving contains:  225 calories, 12g fat, 16g carbs, and 16g protein.
Note:  This is based on 12 servings.

1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained
Veggies of your choice (optional)
Pinch of salt
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups 2% milk (or skim)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, plus 1/2 cup for sprinkling on top
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, plus 1/2 cup for sprinkling on top
1/2 cup real bacon bits or crumbled bacon, any kind

1. Lightly saute any veggies you would like in this dish.  Saute the garlic also.
2. Cook quinoa to packaged instructions until fully cooked. (About 15 minutes)
3. Preheat oven to 350 F. 
4. Coat 13×9 inch dish with cooking spray.
5. Whisk together eggs and milk in large bowl.
6. Fold in quinoa, optional veggies, garlic, bacon, salt, and cheese. Stir very well.
7. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses and bake 30-35 mins, or until lightly browned.