Pumpkin Quinoa Patties

Well hello to you! (Miranda quote, of course!)  Sorry for having been so slack on the new recipe front!  Busy busy life, especially now that I'm back at uni!  I will try to do something on here at least once a month! :)  I did actually make this recipe in March (and was going to write it up asap... clearly that didn't happen) *virtual slap on the wrist* - lots of family drama and tragedy is my excuse :(

Patties, with chips and peas :D

Aaaaanyway, my Belgian friend Fien made them from a recipe book her dad sent her, we had them one night at her house when a friend of ours who was gluten free and vegetarian came over.  They were so good I wanted to make some for my parents to try too.  They sounded really bizarre when I first heard of them, they looked amazing, and the taste?  Well you'll just have to read on to find out!  *cheeky*


INGREDIENTS
1 average sized butternut pumpkin
1 tbsp olive oil
230g quinoa
470ml water
1 cube chicken stock (or vegetable if vegetarian) - use GF stock if you're GF

Pre-Grilling

170g rice (basmati or wild preferably)
110g spring onions

85g dried cranberries
1 tbsp basil 
salt & pepper to taste
parmesan cheese (grated) - optional, but adds a real depth of flavour

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 200 deg C
• Slice pumpkin in half, remove pips
• Place pumpkin halves on oven dish, and brush with olive oil
• Bake for approx. 1 hour (until soft)
• Let cool, and scoop out pumpkin, discard peel, and mash
• Mix the 470ml water with the stock cube and add to a pot with the quinoa
• Cook quinoa 10 to 12 minutes, until the water is absorbed
• When cooked, let cool for 10 minutes
• Cook rice ( using whatever your usual method is)
• Mix quinoa and rice together
• Add to the pumpkin mash
• Add all the remaining ingredients, mixing well as you go
• Form patties (this is the messy bit, where you end up with orange hands!)
• Bake for a further 15-20 minutes in oven, pan, grill, barbecue, however you want really! 
  
  (Serve hot or cold)

Several things I want to say.  First of all, while this seems like a lot of effort, a lot of steps, and preparation, and being organised enough to begin making this with enough time to roast the pumpkin, IT IS WORTH IT.  There are the most amazing non-meat patties I have ever had.  Especially with aioli on them!  The cranberries give a touch of contrasting sweetness and juiciness, the quinoa is not even noticeable, yet it is so good for you!  The pumpkin is delicious, and I can't get enough of them!!

Finished Product!

Secondly, when it comes to the final cooking stage, it doesn't matter how you do them, just cook them kind of like you would with ordinary burger patties.  My only piece of advice is, the pumpkin can get quite sticky, and can cause your pattie to disintegrate, which, if you're anything like me, will make you incredibly angry and frustrated.  I HIGHLY recommend cooking them on the smooth plate of a BBQ, or in a George Foreman-type bench top grill that has non-stick plates.  You really don't want to miss this cooking step out, because it gives the patties a nice golden edge, and makes them taste EVEN better.

The patties we had for dinner, lined up in our George Foreman grill, with non-stick tinfoil (because the non-stick surface on our grill is wearing away now, it's so old and over-used ;P )

Thirdly - THIS MAKES A LOT OF PATTIES!!! Don't fret though, because if it is more than you or your family can eat, you can certainly freeze them!  I froze my extra patties (before the final cooking stage) with baking paper between each pattie (to stop them sticking together).  Now, I have a fast food, I can get 1 pattie out of the freezer, microwave for 1 min to defrost, and then do the last cooking step (in the grill, etc.).  Healthy fast lunch = WIN!

So there you have it, my new favourite vegetarian food!  I actually ended up making a lot patties out of it, so it's lasted a while (I made them in early March, it's now mid-April, and I've still got about 6 in the freezer :D ).  Enjoy!  And I would love you guys to comment back sometime about the recipes of mine you've tried!!

Quinoa

Ever since I first saw quinoa, read a bit more about what it is, and where it comes from, and what sorts of things you can eat it with, I wanted to try it.  However, it struck me as the obscure sort of food that would be hard to get here in New Zealand, and if I could get it, it would cost me an arm and a leg, and then there was the chance I wouldn't even like the stuff.

As luck would have it, you can get it really quite cheaply from the bulk bins at most major supermarkets (I got just over 1 cup's worth and it only cost $3.95!), and if they don't have it in bulk bins, you can find it in the specialty sections where they keep the gluten-free/dairy-free/organic products.

Gina from skinnytaste.com sums up beautifully what quinoa is, so I'll just let her tell you the technicals... 

"Quinoa (KEEN-wah) is a protein packed ancient seed from South America, similar to the texture of brown rice when cooked with a nutty flavor. It contains all 9 essential amino acids, lysine, phosphorous, copper, iron and magnesium and it is easy to make. It's not truly a grain, it's actually a relative of spinach. 

It is recommended that you soak and rinse the seeds well before cooking. Once cooked the seeds expand about 4 times their original size, so 1 cup of uncooked quinoa seeds yields approximately 4 cups cooked quinoa. Preparation is simple, 1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water or broth and is done in about 15 minutes."

It is also from Gina that I got the instructions on how to cook this tiny grain.  I didn't realise how tiny these grains would be, pre-cooking, and so when I got them home, I realised they would slip right through the existing sieves we had in the cupboard.  So I got Dad to buy a good quality sieve with really fine weaved mesh, that was smaller than the quinoa.  

Once I could finally rinse the quinoa, it was time to make it!  Here's how:

INGREDIENTS

1 cup dry quinoa

2 cups water (or broth) 

salt to taste

METHOD

• Wash quinoa and put into a medium saucepan
• Add quinoa, water and salt
• Cover and boil for 15 minutes, or until the water has all absorbed
• You will know they are cooked when they are fluffy and you can see a small thread
• Fluff with a fork and it's ready to be used for other recipes!
• Can be stored in the fridge for 3 or 4 days, and reheated in the microwave

So, my verdict?  I did rinse it, a few times, thoroughly, stirring it around the sieve with a spoon while the water was running through.  While it was cooking (I used water this time, to try it untainted; next time I'll try cooking it with vegetable stock/broth) there was a yeasty tangy sort of smell which was a bit unusual, not sure if that's how it's supposed to smell, and it carried through to the taste a little bit.  I liked the texture though, but with the curry I served it with, it kind of got a bit lost in the curry.  

I'm not giving up on quinoa though!  I'm going to try it a few more ways, with some recipes I've earmarked on my Pinterest board of "Recipes to Try", and I do like its potential to appear regularly in our diet, since it's so easy to prepare and it's so very good for you!! :)

Recipe Inspiration: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/02/basic-quinoa-recipe-4-pts.html

[SlowCooker] Chickpea Curry

When I first heard of the grain "quinoa" (said keen-wah), I knew I wanted to try it - something different from rice, something unusual.  So then I set about finding something to serve with the quinoa that would complement it nicely.  

As I was looking for recipes including quinoa, this one for an Indian chickpea curry in the slow cooker caught my eye.  I know we've had a can of chickpeas in our pantry for ages, I have no idea why Mum bought it - we never normally eat chickpeas, and the hummus we eat is always premade.  I did have to buy another can of chickpeas so I'd have enough to make this curry, but that was no big deal.  

The other thing is, I'm lazy.  Like really lazy.  There's no way you'd get me farting around rinsing, soaking and cooking dried chickpeas.  Seriously, you have to do this like a day in advance.  I'm not THAT organised!  Therefore, I love canned chickpeas.  Much easier.  Rinse, drain, chuck it in.  BAM.

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp oil

Chickpeas, drained and ready to cook!

1 onion, diced (I used 2)

2 cloves garlic (or ~ 2 tsp crushed garlic)

1 inch ginger, peeled & grated (or 1 tsp crushed ginger)

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander (I left this out cos Mum hates it)

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2x 15oz cans)

2 cups water

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp dried chilli powder (not in the original recipe, but I felt it needed a little kick)

1/2 tsp garam masala

finely diced capsicum

finely diced carrot

diced potatoes (pre-boiled - I had some leftover potatoes that I threw in - yum!)

frozen peas

METHOD

Ready to cook.

• Rinse and drain chickpeas thoroughly before using
• Saute oil, onions, ginger and garlic for 5 mins in a small frypan
• Put this onion mixture and all other ingredients (except garam masala and peas) in crockpot
• The liquid should be just to the top of the beans; if not, add water as necessary, and also during cooking if needed
• Cook on LOW for 6 hours, stirring once during cook time
• Before serving, add garam masala, stir well, and add frozen peas 3 minutes before serving
• Serve with rice, or quinoa!

Just before serving, add peas for a dash of green!

Can't even see the quinoa underneath!

Who said you need meat for a complete meal?! :)  We had it served over quinoa, but I think it would be better over rice because it was quite saucy.  Will definitely be one to make again, maybe with more vegetables too.  The original recipe didn't call for extra vegetables, but I added some because I thought it was a bit bland and boring otherwise.  :)

Recipe Inspiration: http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/crockpot-chickpea-curry.php