Back in the Kitchen

Katie said to me the other day, "Remember when you used to cook? Remember how much you liked it?" She wasn't implying that I need to cook for her...more that I used to cook for fun and that hasn't been happening lately. She's right! I used to cook every night, and I loved it. I think the combination of a hectic time at work, a busy social calendar, and marathon training have left me drained. Plus, running makes me hungry - no time for slicing and dicing, just give me a granola bar already!!

On Monday I decided to move my workout from the gym to home, so I'd have enough time to whip up a home-cooked meal for Katie & myself. (What I didn't foresee was that my "workout" would be moving a giant dresser to the basement - a 2 hour ordeal!)

I gathered inspiration from Caitlin's cheeseless pasta bake. I didn't have any pasta in the house, but I did have a box of quinoa.

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is a wonderful whole grain. It is high in protein - and boasts a balanced set of amino acids, making it a complete protein. It is also a good source of fiber and iron, and is gluten-free. (source1, source2) Quinoa is easy to cook and can be used in a variety of dishes - casseroles, cold salads, pilafs, warm breakfasts, etc. It can even be baked and used as a sweet, crunchy topping for yogurt or ice cream!

Quinoa usually needs to be rinsed before it is cooked, to remove a soapy-tasting compound that is hard to digest. However, as I uploaded the picture above, I realized the box I had said that it was pre-rinsed. Too bad I didn't realize that until after I went through the trouble of rinsing those tiny grains!

After digging around the cupboards and fridge, I pulled together this new dish:

Mediterranean Quinoa Casserole

(makes 4 generous servings)

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry quinoa, prepared according to package directions
• 1 large bell pepper, diced
• 10 large olives, chopped (I actually used caperberries, but would have used olives if I had them)
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 c unsweetened almond milk (or appropriate substitute)
• 1/3 c hummus
• 1/3 c crumbled feta cheese, plus more for garnish
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 10 basil leaves, thinly sliced
• salt & pepper to taste
• hot sauce (optional)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375.
• In a large pan, sweat the peppers over medium-low, until softened.
• Add cooked quinoa and olives/caperberries to peppers, and stir to combine.
• Season quinoa mixture with salt & pepper. Remove from heat.
• In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, almond milk, hummus, and feta.
• Combine quinoa mixture & egg mixture in a casserole dish.
• Bake for 25 minutes, or until eggs are set.
• Garnish with feta, tomatoes, basil, and hot sauce, if desired.

Some pics of pulling it together:

softening the peppers (I used 1/2 red and 1/2 green)

mixing in the quinoa (I used red quinoa)

caperberries (olives would work well here)

mixing together the wet ingredients (I used roasted red pepper hummus)

adding the feta

tomatoes & basil for the garnish - straight from my garden!

I have to say, this turned out really well! It smelled great while it was baking. It looks a little funny, but I think that's because the red quinoa is a surprising color. I have been happy to have the leftovers for lunch this week!

Have you had quinoa before? How was it prepared? Any good recipes?