recipe: quinoa, seaweed and azuki with miso-tahini dressing
quinoa, seaweed and azuki beans are a great pair. they sort of remind me of the "healthy rice" that is served on macrobiotic plates. the macrobiotic school stresses an animal-free diet that's made up of a balanced mix of grains/seeds (such as quinoa), beans (such as azuki), seasonal produce and sea vegetables (seaweed). the ingredients may sound unconventional but it's basically a japanese-inspired version of rice and black beans. quinoa takes the place of rice, azuki beans take the place of their black bean brethren, and the whole thing is pulled together with shreds of seaweed paper.
2 cups of cooked quinoa (1 cup dry quinoa, 2 cups water, boil for full 10 minutes, remove from heat and leave it covered for 10-20 minutes until the quinoa becomes plump, season with 2 tbspn of rice wine vinegar and 1/2 tbspn of sesame oil)
2 sheets of seaweed paper, shredded with scissors
1 cup of dried azuki beans (soak for 2 hours, then boil in a saucepan for an hour on low heat, season with 1 tbspn of soy sauce, 1 tbspn of honey)
mix all three ingredients together. serve and enjoy.
bonus round: if you wanted to make a macrobiotic plate, i'd suggest pairing the quinoa, seaweed and azuki with some fresh vegetables. i used raw corn, grated carrots soaked in 1 tbspn of rice wine vinegar, some shredded lettuce and stir fried kale with pink salt. use your imagination and take advantage of what's in season.
to top it off, i highly recommend my go-to neutral dressing: miso tahini. it's a variation of the ever-popular miso tahini lemon dressing recipe on the kitchn. except my version replaces the citrus for honey. i think it tastes better.
1/4 cup tahini
1 tbspn red miso
1 tbspn honey
1/4 cup or more warm water
mix together until you get a watery consistency. apply liberally to your macrobiotic plate (quinoa, seaweed, azuki mix included)!
- ravi