Recipe: Quinoa Drop Biscuits
Don't toss that leftover quinoa! Try this recipe from our friend Kathy Hester's The Easy Vegan Cookbook instead. No leftover quinoa? We know the feeling. Make a little extra next time so you can give these biscuits a whirl.
¾ cup (177 ml) soy milk (or other nondairy milk and leave out the vinegar)
1½ teaspoons (7 ml) apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil or broth
½ cup (55 g) finely grated carrot
1 ½ cups (100 g) finely minced kale or other green
1 cup (185 g) cooked quinoa
2 cups (240 g) whole-wheat pastry flour (*use a gluten-free all-purpose flour)
2 teaspoons (7.5 g) baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (112 g) vegan butter, shortening or refined coconut oil (sub avocado or sweet potato puree to make these oil free)
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Whisk the soy milk and vinegar and set aside. While it stands, it will curdle and thicken, creating a vegan buttermilk substitute. (This only works with soy milk. If you use a nut milk or coconut milk, it will not thicken but the recipe will still work.)
Heat the olive oil or broth in a sauté pan over medium heat and add the kale. Sauté for 1 to 3 minutes or until it turns bright green. Pour into a large bowl with the carrots and quinoa. Set aside.
To a food processor, add the whole-wheat pastry flour and process for about 2 minutes to make it finer and the biscuit a little lighter. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt and process for about 1 minute.
Next, add the vegan butter or shortening to the food processor ⅛ of a cup (28 g) at a time and pulse for 30 seconds to a minute after each addition. The mixture will start to look like coarse cornmeal. If there are a few teaspoon-sized lumps of butter, don’t worry—they will mix in later.
Pour the flour mixture into the large bowl with the veggies, quinoa and soy milk-vinegar mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon to spread the veggies throughout and smash up any butter pieces that remain.
Grease two cookie sheets or line them with parchment paper. Using a large scoop (about ¼ cup [60 ml]), form about 12 biscuits. They will be domed from the scoop; if you wish, flatten them with the palm of your hand. They will not spread out during cooking.
Cook for 13 to 17 minutes, or until they turn light brown on the bottoms. Eat as is, covered with gravy or in the middle of your favorite meatless stew or chili.