Recipe: Gluten Free Quinoa Stuffing

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we wanted to share our gluten-free recipe for stuffing using our quinoa puffs. The recipe also happens to be vegan (using olive oil instead of butter and omitting any eggs). Perfect for anyone with food restrictions or someone looking to eat a little healthier around the holidays. The seasoning from our Herbes de Provence Quinoa Puffs lends itself well with the deep savory flavors of mushrooms. This will be a hit with everyone at the Thanksgiving dinner table. 

Ingredients:

2 tbspn olive oil

1/2 lb of button, crimini or shiitake mushrooms

1 medium sized onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic

16oz (2 cups) vegetable broth

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

1/4 cup of chopped walnuts (optional, omit if you have a tree nut allergy)

juice of 1/2 lemon (optional)

kosher salt and black pepper

9 oz (3x 3 oz bags) of I Heart Keenwah Herbes de Provence Quinoa Puffs

Place mushrooms, garlic and walnuts in a food processor and pulse until fine. Set aside.

Heat oil in pan and sauté mushroom, garlic and walnut for 10 minutes on medium heat. Mushrooms should reduce and liquid should evaporate. Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes. Add celery and parsley leaves and sauté for 2 minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil. Add quinoa puffs and mix gently. Allow some of the puffs to get broken up to make the dish look more like a traditional crouton based stuffing. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice. 

Transfer to a greased baking dish or skillet. Cover and bake for 20 minutes on 325 F. Remove foil and continue baking until top is crisp (~15 minutes). Serve with sprinkled parsley on top. 

Recipe adapted from "The Best Vegan Stuffing" by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats. 

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 Toasted 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.

recipe: quinoa puff fattoush

co-founder ravi provides a new take on the classic lebanese salad.

fattoush... fattoush... its a fun word to say. it sounds complicated, but its nothing more than a simple lebanese salad made of fresh vegetables, herbs and crispy pita. in our case, we're swapping out the pita for our sea salt truffle quinoa puffs. not only does this make the salad gluten free but you also get 15 grams of added protein (assuming you use the whole bag, which you of course would).

ready? go... 

1 english cucumber (seedless), peeled and cut into chunks

2 tomatoes, diced into chunks

1 shallot, rinsed and chopped coarsely 

3-5 leaves of romaine lettuce, torn into large pieces

3 red radishes, sliced thinly

handful of fresh herbs (parsley and mint are best but you can also add dill) 

sumac (optional)

lemon juice

olive oil

course salt

1x bag of i heart keenwah quinoa puffs, sea salt truffle

combine all of the vegetables and herbs in a bowl and set aside. take quinoa puffs bag and beat with a spoon to break down the puffs. i like the puffs better this way when i am adding them as a crunchy topper to a salad. dress salad with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and sumac. adding ground dried sumac (available at most specialty or ethnic stores) adds a nice tart flavor and offsets the salty crunchy of the puffs. mix in puffs and serve. this salad can be prepared hours before serving and it still maintains its crunch!

- ravi

Recipe: Sprouted Mung Bean and Toasted Quinoa Salad

Sprouting mung beans at home is easy and fun. When combined with cooked Toasted Quinoa, you have the basis for a nutritious and simple salad. I like to pay homage to my indian roots and season the salad with indian seasonings: cumin, chile, lemon. You could make many variations on this by just combining quinoa with sprouted mung beans. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup of cooked Toasted Quinoa, cooled
• 1 cup of sprouted mung beans*
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tbspn finely chopped red onion (tip: give them a quick rinse before using to remove the sharp raw taste)
• 1/2 chopped jalapeno
• 1/2 avocado
• 1 tspn whole cumin
• 1 tspn coriander powder
• 1/4 tspn turmeric powder 
• 1 tspn olive oil
• 1 tspn sugar (optional), I used course coconut sugar for the texture
• Salt and pepper to taste

*Mung beans can be bought at most health food stores or in indian markets. They are inexpensive and highly nutritious! To sprout the mung beans, just wash and soak dried mung beans overnight. The following morning, give the beans a thorough wash and put in a breathable container. Some folks use old yogurt containers and poke holes on the over. I go a more minimal route -- I put the beans in an opened ziplock bag and cover with a damp paper cloth. The key is not to store the mung beans in an air tight container. Store in dark place (e.G., inside cabinet or unused dish washer; do not store in fridge). Wash and drain mung beans 2x a day and watch them sprout. By day 3 they should be edible. 

combine mung beans, quinoa and rest of ingredients in bowl and mix. that's it. serve alone or on top of a leafy green, such as spinach. i served mine alongside some homemade black bean and sweet potato mini veggie burgers and some homemade pickled radishes. - ravi

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