Sweet, Sour and Spicy Tofu - variation

Originally use this recipe c2012.  I made it again, with a few variations shown here. Originally designed to serve with rice, but I chose to serve it on a bed of quinoa and steamed kale.  The recipe here serves 4. The nutrition analysis is for 1 serving including the quinoa and bed of 1.25 cups of steamed kale.

Prep - Tofu
Drain 14 oz brick of tofu.
Cut into cubes.

Prep - Quinoa
Rinse 1/2 cup quinoa
Cook per instructions until fluffy

Saute until browned - about 10-15 minutes; stir occasionally. Put in a bowl and set aside when done.
1 Tbsp olive oil
Cubes of tofu.


Saute
1 Onion, chopped

Add and continue saute, stir this up and mix in the spices
3 garlic cloves, minced or canned
1 tsp ginger root, minced or canned1/3 cup  dried apricots, chopped small
3 dates, chopped up
2 tsp curry powder

Return Tofu and mix up with the spices and onion.
Add and simmer until liquid is absorbed - about 15 minutes or so
1 1/2 cups  water

2 Tbps  balsamic vinegar

Serve on bed of quinoa and 1.25 cups steamed kale.

Rated a 4.75 on Kale Scale.

Kale Quinoa Pistachio Saute with Basalmic Vinegar

There was enough relief from the hot weather to actually use the cook top and oven. This dish was a

side to some fresh wild salmon. Very tasty, and surprisingly easy to make.

Cook quinoa
3/4 cup dry organic tricolor quinoa from Bob's Red Mill
1.5 cups water
1 Tbsp white wine

Bring water/wine to boil. Put in quinoa. Return to boil. Let simmer 3 minutes. Then turn off the heat, cover the pan, and leave it on the burner. Check it in about 20 minutes. Quinoa done. Perfectly!

Prepare onion
1/3 cup onion, chopped up.
1/2 tsp olive oil

Put the onion and oil in a microwave bowl. Cover. Cook on high 1 minute.

Prepare Kale
2 cups kale - rip to bite size pieces.
1/3 cup - broccoli slaw  
Microwave on high 1 minute

Put it all together
Get a microwave bowl large enough for all of the above.
Put 1 tsp balsamic vinegar and 1 Tbsp olive oil in the bottom of bowl.
Add kale, quinoa and onion.
Add 1 tsp ground black pepper
Mix it all up.
Add 35+ pistachios (shelled)

Heat the mixture in microwave 1.5 minutes.
Mix, again, and serve.  

Makes 2 servings (really could make 4, but for me, it's 2).

Rated a 4.70 on the Kale Scale

Spicy Bean and Quinoa Kale Salad with Mole Viniagrette

The basic recipe comes out of Cooking Light. Supposed to serve on Spinach. I used Kale, of course, and this was delicious!

Recipe is to serve 6. The nutrition count is for 1 serving with 1+ cup of Kale, ripped to bite size pieces.

Mole Viniagrette: Combine, whisk, mix up and set aside
1 tsp grated orange peel
3/4 tsp unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground sinnamon
2 Tbsp orange juice
1.5 tsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp adobo sauce from canned chiplote chiles in adobo sauce
     Add last, slowly, mix it all up
     2 Tbsp olive oil

Combine in large bowl, toss
3 cups cooked quinoa, at room temperature
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, roasted
1/4 cup cilantro, fresh, chopped up
2 green onions, sliced
1-2 chiles from the canned chipolte chiles, sliced thin
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained

After the quinoa items are all mixed together ADD
the Mole Viniagrette and toss to coat.

Serve 
1 and 2/3 cups of mixture on top of 1+ cups of kale, ripped to bite size


Rated a 4.68 on the Kale Scale

Steamed Kale under Indian-Spiced Quinoa with Raisins and Pine Nuts

Mom gave me a recipe from the Oregonian for Indian-Spiced Quinoa with Golden Raisins and Pine Nuts which I varied a bit for this meal. It is deeee-licious!  The nutrition count is for 1 serving of the quinoa mixture, on 1+ C kale.  This mixture will serve 3-4.

Saute until onion is limp
2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp raw ginger, shredded

Add and mix up with onion and oil
3/4 C quinoa (rinse first)
Ground spices:
  1/2 tsp cardamon
  1/2 tsp coriander
  1/2 tsp cumin
  1/2 cinnamon
  1/4 tsp turmeric
  1/8 tsp cayenne

Add, mix, lower heat, cover and simmer for about 10-18 minutes until quinoa is done, and mix is still moist
2 C broth (vegetable or chicken)
1 oz white wine

Add, mix and serve
1/3 C raisins
1/4 C toasted pine nuts

[To toast pine nuts, put them in skillet on low heat. Stir every so often until done.]

Serve the quinoa mixture on a bed of:
1+ C steamed kale, ripped to bite size pieces.

Rated a 4.67 on Kale Scale.

Smoothie Redemption

This smoothie, much improved over the last one!

Blend together and serve:

1 cup skim milk
1/2 blueberries
1 orange, peeled
2 Tbsp cooked quinoa
1+ cup kale
1 oz yogurt, Dannon Lite n Fit Vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Rated at 4.66 on the Kale Scale

Quinoa in a Kale Smoothie?

Yes! Quinoa works great in a kale smoothie. At least with the vitamix, it is blended to smithereens. I used red quinoa, and in the photo, you can see some red flecks in the drink - that's the blended quinoa. As per my last smoothie, I have some work to do to get to a reasonable calorie count with these liquid meals!

Blend as desired - with Vmix - about 1 minute or so
1 cup non-fat milk
30 grapes
3 clementines
1/2 cup cooked quinoa (red, this time)
1/4 cup non-fat plain yogurt
2 Tbsp POM pomegranate juice
3 pitted dates
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1+ cup kale

Serve and enjoy!

Rated a 4.72 on the Kale Scale.

Quinoa Corn and Kale

The best of leftovers: making meals in minutes. This one was delicious!

Microwave 4 minutes
1 ear of corn
and cut the kernels off the cob after cooking
Add 1 tsp of butter, black pepper and dash of Mrs Dash

Microwave 2 minutes
1+ cup of Kale, ripped to bite size. I put the kale on the dinner plate, cover with a plastic steamer lid. Works great!

Microwave 2+ minutes
1 cup Solar Quinoa
2 patties, Morningstar veggie fake sausage

Assemble
Place the corn kernels on the kale, on your plate
Add quinoa, and cut up fake sausage patties
Top with 2 tbsp. of non-fat greek yogurt.

Add a splash of Worcestershire sauce.

Rated a 4.75 on the Kale Scale.

Solar Pepper Quinoa with Steamed Kale

Hot weather continues - perfect for a solar cooked dinner!  A present some years ago, my solar cooker still does a fine job.

I put the quinoa, liquid and accompaniments into an orange pepper. I placed the pepper in a small pyrex dish to keep it stable. And this dish was placed in the black kettle that I use with the solar cooker. I also included in the cooker a salmon fillet.

Put the cooker in the sunshine at 1pm. Brought it in at 4:30 pm. 

Mix in a bowl

1/2 cup Quinoa
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 Tbsp, ginger, raw and minced
1 clementine orange, peeled and sectioned
1 Cup water
1.5 Tbsp white wine (finishing off the little bottle)
1 Tbsp lime juice

Assemble

Cut the top and inside seeds from an orange pepper.
Place about 1/2 of the mixture in the prepared pepper.
Place in the solar cooker.
Cook for 2.5 hours.

Serve

Steam 1+ cup of kale for 2 minutes or less.
Place on plate
Put the stuffed pepper on the kale.
Add a dash of Worcestershire sauce.
Eat some kale with every bite!

Rated a 4.71 on the Kale Scale.

Whole Foods / Fast Food

Was shopping last weekend at Whole Foods, before dinner, hungry. Walked by the RTE (ready to eat) food bar, and ended up putting together in a pint box - curried potatoes, quinoa with lemon and cilantro, curried tofu, and dal with spinach.

When I got home, I dumped it all into a 4 quart mixing bowl along with 1+ cup of kale ripped to bite size pieces.

Microwave on high for 2 minutes or so.

It was delicious!  No calorie for this one.

Rated a 4.68 on the Kale Scale.