Recipe: Spicy Vegetable Quinoa “Biryani"

As promised, here is my recipe for Spicy Vegetable Quinoa “Biryani”.  Traditionally, Biryani is made with rice, so I decided to experiment with quinoa and change up one of my mom’s recipe

Quinoa is a great source of protein! It is actually a complete protein, meaning that it has all of the amino acids that our body needs. Vegetarians often have trouble finding since this type of protein is found in meats, poultry, and fish. I hope you give this recipe a try!

Don’t forget to get your copy of The Vegetarian’s Complete Quinoa Cookbook!

Spicy Vegetable Quinoa "Biryani"
Makes: 6 cups
One Serving: 1.5 cups

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 cups vegetable broth
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp finely minced ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chili powder
1 large potato (about 5oz/150g) peeled and chopped into 1.5 inch (4cm) pieces
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp 0% fat Greek-style yogurt
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1. Place the quinoa in a large saucepan, add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook covered for 15-20 minutes. The quinoa is done when the grains are translucent and all the liquid has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork, remove from heat and let stand covered 5-10 minutes.

2. In a small frying pan, heat the canola oil over medium heat. Saute onions about 3-6 minutes, until golden brown. Reduce heat to low and add the ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, turmeric, coriander, and chill powder and stir well. Remove from heat.

3. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook covered for 8-10 minutes or until the potatoes soften slightly. Do not drain.

4. Add the mixed vegetables and fold in until evenly mixed. Stir in the lemon juice and yogurt. Remove from heat.

5. To serve: Fold the potato mixture and the onion mixture into the cooked quinoa. Add the cilantro and serve immediately.

The great thing about getting this published in a cookbook is that I now have the nutritional information!

Nutrition per serving:
311 Calories
0mg cholesterol
6g fibre
10g total fat (mostly good fat!)
1g saturated fat
60mg sodium
4g sugars
48g carbohydrate
9g protein

Unfortunately, I did not take  a picture the last time I made it. I will surely add a picture when I make it next :). Enjoy!

PS. For those of you stumped on how to pronounce Quinoa, it’s “KEEN-WA”.

My Recipes in “The Vegetarian’s Complete Quinoa Cookbook"

I have some exciting news! 

Two of my recipes have been published in “The Vegetarian’s Complete Quinoa Cookbook”!!!!

Spicy Vegetable “Biryani”

Date and Walnut Squares

I will share both of these recipes in the weeks to come. Buy your copy on Amazon here!

Here are a few pictures from the launch tonight at the Cookbook Store:

Some delicious samples from the cookbook!

Those spring rolls were amazing!

Mairlyn Smith being funny as usual

Stay tuned for the recipes and don’t forget to pick up your copy today!

Recipe: Never Buy Salad Dressing Again!

I volunteer at a Community Health Centre and one of my favourite programs to assist with is the Community Kitchen. For those unfamiliar with this term, Community Kitchens are essentially a place for community members to come together, share recipes, and cook!

The last Community Kitchen was extra fun since we walked over to the local community garden and harvested vegetables for our lunch!

Among the many vegetables and herbs we harvested, here is one gem I found: 

Intertwined carrots! Can you say ‘inseparable’?

Once we returned to our kitchen, we cut up all of the vegetables and made a great salad.

You don’t really need a recipe for a salad! This salad had cherry tomatoes, lettuce, swiss chard, green and yellow peppers, kale, radish, and carrots.

We paired this with a salad dressing made from scratch! Why buy salad dressing when you can make it at home? You can always change around the ingredients to suit your needs!

The basic ingredients you need for a vinaigrette is an oil, such as olive oil and something acidic, such as vinegar or lemon juice. With that in mind, the possibilities are endless!

Basil Vinaigrette

Basil Vinaigrette

• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 Tbsp dry basil
• 2 cloves garlic minced or 1 tsp garlic powder

1. Mix ingredients well and enjoy with your favourite salad!

Source: www.allrecipes.com

Recipe: Popovers

I hope you all are bundling up and embracing the beautiful fall colours!

Here is a great recipe I found for popovers on foodwishes.com - one of my favourite food blogs!

Hot & Fresh out of the oven

This is a very easy recipe and is a great substitute for dinner rolls. Since popovers are hollow, you can stuff them with tuna salad for a quick and easy lunch!

Popovers:
Makes: 8 popovers
One serving: 1 popover

• 1 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 cup milk 
• pinch cayenne 
•  2 Tbsp shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

1. Mix and fill in greased muffin pans 3/4 full. Place in a COLD oven and then set oven to 450C. Bake for 30 minutes. 

To watch the video on how to make this, visit Food Wishes. You will notice his turned out much more adventurous than mine!

Recipe: Crustless Vegetarian Quiche

A few weekends ago, my sister in law and I got together and made our own version of a crustless quiche. We couldn’t be bothered to make a crust from scratch, so we decided to omit it all together! 

 

Nutrition Tip: This recipe includes 3 food groups from Canada’s Food Guide: vegetables, eggs (a meat alternative), and dairy (from the milk and cheese). 

The great thing about this recipe is that you can always experiment with different vegetables!

Crustless Vegetarian Quiche

Makes: 2 8inch quiches or 1 10inch quiche
One Serving: 1/4 of quiche

• 1 medium onion
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced onions
• ½ cup diced green peppers 
• ½ cup diced red peppers
• ¼ cup green onions 
• 2 tsp vegetable oil 
• 1 cup grated cheese (mozzarella) 
• 5 large eggs 
• 2 cups skim milk
• Salt to taste
• Black Pepper to taste
• Red Chilli Powder to taste (optional)

1. Heat up vegetable oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add onions and lightly brown.
2. Add the remaining vegetables and add spices to taste. Cook 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Do not overcook! Once it is cooked, turn heat off and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, add 5 eggs.
4. Whisk in milk and cheese.
5. Mix in cooked vegetables.
6. Pour batter into a greased pie pan. I did not have a deep pie pan, so I used two pie pans instead.
7. Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes or until set. Remove and let cool slightly before slicing.

A New Look & A New Name!

Hello Everyone,

After another hiatus, I am back after some inspiration. It all started with this:

This is something I made with construction paper for a professional practice course about a year and a half ago. Students were asked to create a personal icon that represented themselves. I decided to make a cube with each side representing a certain aspect of my life. This is one of the sides of the cube that I found myself always drawn to, even a year and a half later. This image stands for what I believe in: Balance!

With this inspiration, I decided to revamp my blog, previously known as Nutritional Naz now known as B.A.L.AN.C.E! I hope to use this space to share ways to “be active” and “creatively eat”, both which can be incorporated into our daily “lives”!

I would also like to express my eternal gratitude to Kiswah Kreative for transforming my construction paper idea to an amazing logo! Click here to check out the Facebook page or here for your marketing needs.

I look forward to this journey and hope you will join me!

Recipe: Black Bean Tortilla Soup

During the break I had the opportunity to assist with recipe testing for an upcoming OHEA (Ontario Home Economics Association) Cookbook! I, along with other student volunteers, had the chance to work with Mairlyn Smith to test out some recipes. As a departing gift, I received Mairlyn's Cookbook: Healthy Starts Here!

I decided to try out the Black Bean Tortilla Soup from Mairlyn's cookbook and it turned out to be my kind of recipe; easy, healthy, and delicious!

Black Bean Tortilla Soup

Makes: 8 cups (2L)

One Serving: 2 cups (500 mL)3 cups (750 mL) lower sodium chicken or vegetable broth
One – 19 fl oz (540 mL) can diced tomatoes
One -19 fl oz. (540 mL) can black beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup (60 mL) deli fresh salsa, mild, medium, or hot
1 tbsp (15 mL) hot sauce, less if desired
1 cup (250 mL) fresh or frozen corn, no need to thaw
1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced thinly
1 cup (250 mL) thinly sliced green onions, approx. 5 green onions
1 cup (250 mL) chopped cilantro
1 lime, scrubbed well and cut into quarters
40 unsalted whole corn tortilla chips

1. Heat chicken or vegetable broth in a large pot over medium/high heat. When it comes to the boil add tomatoes, black beans, salsa, hot sauce, and corn. Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir and remove from heat.
2. Ladle soup into 4 deep soup bowls. Equally divide the avocado, green onion and cilantro and sprinkle on top of each soup bowl. Squeeze on some fresh lime juice.
3. Put 10 tortilla chips in your hands and slightly crush them into each bowl. Mix gently and serve.