SuzyQ Quinoa or End-of-month Quinoa... both veggie and meaty recipe.

Its the end of the month. Looks in fridge. Hmmm... what do we have to work with. My friend Lorna will be thrilled, NO mushrooms (sobs madly). Ah well... This recipe is interchangeable in its veggies. Use what you have, just try and make it fairly even amounts of each. I used literally what I had left. And this is what happened :)

Also, this can be a vegetarian dish, or, a with meat dish. I kept the meat separate, so that if I want some of this yummy stuff for breakfast tomorrow, I won't overdose on protein. The name? For some reason, my friend Suzy (who is Vegan) kept coming to mind, Ashley too... :) Q is for Quinoa... So, its a friendly dish, all around. A lot of steps I know, BUT, its one of those COEMT! :) Makes a HUGE batch. YUM!

A note about the Kabuto or whatever they are called tomatoes. These are weird in color, brownish/red. Weird ugly, but oh SOOOOOO tasty! They are I think kind of like heirloom tomatoes, sure taste like them! If you can't get these, (they can be pricey, these were 50% off :) get regular tomatoes, preferably fresh off the vine (hard in winter, I know :|)

Oh, and if you value your sanity, do NOT eat Quinoa with chopsticks. Seriously!


Ingredients:




1 large head of broccoli (about 1.5 lbs), chopped small, and evenly.

1 cup of baby carrots, sliced lenghtwise

1 med onion, sliced

2 cups of sliced almonds

garlic puree, divided

Kabuto Tomatoes (or any heirloom tomatoes) 3 sm-med, sliced in thin quarters.

Mirrin sauce (about 2 tsp)

salt and pepper

soy sauce

olive oil

butter (or olive oil if you prefer)

Cooked plain Quinoa (about 4 cups cooked)



If adding meat, prep the following

1 lb steak

1 lb shrimp, raw and shelled.



Steak Marinade:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp sodium reduced soy sauce

salt and pepper (about 1/8 tsp)

2 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tsp fine sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

3 tbsp cold water

1 tbsp garlic



mix well.



Cut steak in small bitesize pieces, try to cut evenly.

Add marinade, and mix well. Put aside. (while you are cooking, you will mix it every once in a while).



Shimp Prep:



I used raw, shelled shrimp.

In bowl, add shrimp, 1-2 tbsp garlic, to taste, salt and pepper (about 1/8 tsp), 1 tbsp olive oil

mix well. set aside. you'll stir every once in a while, just like the beef.

~~~~ COOKING ~~~~ I cooked everything on high



In large teflon pan, put 2 tbsp butter OR olive oil, 1/8 tsp of salt and pepper each.

Add 1/2 sliced onion, brown well.

Add quinoa, break up any lumps, and stir-fry for about 8 minutes or so, until heated through, and you see some of the quinoa get toasty.

Put aside in large bowl.

Add 2 tbsp olive oil, heat.

add 1/4 sliced onion, and brown well.

add both broccoli and carrots, and stir fry for about 7 minutes, veggies will become bright green and orange. Salt, garlic (1 tbsp or to taste) and pepper to taste.

Add almonds, mix well, stir fry, stiring constantly, for another 3 minutes or so.

add 2 tbsp soy sauce, and mix well. (the soy sauce adds flavor, and being liquid, will help "steam" the veggies.

At this point, if you are doing the veggie Quinoa, skip the steps below, and go to Final step.



Remove veggies in a separate bowl.



Add steak in hot pan (do not drain), stir fry until evenly brown. The cornstarch makes a kind of pasty coating, this is normal, just tap your spatula on the side, and mix it back in. When the meat is dry, and there is no more "pastiness", its ready. Remove.

is ready :)

Add 1 tsp olive oil, heat. Add last 1/4 sliced onion, brown well.

Add shrimp (and all bowl content), stir fry for abour 2-3 minutes on each side (depending on size of shrimp. do NOT overcook!)

do NOT overcook shrimp! these are just about done, as we'll be frying them a bit more in a minute!

Add beef, ad stir-fry vigorously for another 3 minutes max!

Remove from heat in a bowl.



FINAL STEP:



Add Quinoa back into pan, and add veggies. Stir-fry until fully warmed through, then add tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste. Stir fry very briefly, to not overcook tomatoes. Serve immediately, with sesame seeds sprinkled on top if desired.

IF using the meat recipe, serve Quinoa mix in bowl, and add 4-6 tbsp of the meat mixture on top, sprinkle with sesame seeds and enjoy!

With meat

Without meat

I hope you've enjoyed this recipe, I'd love to hear your comments... You can email me at ladybug(@)mail2freedom.com (remove the brackets () to send) :)

Cyncerly, Cyn