What’s for lunch today? And the quinoa Brazilian way

I love cooking and experimenting things out in my kitchen. I use the things I have in my fridge, so using the vegetables of the season and mixing different vegetables. Sometimes the cooking comes out good for eating and tasty, sometimes “well, I do not cook this again” and sometimes awesome. That is what happened today, so that is why I want to share the recipe. 

Coconut curry with vegetables (vegan, all bio/organic)

What went in to my pan, in the right order:

1 heaped Tbsp of coconut oil for cooking
1 tsp of powdered cumin (jeera)
1 tsp of coriander seed powder
1 tsp of turmeric
1 big ripe tomato
1-2 dl/0,5-1 cup of water
1 small beetroot
0,5 middle sized zuccini
1-2 dl/0,5-1 cup of coconut milk or coconut cream
2-3 Tbsp soya sauce (I use mild shoyu)
2-3 Tbsp of lemon juice
1 heaped dl/approx 0,5 cup of frozen spinach
(water if cooking gets too dry)
handful of fresh coriander
2-2,5 dl/approx 1 cup of cooked quinoa per person

This portion served 3 persons. With salad, it would serve 4. 

How to make it? Heat up the coconut oil in the pan and add the spices. Mix well and allow to simmer for some moments to heat them well. Add the diced tomato, mix with the spices and add water just so that the tomatomix does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Add the beetroot, diced very thin. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes, once and a while checking that there is liquid and the mix is not sticking. Add the diced zucchini, coconut cream or milk, soya sauce and lemon juice. Mix well and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes.Then add the frozen spinach, mix well and check the amount of liquid (the ingredients should be almost covered). Allow the spinach to defrost, add the cooked quinoa. Mix well and add liquid if it is too dry here. Allow the quinoa to heat up, mixing once and a while. Remove from heat, add the coriander and, Bon Apetit.

How to cook tasty quinoa? The Brazilian way

This is the way my hub does it, so all the compliments to him. He is Brazilian, and the cultural and culinarist heritage of that huge country shows in our kitchen. 

What is needed? 

1 Tbsp of coconut oil
1 glove of garlic (or a chunk of fresh ginger)
3 dl quinoa
6 dl water
1 tsp

Rinse the quinoa well, allow all the water to drop off. Cook the water. In a small cooking pot, heat the coconut oil and toss in the garlic, on full heat. Allow to roast a little bit, stirring well so it does not stick and burn. Add the rinsed quinoa, continue stirring, mixing well the garlic taste to the quinoa. Add the boiling-hot water, and salt (to your taste). Lower the heat and allow to simmer covered 15-20 minutes, or until the quinoa is soft and “opens”. Alternatively, for different taste, here you can also use minced ginger.

When rinsing the quinoa make sure your colander is thick enough, not to loose the quinoa (the grains are small). 

You can cook more quinoa and store it in your fridge for a couple of days, which saves time. The ratio of quinoa to water is 1:2 (1 portion of any size of quinoa and 2 similar portions of water). 

Enjoy 🙂