Saturday, March 28, 2009

Saturday

Quinoa egg bake with thyme and garlic (recipe in the comments)
Salad with balsamic vinaigrette

Hot cocoa
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This is one of the recipes we discovered when the blog was down right after we moved. As you know, we're on a quest to eat more whole (and unusual) grains. Quinoa isn't even that unusual anymore, but we don't really have any recipes we use it in. Anyway, I saw this on the Whole Foods website and it seemed right up our alley. The result is subtle, but truly yummy AND it's beautiful. The quinoa settles to the bottom of the dish and forms a sort of a crust, making this a bit like a quiche. We really like this with baked or roasted tomatoes - but the tomatoes didn't look good today, so salad it is. The only note is that, while the prep is super fast this cooks for an hour, so it's great for a weekend when you've just brought out your deck furniture and and you'd like to sit outside with a fire and enjoy the first breaths of spring while it bakes. Just an idea.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Garlic, spinach, thyme, cheese
Time: 15 minutes to prep, 1 hour to cook
Make ahead: The saves very well.

Reaction
J: "Transcendent!"
M: "Finally, a quinoa recipe in the repertoire!"

1 comment:

J said...

Quinoa Egg Bake with Thyme and Garlic – Whole Foods Market
Serves 4

Cooking spray
½ cup uncooked quinoa
8 eggs
1 ¼ cups 1% milk (or 1 cup skim + ¼ cup whole)
6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 t thyme, stemmed and leaves bruised
½ t salt
½ t pepper
2 cups packed baby spinach, roughly chopped
1 cup coarsely shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a square baking dish with cooking spray.

Place quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and run cold water over it until the water runs clear. Drain well.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, garlic, thyme, salt, peppr, and quinoa. Stir in the spinach then pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Cover tightly with foil and jiggle the dish gently from side to side so the quinoa settles to the bottom in an even layer. Bake until just set, about 45 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes more. Let cool briefly before slicing to serve.