Happy Thursday! Can you believe that March is almost here. I mean, where did February go? I need to start planning my garden since soon it will be time to put my seeds in.
I had a long relaxing weekend. Friday's weather was such a teaser since we have snow now. After work on Friday all I could do was sit outside with Daisy and read a book. It was perfect. Friday evening I spent in Baltimore with Lynn at her art showing. We had drinks at Brewer's Art, no resurrection for me : ( and then had dinner at Joe Squared. They have a huge variety of pizza and other Italian food, a lot of which is gluten free. Definitely put on your list of places to go. Right off the Howard St. bridge next to MICA.
In other news, today is my sister Lynn's birthday so were having a small celebration dinner. She insisted on making a red velvet cake with loads of cream cheese icing. Just thinking of it makes my stomach hurt, so I'll be staying away from that.
I have been promising on here for some time now cinnamon buns. I've made them in the past but I haven't been completely crazy about them. Actually, I take that back. Last winter when we had a huge snow storm I made these buns with Spelt flour and they were honestly just like those ones in the mall. My trouble has been converting them to completely gluten free. Getting that prefect texture is key. I thought about getting up early tomorrow to make them for breakfast but she leaves by 7 and its my day off work, so that’s a negative. But why not have a cinnamon bun for an afternoon treat before dinner! Sounds perfect. And this way if I somehow screw them up, I'll have time to redo.
What’s special about these buns is that they are made with agave nectar, even the filling. You may be thinking these can’t be good without sugar, but let me tell you, the agave adds a wonderful floral sweetness and moisture. Tomorrow I will post all about my cinnamon buns, pictured included!! I also have ton of new quinoa recipes to share. I don’t think you can have too many quinoa recipes!
For dinner, I made quinoa with an eggplant and tomato ragu. It was super good! Here is the recipe:
Toasted Quinoa with Eggplant & Tomato Ragù
1 1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 cup quinoa
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoon parsley, chopped
Make Quinoa
- Bring stock and 1/2 tsp salt to a boil in a medium saucepan.
- Wash quinoa in cold water and then drain.
- Add quinoa to boiling water and simmer, covered, until the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Once done, set aside.
Eggplant & Tomato Ragu (make while quinoa is cooking)
- Toss eggplant with 1 tsp salt in a colander and drain 15-20 minutes. This will remove excess liquid.
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add eggplant, onion, garlic, and oregano. Cook for about 7 minutes, or until eggplant is soft. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add in the cherry tomatoes, roasted pepper, and water and simmer on low heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is very tender and mixture has thickened, about 10-15 minutes.
- Stir in the chopped parsley.
Toast The Quinoa (while the ragu is cooking)
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil large pan over medium heat. Add quinoa and cook, stirring occasionally, until the quinoa is golden and nutty. This will take about 10 minutes.
- Serve the eggplant and tomato ragu over a bed of toasted quinoa.
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