Daily Dinner Table
Ideas for dinner tonight. Household and kitchen tips, recipes, tweaks. What's worked great, and not so great.
Veggie Quinoa with Portobello and Avocado
It’s been hectic around here! This is my first post in quite some time. Our house is now up for sale, we’re back from a magnificent wedding in New York, I’m a year older, and our little Bam Bam is on the mend. (I hope) So, needless to say, with those events on top of my already full schedule, something had to give, and it was my little blogging hobby. I’ve missed it. I’ve still been cooking (a bit) and here’s a delicious experiment I made with a little Quinoa inspiration from a great vegan restaurant, Candle West Cafe, in New York City, (thanks Josh!) and our favorite new Bodacious Olive here in Pensacola. (owned by my friend Rishy. If you’re in the area, you’ve got to go, it’s a great little shop!)
Here’s what you’ll need for about 4 servings:
1 c quinoa
2 c vegetable broth or stock (water is ok too, but not as flavorful)
garlic infused olive oil (Bodacious olive!) regular olive oil is fine also, just not as flavorful
pinch of salt
1 c fresh or frozen corn
2 c cubed eggplant (peeled)
1/3 c diced onion
1 seeded and diced red pepper
1/2 c roughly chopped broccoli
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 T minced garlic
1/4 c sliced or chopped kalamata olive
1 c fresh greens per serving
2 avocados peeled and sliced
1-2 portobello mushroom sliced
cinnamon pear balsamic vinegar (Bodacious Olive) or regular Balsamic
Cook Quinoa as directed on box in vegetable stock, or water. Set aside.
If you buy quinoa in bulk, heat 2 c liquid to boiling. Add 1 c quinoa a drizzle of oil and pinch of salt, stir. Reduce heat to medium low, cook uncovered for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat, cover and let sit about 10 more minutes.
In large pan, heat a bit of olive oil, add garlic and onion until fragrant. Add the eggplant. Cook about 7 minutes stirring often. You may need to add a little more olive oil since the eggplant absorbs so easily, but don’t add too much. Add the carrot, corn, red pepper, broccoli. Stir and cook until fork tender. Add olives. Set aside.
Heat nonstick pan with 1 T olive oil to medium. Saute portobello until dark and tender. Set aside
Toss vegetables gently with quinoa in large bowl.
Vegetables before adding to quinoa
To plate, make a circle of greens on plate, leaving center open for veggie quinoa mixture. Place avocado slices around greens, and mushrooms atop of quinoa mixture. Sprinkle with Cinnamon Pear Balsamic vinegar.
Veggie Quinoa with Portobello and Avocado
Daily Dinner Table 
Thanks Josh! I love the cookbook, and will get tons of inspiration from it. You are a sweetheart! I’ll post a couple of pictures from our Sushi rolling party soon! Fun evening that was xo
Happy to see you are back to blogging! This looks delicious. Can’t wait to try it :0)