Quinoa Mac and Cheese

This recipe for Quinoa Mac and Cheese has been evolving since just before Christmas. Aleks left for Arizona four days before Christmas. I was sad about that because it was going to be our first Christmas together. So his dad and I decided we would have "Christmas" the night before he left. Aleks wasn't too stoked about that but I told him it was our way of getting the holiday with him.

His dad's girlfriend was going to make a ham and while deciding on what else to make Aleks said that an awesome baked macaroni and cheese would go good with the ham. So I did some research and found this recipe. Emril Lagasse had a contest for the Best Mac and Cheese Ever and so I decided to use this recipe.

Aleks said it was his favorite thing we ate at that meal. Later on I visited Aleks in Arizona at the end of January. He told me that his sister wanted me to make the mac and cheese. I had thought he told her about it but instead it was his dad. So I made it again. Another success.

As I have been browsing Pintrest and saw quinoa mac and cheese recipes but it seemed that they really were macaroni made out of quinoa flour. So I decided to make my own recipe. I used the recipe that I used from christmas and decided to add cooked quinoa, broccoli and cauliflower.

With these additions it made the recipe a little bit healthier. At first I only used the quinoa, broccoli and cauliflower but Aleks' sister said she thought that it might be good with a bit of the pasta mixed in for extra texture. So this will be todays addtion to my list of quinoa recipes. So far I have posted about Black Bean Quinoa Burgers and Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad you can read about them here. 

The first thing I would do is get the quinoa on to cook and get the garlic in the toaster or oven to roast. To cook the quinoa you put one cup of water in a pot with two cups of water. Then put it on to boil. Once it boils then take off the lid and turn off the stove. Let the quinoa sit on the stove for 15-20 minutes till cooked.

For the garlic, take the whole head and cut the top third off horizantally. I use a little olive oil and salt an pepper and put the top third back on. The wrap it up in a sheet of foil and throw in the toaster oven or regular oven for 45 minutes at 400 degrees.

While those are cooking then take a package of bacon and cut them up in one inch squares and cook in a big pot.

While that is cooking then dice up two big shallots.

Grate the two cheeses, 6oz of gruyere and 8oz of extra sharp chedar cheese.

In a big pot boil water and put the pasta and the veggies into it. Cook for as long as the package directions call for. Normally its for 7 or 9 minutes. I have used many different kinds of pasta for this recipe. Really you can use whichever kind you want. Macarroni, the short macarroni, squiggly noodles, shells, penne or any other kind you have in the cupboard.

Once the bacon is cooked and crisp then set them aside and drain most of the grease out then add a stick of butter to the bacon pan and let melt with the left over bacon fat.

Once it is melted add the shallots.

After they have turned translucent then add a 1/2 cup of flour making a rue.

Stir together to make a thick paste. It should look somewhat like this.

Add a quart of milk. The recipe above calls for whole milk but any kind you use would work. I use half whole and half 1%. I would whisk it in in two batches.

While that is on the stove take out the garlic. Just squeeze the head and the garlic cloves will squish out all nice and soft.

After all the garlic is out of the husk it will look like this.

Take a knife and smash it into a paste.

Add the smashed garlic to the milk and rue mixture.

After the garlic, milk and rue are all mixed together the slowly add small batches of the cheese.

I go about a handfull of  cheese at a time.

This will slowly thicken the milk mixture.

While the sauce is cooking on the stove get the cooked quinoa and veggies into the baking pan.

Once all the cheese is added and smooth then pour the cheese sauce over the quinoa, pasta and veggies that have been put in a 9"x13" pan. Carefully stir it together so that the cheese sauce is evenly distributed. This normally  fills the pan to the brim so be careful.

Once you have finished stiring it together then top with 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs and 1/2 cup of shreaded parmesan mixed together.

Top with the bacon pieces.

Then put the pan in the oven for 20-30 minutes till the cheese at the edges are bubbly and the topping has slightly browned.

Take out of the oven, serve and enjoy.

Ingredients 

1 cup dry quinoa - cooked
8oz pasta
3 cups broccoli and cauliflower
8oz extra sharp cheddar cheese
6oz gruyere cheese
1 quart milk
1 package bacon
1 stick of butter
2 shallots
1 head of garlic - roasted
1/2 cup parmesan
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Tabbouleh Salad with Quinoa Recipe and Homemade Pita Chips

I have been trying to use quinoa in our diet more lately. I even made a quinoa mac and cheese which I will post about later. I feel quinoa is a better carb than most, especially white rice, potatoes, pasta and bread. I don't want to cut carbs out of my diet all together because I don't feel that is a balanced diet and I end up craving and caving. So I have been looking for more ways to use quinoa. Not only is it a good carb but it also is high in protein. Not as high as meat but higher than other types of carbs. I believe my quinoa package says that there are 6 grams of protein per serving.

In my fridge I had cucumbers and tomatoes and we are growing mint on the balcony. So I thought I would like to make a Tabbouleh salad with the quinoa instead of the Bulgar wheat. All I needed from the store was a little bit of parsley, lemon and feta.

While I was on my road trip we had dinner at my dads house. They use quinoa a lot and I asked them how they cook it seeing as I have had a bit of problems with cooking mine. You can read about what happened when I made my quinoa black bean burgers here. 

I asked my dad's wife if she rinsed her quinoa before she cooked it and she said that she did not. That all she does is measure two cups of water for one cup of quinoa. Puts it on the stove and waits for it to boil. Once it boils she said to turn off the burner and let it sit for 15 minutes. I did this and it was a lot better than before when I made the quinoa burgers.

While the quinoa was cooking I chopped the cucumbers, tomatoes, garlic, parsley and mint. I threw it all in a bowl with the feta.

After the quinoa finished cooking I took it out of the pot to cool. I didn't want the hot quinoa to wilt the veggies so I wanted it to cool.

While waiting I decided to make some pita chips to eat with the hummus I got from Sprouts, Aleks and my new favorite store. I cut the pita bread in 8 pieces and then took each segment apart. I like to do it this way because then I get more chips and they get crispier.

I like to use my toaster oven most of the time. This way I don't end up heating up the house like if I used the regular oven. I lined the tray for the toaster with some foil and put a little bit of olive oil on top.

I like to put salt and pepper in the oil and rub the pita pieces in the oil. Then line them nicely on the tray and pop um in the toaster for about 5 minutes. 

They come out all nice and toasty and crisp. Great for dipping in the hummus.

By this time the quinoa has cooled and I add it to the bowl with the veggies and cheese. Then I put one teaspoon of olive oil and juice of half a lemon.

Stir it all up so all the ingredients are evenly distributed and the flavors can marry.

Serve up the salad with a side of pita chips and hummus and enjoy.

Quinoa Black Bean Burger with Cilantro Tzatziki Sauce

Earlier this week I had made Quinoa and Cheese, my way of making a healthier mac and cheese; then I had made a batch of black beans for Chocolate Chili. I still had some quinoa and black beans leftover. I have been trying to not waste any food by cooking  enough portions for what we eat, or by either making sure that I eat all of the leftovers and making new recipes with extra ingredients. I know that sometimes I have all these random, little bits of ingredients and they end up getting thrown out. This really bothers me.

I checked the fridge and found all these ingredients: quinoa, black beans, hamburger buns, cucumbers, cottage cheese, parmesan, eggs and greek yogurt. I decided to make quinoa black bean burgers and some kind of sauce. I went online and found a few recipes and decided to combine the different ideas into my own. Pintrest shows a lot of different ones if you just do a search.

I started to cook to quinoa. It always ends up coming out alright but I think I am doing something wrong. Recipes I have read and the package that the quinoa comes in all say to rinse the quinoa but I always end up losing a lot of the grains. Then at the end there is so much extra water. If anyone knows what I should be doing different I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave me a comment and give me any tips.

While the quinoa was cooking I chopped up half a shallot and two cloves of garlic. I sautéed them in a small pan with some olive oil just till they were translucent.

Then took my beans, cottage cheese, egg, and parmesan and blended it up in the blender till smooth. I had seen many pictures of these kinds of burgers and I didn't like how the black beans looked in them. So I blended them smooth and added salt and pepper.

After the quinoa was cooked I drained the water, again I must be doing something wrong  in my method of cooking them, I combined it in with the bean mixture in a big bowl. After mixing it all up it seemed so wet. I remembered we had some Panko breadcrumbs in the pantry so I added some to the mix. Along with some cilantro.

While everyone was putting the baby to bed I made the Tzatziki sauce to go with it. I didn't have lemon, mint or dill but I had limes and cilantro. I put greek yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, lime and a handful of cilantro and bended it up in the bender. It turned out pretty good if I must say so myself.

When everybody was ready to eat I put a spoonful of the quinoa black bean mixture into a hot pan with olive oil, pressed it down to make a patty and let it cook for four minutes on each side.

For Aleks' burger I put the Tzatziki sauce on the toasted bun and topped the burger with lettuce, tomato and avocado. He loved it. Especially the sauce. He thought that deserved its own blog. But here it is, sharing the entry with the quinoa burger. Maybe someday it will get its own entry. We will see.

Quinoa Black Bean Burger
1 3/4 Cups cooked Quinoa
1/2 Cup Black Beans
1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Panko breadcrumbs
Salt
Pepper
1/2 Shallot
2 Cloves of Garlic

Cilantro Tzatziki Sauce
1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt
1/4 Cucumber peeled and chopped
1/4 Cup Cilantro
2 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 Lime juiced