September 15, 2016
I really feel like I’ve been getting my vegetarian cooking on in the past couple of weeks. It turns out that the majority of my friends in Melbourne actually don’t eat meat, and so I’ve ended up being in the minority when it comes to my omnivore ways. I don’t really mind this, I mean I do actually eat a lot of vegetarian food, and am quite happy to cook and eat it. Not only is it usually quite healthy, it is a lot cheaper to eat than meat, both when you eat out and to buy at the supermarket. So it hasn’t been the worst thing having to cater for my increasing circle of vegetarian friends. Next step I think is us all moving in together and becoming one of those vegan only households that doesn’t let you use the frypan for animal products (one of my friends is looking for a place to live, and has found some interesting ones).
So when we had a couple of friends around, and there were a number of food intolerances to cater for, my usual solution of baking something tasty for dessert wasn’t going to cut it. So I had to get creative, and try something new.
Enter quinoa! I really don’t mind quinoa, and have ended up eating a lot of it since moving out of home. I think the reason I didn’t used to eat a lot of it was because of my dad, who never understood why anyone would want to eat something that looked like it had little worms growing out of it. Honestly, it really perplexed him, and he hated it to the point that he wouldn’t even eat chocolate that had puffed quinoa in it, because he thought it would be the same. So it was something we tended to avoid cooking back home, because dad really didn’t think it had a place in our house. But quinoa is actually something I really enjoy eating now. It’s nutty flavour and texture really lend it to cooking as an alternative to rice or cous cous, and you can get a lot of added flavour into the dish by adding it in.
So I decided on the base, because I felt quinoa was a good thing to cook given that I could kind of throw a whole heap of delicious ingredients together, and everyone would be able to eat it. You all know how much of a fan I am of something I can just throw together, particularly when I need something that I can cook while people are there and we have wine in hand!
Honestly I cannot recommend this recipe enough for something that is super healthy, easy and best of all really delicious! The slow cooking of the vegetables really brought out the flavours and complemented the taste of the quinoa beautifully. Even though it was healthy, the dish smelt delicious while it was cooking, and for a dinner party it was the perfect addition! For a salad it was also perfect for winter as you could serve it straight out of the oven, so it ended up being a really delicious, Moorish salad.
- 1 head of cauliflower cut into florets
- 500 grams of mushrooms sliced
- 1 brown onion sliced
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup quinoa I used white quinoa, well rinsed
- 1 1/3 cups of water
- ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar
- 3-4 handfuls of salad greens I used a kale and beetroot leaf mix but spinach leaves would work beautifully
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Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit).
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In a large baking tray lined with baking paper, toss the cauliflower, mushrooms and onion in the olive oil, thyme, garlic and salt and pepper. Bake for 20-30 minutes until they start to caramelize, ensuring that you stir half way through. Once this is done remove from the oven.
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Meanwhile, bring the water and quinoa to the boil. Once it is boiling reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the quinoa has absorbed all the water. This should take about 15-20 minutes. Once it is cooked, remove from the heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes covered.
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In a large serving bowl combine the quinoa, roasted vegetables and salad leaves. Pour the balsamic vinegar over the ingredients, and stir to combine.
And that is really all there is to it, it is actually a simple recipe to make! What I really love about this recipe is that once you’ve cut everything up it’s just a matter of waiting for it to cook, and then throwing them all together. It really doesn’t require you to be hands on in the cooking process, which makes it a really easy recipe to make for a dinner party, or if you don’t have a lot of time to be in the kitchen. You can keep going about talking, or other tasks, and let the deliciousness cook into something amazing!
I can’t tell you how delicious this recipe was. The balsamic vinegar really complemented the flavours in the roast vegetables, and made for a delicious warm salad. This was a perfect winter salad as it still tasted fresh, but because it was warm and full of delicious flavours it felt like comfort food. This was a massive hit with our friends who were quite impressed that we whipped this up for them. For something that was really simple, it was super delicious!
You could easily serve this with some chicken on the side, if you didn’t want to make it vegetarian, and wanted a more substantial meal. I think it would also work really well with walnuts through it to add a bit of extra crunch! The great thing about this salad is that you can really make it work for you – just add whatever vegetables you have on hand! The thyme was perfect with mushrooms though, so I’d recommend keeping these in if you’re going to try this recipe!
I think this one was one I’ll keep on file for any time I need to bring a salad to dinner, it was super easy and delicious! Maybe it might even change my dad’s mind about quinoa, a girl can dream! What’s your go to healthy dinner party meal?
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
