Paruppu adai, most of us would have prepared atleast once in a while, this time i went for a healthy adai by adding barley along with quinoa and grated carrots to make out this gorgeous looking healthy paruppu adai, apart from this barley and quinoa addition i followed the same process as we usually go for making paruppu adai, also to make them more colourful and healthy i have added some grated carrots while grinding the soaked dals, barley and quinoa, this healthy adai takes marvellous along with spicy coconut chutney and its really nutritious to enjoy without any guilt, quite a beautiful and delicious adai and a better way to eat barley and quinoa together along with dals...Sending to CWF-Quinoa guest hosted by Priya Mitharwal..




1cup Barley
1/2cup Quinoa
1cup Channadal
1/2cup Toor dal
1/2cup Yellow split moongdal
1/2cup Urad dal
1/2cup Brown rice
4nos Dry red chillies
1tsp Fennel seeds
2cup Carrots (grated)
Salt

Soak the barley,quinoa, brown rice along with all dals for atleast 4 hours..grind the soaked dals along with barley, quinoa and rice with dry red chillies & fennel seeds, grated carrots with enough water and salt as bit coarse paste...

Heat a nonstick pan...pour a ladle of this  paruppu adai batter, drizzle the oil and cook on both sides until the adai get well cooked..Serve hot with spicy coconut chutney..

Tabbouleh is a salad made with fresh veggies, olive oil and spices, it can be eaten in pita bread, scooped onto pita bread, or eaten traditionally with a fork. Tabbouleh can be made with a variety of veggies according to taste. You can add carrots, cucumbers, red or green onions. You can also add romaine lettuce for a fuller salad.Traditionally a mountain dish from the Eastern Mediterranean, and one of the Lebanese main dishes, it has become one of the most popular Middle Eastern salads.Its primary ingredients are finely chopped parsley, bulgur, mint, tomato, spring onion, and other herbs with lemon juice, olive oil and various seasonings, generally including black pepper and sometimes cinnamon and allspice.My version of tabbouleh goes for quinoa with tomato chunks, mint leaves, spring onions served along with finely chopped fresh parsley leaves,lemon juice and olive oil...When served chilled, this salad goes awesome with grilled meats or simply with toasted bread for hot sunny days..

We get hooked to some of our foodie bloggers eventhough we doesnt know them personally, i always admire some of my fellow bloggers for their patience, cooking style and photography.. One among those foodies was Rosie of Baking Cakes Galore who bakes and cooks many beautiful dishes also a co author of Sweet & Simple Bakes who suddenly passed away coz of heart attack in the month of May, still i cant believe that she went far away from us, she was such a beautiful person and its kinda hard for me to write about her..Ivy of Kopiaste..to Greek Hospitality want to bring the awareness about heart problems and wat caused them in memory of Rosie..

What is Coronary Artery Disease??
Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease, is a condition in which plaque (plak) builds up inside the coronary arteries. These arteries supply your heart muscle with oxygen-rich blood.
Plaque is made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium, and other substances found in the blood. When plaque builds up in the arteries, the condition is called atherosclerosis.

What Causes a Heart Attack?
Most heart attacks occur as a result of coronary artery disease (CAD). CAD is the buildup over time of a material called plaque on the inner walls of the coronary arteries. Eventually, a section of plaque can break open, causing a blood clot to form at the site. A heart attack occurs if the clot becomes large enough to cut off most or all of the blood flow through the artery.

So friends eat well and healthy, also change your way of cooking using less fatty ingredients...



1cup Quinoa
2cups Water
3nos Tomatoes (ripen & cubed)
1/4cup Parsley leaves (chopped finely)
1/4cup Red onion (chopped finely)
1/4cup Mint leaves (chopped finely)
1tbsp Olive oil
2tsp Lemon juice
Salt
Pepper powder

Cook the quinoa with 2cups of water until the water get absorbed..keep aside and let them cool...meanwhile take the cubed tomatoes, chopped parsley leaves, onions, mint leaves in a bowl and add the cooled and already cooked quinoa, mix everything together..In a mixing bowl, mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper powder, add this seasoning as per need to the quinoa tabbouleh..mix everything thoroughly and arrange them in fridge for an hour..

Serve chilled ..

If u searching for a quick, simple,healthy, filling and a nutritious snacks or side dish, do give a try to this baked version of quinoa patties prepared along with cooked potatoes, chopped spinach and sauteed bellpeppers...This patties tastes fabulous along with ketchup for snacks also as side dish when served along with any rice dishes..This patties get ready within few minutes and this baked version is completely a guilt free dish and anyone can enjoy them without any hesitation..Easy breezy patties will get vanished within few minutes and adding quinoa turned them more healthier also i used quinoa flakes for the crust which turned out more crisper the outer crust...Sending this patties to CWF-Quinoa guest hosted by Priya Mitharwal..



2nos Potatoes (big & cooked)
1/2cup Spinach (chopped)
1/2cup Bellpeppers (chopped)
1/2cup Quinoa (cooked)
2nos Green chillies (chopped)
1no Onion( chopped)
2tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
1/2tsp Garam masala powder
1/4cup Quinoa flakes
Oil

Heat few drops of oil and saute the chopped onions along with chopped green chillies until the onions turns transculent, finally add the chopped bellpeppers and chopped spinach, saute everything until the veggies gets shrinks...Meanwhile take the cooked potatoes, cooked quinoa in a bowl along with coriander leaves, salt,garam masala powder..Now add the sauteed veggies to the potatoes, mash everything well and make them as medium sized patties..Preheat the oven to 350F..Roll over the quinoa patties and arrange over a greased baking sheet lined over a baking tray..

Once the quinoa-potato mixture get finished, bake the patties in oven in middle rack for 15-20minutes until the crust turns crisp and golden brown..

Serve warm with ketchup or as side dish!

I love to enjoy soups or salads for our usual dinner, its quite a simple way to enjoy veggies instead of sauting ,frying etc..I usually go for simple soups, sometimes i prepare a bowl of soup specially for me while others at home have enjoy french fries and roasted chickens, i wont say that am dieting but having soup for dinner been almost a routine for me..This celery and quinoa soup was one among those easy breezy soup i prepared yesterday for our dinner, we enjoyed this celery and quinoa soup along with some toasted bread slices, this soup is a complete food which is quite filling, healthy also delicious,the addition of quinoa turned out this soup more healthier and we enjoyed having this fabulous soup for dinner..


2cups Celery stem
2nos Potatoes (chopped)
1no Onion(chopped)
1tbsp Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1/4cup Red Quinoa

Cook quinoa with a half cup of water and salt in a microwave safe bowl for 10minutes high in microwave oven..In a another bowl, add the olive oil and chopped onions cook everything for 5 minutes until the onion turns transculent (stir in between)..Add the celery pieces and chopped potatoes to the onions, cook for 5 minutes finally add enough water, salt and pepper powder cook in high for 15minutes (stir in between)..Take the bowl out, blend as soup with a hand blender..Reheat the soup along with already cooked quinoa for 3minutes in high..

Serve warm along with toasted breads or any grilled meat..

Strawberries are coming now everywhere as here its spring, its a peek season for strawberries and we dont get tired for picking a basket of this sweet berries from the farmer's market, which are packed with vitamin A & C,folic acid and iron..While quinoa is a super food loaded with fiber,essential fatty acids like omega 3 & omega 6..This power grain are my favourite grains and i couldnt stop making bakes, main courses, salads etc..Here is a simple, delicious, eggless and healthy cookies which i prepared few days back, this cookies tastes awesome and we enjoyed having them bit warm and the small batch i have prepared vanished within few minutes...To make them more healthier i have added oats along with flour to prepare this cookies..



1/2cup Cooked Quinoa
1cup All purpose flour
1cup Rolled oats
1/2cup Strawberries (chopped)
1/2tsp Vanilla extract
1tsp Baking powder
1/4cup Sugar
5tbsp Butter (room temperature)
1/2cup Buttermilk

In a small bowl, beat the sugar, butter until they turns soft, add gradually the vanilla extract, butter milk and keep aside..Meanwhile combine the cooked quinoa, all purpose flour, rolled oats, chopped strawberries and baking powder together, mix well...add gently the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mix everything well..

Preheat the oven to 350F, line a baking sheet over a baking tray...make a small ball from the mixture and arrange over the baking sheet, bake them in middle rack of the oven for 20-25minutes...

Enjoy warm!!

Since a long, i want to prepare either with chicken chunks or with veggies some kebabs at home..Finally after a long hesitation, i prepared some seekh kebabs at home with mixed veggies and cooked red quinoa..Needless to say how they tastes, tooo fabulous..We enjoyed having this beautiful seekh kebabs along with some salads for our lunch served along with ketchup..I wanted to prepare this seekh kebabs in oven instead of making them over stove top, as they need more oil to get cooked...I just brushed few drops of oil over the kebabs and arranged them in a baking sheet brushed with oil finally baked them for 20minutes at 350F in the middle rack of the oven...This seekh kebabs is served even for snacks along with green chutney or ketchup and truly easy to get digest even for aged peoples..With plenty of veggies and quinoa, obviously this beautiful kebabs are guilt free, filling,healthy, delicious and prefect dish for dieting peoples..

3nos Potatoes (cooked & mashed)
1no Carrot (cooked)
1no Bellpeppers (chopped)
1no Onion (chopped)
1/2cup Cooked Quinoa
4nos Bread slices (soaked and squeezed)
1/2tsp Garam masala powder
2nos Green chillies (chopped)
2tbsp Coriander leaves
1/2tsp Chaat masala powder
Wooden Skewers
Oil for brushing

In a non stick pan, saute the chopped onions with salt for few minutes, then add the bellpepper pieces and saute for few minutes, until they get shrinks..Take the mashed potatoes,cooked quinoa, cooked carrots, sauteed onions and bellpeppers, soaked and squeezed bread slices, garam masala powder, chopped green chillies, chaat masala, chopped coriander leaves in a bowl, mix everything well ...

Preheat the oven to 350F...Take a medium size ball from the mixture and press into long kebabs on the wooden skewers, arrange the skewers over the greased baking sheet lined over a baking tray...continue the process until the veggies& quinoa mixture get finished...brush the top of the kebabs with oil, bake the seekh kebabs for 15-20minutes until the crust turns golden brown..

Enjoy warm!

Nowadays whenever i get eggplants or brinjal from the grocery, i wanted to prepared them as stir fries coz the whole process take less time and this sort of stir fries goes utterly delicious with any sort of dishes, yeah!!along with rice,rotis or parathas..We love brinjal podi curries and this time i prepared a special spice powder to prepare this curry which goes for red quinoa, peanuts and some spices i have prepared my karamadhu podi and we guys enjoyed having them along with rasam and curd rice..A fabulous,delicious at the same time with healthy stuffs in it, this podi curry tastes too awesome when served even along with idlies and dosas..This dish takes less time to get cook and gets ready within few minutes...


Karamadhu Podi/Quinoa & Peanut Spice Powder:
1cup Coriander seeds
1/4cup Channadal
2tbsp Urad dal
1/4cup Red Quinoa
2tbsp Cumin seeds
1/2cup Peanuts
10nos Red chillies
1/2tsp Asafoetida powder
1tbsp Poppy seeds
1/2tsp Turmeric powder
Salt

Dry roast the dals along with red chillies, keep aside... now add coriander seeds, cumin seeds, quinoa, peanuts, poppy seeds and roast until they turns golden brown..add the asafotida powder, turmeric powder, stir for few minutes..Grind as coarse powder along with salt..Use this spice powder for making out dry curries, conserve in air-tightened box and refrigerate for long use..

Brinjal Podi Curry: 
1/2kg Brinjals
1no Onion (chopped)
1no Tomato (chopped)
10nos Garlic cloves
1tsp Mustard seeds +Urad dal +Cumin seeds
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
3tbsp Quinoa & Peanut Spice powder
Few curry leaves
Salt
Gingelly oil

Heat the gingelly oil, fry the mustard seeds,cumin seeds and urad dal, add immediately the chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, slit opened green chillies, curry leaves and garlic cloves, saute until the veggies turns half cooked, now add the chopped brinjal pieces, saute with salt..put the flame in simmer, cook the veggies until they get half cooked, add the quinoa & peanut spice powder and cook in medium flame until the oil gets separates..

Serve as side dish with any sort of rice or rotis..

Who will no to Mangoes, definitely not me..After baking some scones with mango pulp, i wanted give a try to a  bread i have bookmarked from Mango Bread from Champa's Stories from an Indian Kitchen..As i have used mango pulp for making scones, there were some leftover mango pulp which i wanted to finish very soon and Champa's mango bread tempted me a lot and pulled me to give a try to that gorgeous bread, I have adapted her mango bread and made few changes according to my sweet tooth by adding some chocolate chips,sugar and honey and skipped completely  the cardamom powder and wheat gluten she used in her bread but i have added few quinoa flakes to my bread..A fabulous breakfast bread with butter or with any spread or a fantastic snacks for kids when served along with a cup of milk..I have prepared this bread completely by hands when champa's version went for bread machine..I truly enjoyed making this fabulous bread..


1cup Mango pulp
1/2cup Honey
1/4cup Sugar
3/4cup Whole wheat pastry flour
2cups Bread flour
1/4cup Quinoa flakes
2tsp Dry yeast
2tbsp Butter (melted)
Salt
1/2cup Chocolate chips

Warm the mango pulp and add the yeast, salt and let it sit for few minutes, meanwhile take the flours,quinoa flakes in a large bowl and the foamy yeast, honey, sugar and butter to the flours,knead everything as a smooth dough...Arrange this dough in a greased bowl, cover with towel and arrange in a warm place for an hour until it get rise..After an hour, take out the doubled dough, punch down and add the chocolate chips to the dough..Preheat the oven to 350F..

Arrange the dough in a loaf pan,sprinkle few chocolate chips over the loaf, bake in middle rack for 30-35 minutes or the crust turns golden brown..Let the bread gets cool completely and slice it as per ur desire..

Enjoy this bread with any fruit jam or simply without any preserves...

Unfortunately we dont get rite now sweet mangoes here, but fortunately canned mango pulps are available in Indian groceries anytime of the year..I picked two tins of mango pulp when we went to Indian groceries last sunday..i was planning to finish all the leftover flours like ragi, pearl millet, soya and oats by making some baked goodies with my recent favourite grain quinoa, i bought a bag of quinoa flakes from the organic shop recently and i used everything to prepare this multigrain mango scones..I loved it, this fantastic mango scones tastes fantastic and a prefect healthy snacks or breakfast..Everyone at home enjoyed with a cup of hot chocolate while i had along with a cup of coffee...Incredible scones to enjoy without any guilt..


1cup Wheat pastry flour
1/4cup Ragi flour
1/4cup Pearl millet flour
1/4cup Soya flour
1/2cup Oats flour
1/4cup Quinoa flakes
1/4cup All purpose flour
1tsp Baking soda
1tsp Baking powder
1/4cup Flax seeds,sesame seeds,pumpkin seeds & sunflower seeds
1cup Mango pulp
1cup Sugar
1/2cup Butter

Beat together the sugar and butter until soft,meanwhile combine all the flours,all seeds and quinoa flakes together with baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl..Add the sugar-butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until the flour mixture turns as bread crumbs..add gradually the mango pulp and turn everything as a dough...


Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350F...Springle few flour over a baking sheet lined over a baking tray..place the dough over the flour and roll the dough as disc..cut the dough as 8-10 triangles..Bake this scones for 20-25 minutes or until its turns golden brown..

A prefect shake for a lazy morning breakfast or a delicious refreshing drink while its hot..I had prepared this shake with strawberry chunks with some left over Quinoa Granola for our saturday breakfast..We enjoyed each and every sip of this beautiful and healthy shake..Simple, refreshing, delicious, thick and filling shake suits prefect for everyone, since i prepared this shake without sugar and the sweetness for the quinoa granola was quite enough for the sweetness of this shake, if its not enough just add few tsp of honey or agave syrup and just enjoy this fabulous shake...


2cups Strawberry chunks
1/4cup Quinoa granola
2cups Yogurt
1/2cup Milk
Honey as per need
Ice cubes

Blend together the strawberry chunks, quinoa granola, milk,yogurt and honey..Serve immediately with ice cubes or chilled..

Home made granola is simply a mixture of rolled oats, nuts, seeds and spices, which are mixed along with oil or melted butter and honey or maple syrup and baked in oven until they turns golden brown..While my shopping to the organic shop, i found the popped quinoas and immediately i bought two packets of those popped quinoa for making out either muesli or to have them simply as breakfast with honey and milk..finally i prepared those popped quinoa as home made granola with rolled oats, seeds, dry fruits, cinnamon powder, salt and with honey,baked everything in oven until they turns golden brown....Healthy, delicious, prefect breakfast to enjoy without any guilt as i used honey to prepare this beautiful home made granola..Everyone at home had this homemade quinoa granola today for our breakfast and we loved it..Gonna prepare with few more variations and with maple syrup next time..


2cups Popped quinoa
1cup Rolled oats
1/4cup Almonds (chopped finely)
1/2cup Sunflower seeds & pumpking seeds
1/2tsp Cinnamon powder
Salt
3tbsp Melted butter
1cup Honey
1/2cup Dry fruits (i used raisins, dates, cranberries )

Preheat the oven to 325F..line a baking sheet over a baking tray, mix the rolled oats, popped quinoa, nuts, seeds,dry fruits,cinnamon powder and salt...In an another bowl stir together the melted butter and honey, pour this mixture over the already mixed  mixture, mix well..make sure all the dry ingredients are well coated..Spread this mixture over the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20-25minutes until they turns golden brown..

This granola may be sticky once removed from the oven, but it will became crispy and dry once it gets cool..Break the large clumps of granola while the mixture is still warm, once the granola get completely cooled, store in an airtight container and serve as breakfast...

We usually have curd rice to beat hot sunny days but for a change i tried out this dahi quinoa, which goes for cooked quinoa prepared along with grated carrots, spiced with chopped green chillies and grated ginger but i didnt tempered this dahi quinoa with seeds and curry leaves..Actually i wanted to prepare this dahi quinoa for dieting peoples, yeah this dahi quinoa is quite a filling, healthy, nutritious at the same time definitely a fabulous dish for hot summer days..Beat the heat with this dahi quinoa with a simple side dish, u can prepare this dahi quinoa as we do as similar as curd rice with tempered spices and curry leaves...


2cups Cooked Red Quinoa
1cup Beatend curd
1/2cup Carrots (finely grated)
1nos Green chilly (chopped)
1/2tsp Ginger (grated)
Salt
Coriander leaves (chopped)

Take the cooked quinoa, finely grated carrots, chopped green chilly, grated ginger and beaten curd in a bowl, add enough salt and chopped coriander leaves to the dahi quinoa and serve immediatley or serve chilled as per ur need..

Its not a secret for anyone that am adding much quinoa and oats in our lunch menu, today am here again with a quinoa dinner rolls which i prepared with red quinoa,sesame seeds and whole wheat flour...Those cooked red quinoa looks soo cute and pretty in the dinner rolls and they ressembles quite like whole ragi grains..Needless to say that this red quinoa dinner rolls tastes too tasty and quinoa added in this dinner rolls turned out this rolls super delicious..We enjoyed having each and every bite of this healthy dinner rolls with a simple lettuce salad, this dinner rolls is eggless also vegan where i just used olive oil in the dinner rolls instead of butter or milk..


1cup Cooked Quinoa
2cups Whole wheat pastry flour or Bread flour
1tbsp Active dry yeast
1cup Luke Warm water
1tsp Salt
1tsp Sugar
1tbsp Sesame seeds
1tbsp Dry parsley leaves
1/4cup Olive oil

Mix the yeast,sugar and salt in a cup of  luke warm water and keep side for 5minutes until the yeast mixture turns foamy.. Take the cooked quinoa,dry parsley leaves, whole wheat pastry flour, sesame seeds mix everything well..slowly add the foamy yeast and olive oil and knead as a soft dough..place the dough in a greased bowl, cover the bowl with a towel and arrange in a warm place..let them sit for an hour until they double the volume..


After an hour, punch down the doubled dough and knead again, make 6-8 medium sized balls from the dough and arrange one by one in a greased mould and let them side again for an hour in a warm place...After an hour, preheat the oven to 350F..brush the breads with olive oil and bake in middle rack for 20-25 minutes until a golden brown crust forms over the bread...Put off the oven and take off the mould and let them cool..

Serve with salad !!

Quinoa is taking an important part in our daily menu nowadays, recently while doing my shopping in an organic shop i found red quinoas which attracted me a lot and immediatley i picked two packets of 500grams as i was planning to add quinoa atleast once a day in our menu with anything as anything, yep since we had our Quinoa & Mixed Fruits Salad, i couldnt able to stop adding some cooked quinoa to our salads..This red quinoa and mixed veggies salad is one of the best refreshing, easiest and filling salad which suits perfectly for our lunch or either for our dinner with a simple bread toast or with a bowl of soup..This salad is completely very easy to prepare also its really very catchy and colourful, very pleasant salad to enjoy without any guilt...Needless to say that this salad was really tasty, obviously this salad is one of the fabulous salad i have prepared recently..


Few Lettuce leaves
1/2cup Cooked quinoa
2nos  Carrots (grated)
1no Cucumber (sliced as cubes)
Few Cherry tomatoes
2tbsp Fried Onions
Few red onions (chopped)
1/2tsp Pepper powder
Salt
Olive oil

Take the lettuce leaves, cooked quinoa, grated carrots,cubes cucumber chunks, chopped tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, fried onions, chopped red onions in a large bowl..make a dressing with enough olive oil, salt and pepper powder and toss gently the veggies until they get well mixed..

Serve immediately!!

Eggless Quinoa Corn Bread!!! sounds new na...Yep i have prepared this quinoa corn bread yesterday for our dinner with cooked quinoa, stone grounded fine cornmeal as eggless version...Its definitely a delicious corn bread as eggless version and tastes truly delicious when served along with a bowl of soup, u can also prepare this quinoa corn bread as vegan just by adding almond milk or soya milk instead of milk and yogurt used in this dish..I have prepared this quinoa corn bread with a cup of cornmeal and cup of cooked quinoa, yeah i just gave a trial but its definitely worth to try this combination and am gonna try this quinoa corn bread with so many variations..Voila friends if u are reaching something to bake with quinoa and cornmeal,do try this eggless and healthy version of cornbread and am damn sure everyone at home will love to enjoy this delicious bread..This quinoa corn bread goes directly to Madhuram's Whole Grains Baking Event - Quinoa..


1cup Cooked quinoa+1tsp cooked quinoa
1cup Stone ground cornmeal (fine ground)
1tsp Baking soda
1tsp Baking powder
1/2tsp Chilly flakes
1cup Milk
1/4cup Olive oil
1/2cup Yogurt
1/4cup Honey
1tbsp Dry parsley leaves
Salt

Preheat the oven to 400F, line a baking sheet over a square baking pan...Mix the cooked quinoa, cornamel, baking soda, baking powder, chilly flakes, salt,dry parsley leaves together in a bowl, mix the milk, olive oil, honey yogurt in a another bowl, whisk them until everything gets well mixed...gradually add the wet ingreidnets to the dry ingredients..pour the quinoa cornmeal batter to the already prepared baking pan,springle the cooked quinoa over the batter and bake for 20-25minutes in the middle rack until the skewer inserted in the center comes out clean...

Cool completely and cut into pieces, enjoy with soups for dinner or with a cup of tea for snacks...

I prepared a cup of quinoa yesterday to prepare some bakes,but finally the day went really fast and the cooked quinoa were sitting in the fridge since afternoon..For our dinner, i prepared a sandwich with Scottish Baps with eggs and veggies, while everyone at home asked something as salad for dessert i thought of making a fruits salad with strawberries, apples and pears..I prepared everything for making fruits salad but while serving, i have added those leftover cooked quinoa along with the fruits which is prepared with cinnamon powder, maple syrup and orange juice, next time am gonna add dry fruits or toasted nuts to give more zing to this simple and healthy salad.....Needless to say that this simple quinoa and fruits salad turned out dessert truly delicious, tasty and also refreshing as i used the chilled quinoa, even my DH enjoyed having this super delicious salad..Voila am posting this salad, as they were really healthy and delicious..Do try friends, u will definitely love this..Sending to Indrani's Spotlight-Summer Foods & Drinks and to Srivalli's Thanda Mela..


1cup Cooked quinoa
Strawberries (chopped as per need)
Apples (chopped as per need)
Pears (chopped as per need)
1/4tsp Cinnamon powder
Maple syrup as per need
1/4cup Orange juice

Add the orange juice to the chopped strawberries, apples, pears with cinnamon powder and let them sit for few minutes in fridge, while serving the salad add the cooked quinoa to the soaked fruits and add the maple syrup as per need, serve in small cups or bowls topped with nuts..

Enjoy this refreshing salad while its hot!!

My recent baking adventure goes for baked goodies with Quinoa...Yes i have prepared today a bread with cooked quinoa and flax seeds with wheat pastry flour..My first trial with quinoa and flax seeds bread turned out really awesome..We had this bread for our lunch with salad and for dinner as sandwich with roasted chicken...A complete healthy bread to enjoy without any guilt, this bread suits prefectly for any course along with any spreads or simply with any veggies..We enjoyed having this bread and even my DH loved this bread, also he came to know more about quinoa, our new favourite grain after oats..This bread is eggless also vegan as i used olive oil to prepare this beautiful,healthy and fantastic bread...This bread is my entry to Madhuram's Whole Grains Baking Event -Quinoa and to Champa's Bake Off Event and finally to Susan's Yeastspotting..


1cup Quinoa (cooked)
2cup Whole wheat pastry flour+2tbsps for dusting
1/4cup Olive oil
2tbsp Flax seeds
1tbsp Active dry yeast
1tsp Sugar
1tsp Salt
1cup Luke Warm water

Cook half a cup of quinoa with a cup of water with enough salt in simmer, until they get cooked..keep aside and let them cool...Mix the yeast,sugar and salt in a cup of luke warm water and keep side for 5minutes until the yeast mixture turns foamy.. Take the cooked quinoa(keep aside 2tbsp cooked quinoa for topping), whole wheat pastry flour, flax seeds, mix everything well..slowly add the foamy yeast and olive oil and knead as a soft dough..place the dough in a greased bowl, cover the bowl with a towel and arrange in a warm place..let them sit for an hour until they double the volume..



Punch down the doubled dough, knead slowly the dough dusted with wheat pastry flour,roll the dough as a loaf..grease a loaf pan with olive oil, arrange the rolled loaf to the greased pan, springle the remaining quinoa over the arranged loaf and let it sit again until they double their volume..Preheat the oven to 350F..once the loaf get raised, bake this quinoa and flax seeds bread for 25-30minutes until the crust turns golden brown..

Serve warm!!!

Usually i used to prepare whenever i feel like having khichdi with rice and dal, coz this dish is one of my comforting foods and also its a one pot meal to prepare quickly and quite really easy to prepare, this time i prepared my comforting food as healthy version, instead of using rice i used quinoa to make out this dal khichdi, needless to say this khichdi with quinoa and  dals tastes awesome and really filling...Nutritious,healthy and comforting food can enjoy without any guilt and we enjoyed this quinoa and dal khichdi with mango pickles,both together works out wonder, u can also have them simply without any side dishes too..Sending this quinoa and dal khichidi to CWF-Quinoa guest hosted by Priya Mitharwal..


1cup Quinoa
1/4cup Toor dal
1/4cup Masoor dal
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
1no Onion (chopped)
7nosCurry leaves
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
2nos Bay leaves
2nos Dry red chillies
5nos Garlic cloves(crushed)
1tsp Ginger (chopped finely)
Salt
Oil+ghee

Combine the quinoa, toordal and masoor dal,finely chopped ginger, salt in a vessel, add 4cups of water and pressure cook them for 5hisses (i love my dal khichidi bit mushy, if u dont want so, u can reduce the cooking time)..Heat the enough oil with ghee or simply oil and crack the cumin seeds,dry red chillies, bay leaves,curryleaves and saute the chopped onions and crushed garlic cloves until the onions turns transculent,Once the pressure get released take the cooked quinoa-dal mixture and add this mixture to the cooking veggies, stir for few minutes and put off the stove..

Serve hot!!!

After trying out my first cooking experience with quinoa as kheer, am here with a simple spice powder prepared with rolled oats and quinoa spiced with dry red chillies,channadal,coriander seeds,asafoetida powder and urad dal..I really prepared this spice powder at last moment and finished this usual simple stir fry as something different and also with healthy stuffs in it...This spice powder turned out this stir fry truly healthy with less oil and completely helped to mask the okra's stickiness usually which is quite an hard task for many of us while cooking okras..This simple stir fry tastes awesome with rasam and curd rice and we loved it..


1/2kg Okra/Bhindi/Vendakkai(chopped)
1no Onion (chopped finely)
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1/2tsp Mustard seeds& urad dal
5nos Curry leaves
Oil
Salt

For Oats & Quinoa Spice Powder:
1/4cup Rolled oats
1/4cup Quinoa
3nos Dry red chillies
1tbsp Urad dal
2tbsp Channa dal
2tbsp Coriander seeds
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder
2pinch Turmeric powder
Salt


Dry roast the channa dal, urad dal, dry red chillies until they turns golden brown, now add the coriander seeds, and dry roast for few minutes, finally roast the quinoa and rolled oats for few minutes along with asafoetida powder and turmeric powder...Add the salt to the roasted ingredients and grind as coarse powder...conserve in air tightened box..

Heat enough oil and let splutters the mustard seeds,urad dal..add the chopped onions, curry leaves, slit opened green chillies with enough salt and saute until the onions turns transculent..add the chopped okra pieces and saute for few minutes, put the flame in medium and cook for few minutes in simmer with lid closed..finally add 3-4tbsps of oats-quinoa spice powder to the cooking okra pieces and saute until the veggies turns bit crispy..

Quinoa has been cultivated and eaten as a cereal of thousands of years by South Americans..Quinoa"s protein content about 16% which is higher than of any other grain, wheat also have protein content about 14% but the protein in wheat and most other grain is lacking in the amino acid Lysine, which quinoa has in abundance..The protein in quinoa is complete as that in milk, in addition quinoa also contains more iron than most grains and its a good source of calcium, phosphorus, folate and many B vitamins..Am cooking for the first time the quinoa, so i want to prepare this grains as something sweet and my choice went for payasam, to be honest my trial with quinoa as kheer turned out truly delicious and vanished within few minutes, even my DH enjoyed which was quite a surprise for me...This quinoa payasam looks like similar to tapioca pearls payasam..Sending this kheer to Shama's Kheer Festival and to Divya's Show Me Your Wholegrains...


1/2cup Quinoa
1/2cup Jaggery
1/2cup Milk
1/4tsp Saffron strands
3nos Cardamom seeds(crushed)
2tsp Ghee
10nos Cashew nuts or almond flakes

Make a syrup with jaggery and a cup of water, strain the jaggery water and cook the jaggery water, quinoa in pressure cooker upto one hiss...Put off the stove...

Add the milk, saffron strands, crushed cardamom seeds, cook everything until the kheer turns thicks...heat the ghee and fry the cashew nuts until golden brown, add the fried cashews and ghee to the cooked quinoa kheer and enjoy hot or chilled....or serve with almond flakes..