Quinoa Maple Granola

Currently I am kind of unable to eat, thanks to a wisdom tooth removal on Thursday. Consequence nr. 1 of this is that I am actually kind of really grumpy, and walk around with the urge to punch people in the face so that they have swollen faces, too. (I get really hangry, sorry for that). And Nr. 2: I do some cooking nonetheless, preparing things I'll be able to eat once I can open my mouth again. Case in point: This granola.

I am not usually one to plan that much ahead when it comes to Christmas presents, but I made this not only to have something to cook today, but also because I wanted to give this recipe I came up with a test-run before preparing it for my friends in December. This urge to try a new granola recipe (not the urge to punch people) rose in me after seeing Melissa's granola two days ago and then reading on food52 about how to get really clumpy granola. I combined recipes, also remembering the müesli Talley posted quite a while ago, and this is how I ended up with this mixture. And unlike with Deb's recipe (it is in her book), I actually ended up with big clumps in my granola. Yay.
This is not a one bowl quick situation though.  You need different bowls to soak the quinoa, whisk the egg white and melt the coconut oil. And it actually requires to process the oats in a food processor to ensure maximum sticking power.

It is all worth it in the end, and if you make a big batch of granola in one go, you'll have quite a few breakfasts taken care of until you need to repeat the whole process again.

Quinoa Maple Granola

2/3 cup water
1 cup quinoa
4 cups oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 1/2 cup walnuts (or pecans, or a mix of both)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom
1 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup ground flax seed
6 tbsp unrefined coconut oil
1 egg white

First, add the quinoa to a bowl, bring the water to a boil, pour the water over the quinoa, cover with a plate and set aside for 30 minutes.














Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a food processor, slighly process the oats, until you have some fine pieces between the regular sized oat flakes. You don't want to end up with oat flour, though. Add the processed oats to a large mixing bowl. Add in the sunflower seeds and the coconut, chop the walnuts into smallish pieces and add them to the bowl, too, together with the salt, cardamom and flax seed.
In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil, and stir it, together with the maple syrup, into the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. Stir the quinoa into the granola mixture, then add the frothy egg white and mix well.

Distribute the granola mixture evenly on the two baking sheets. Make sure to press the granola down with your spatula and keep it nice and tight.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the granola is golden and toasty. If you have an old gas oven like mine, which has the amazing feature of having bottom heat only, you probably want to bake this granola on the top rack of the oven, that way you don't have to stir the granola, and end up with big chunks of granola that you can break up into the size you want them to be.

What to Do with: Quinoa

My pantry problem solved itself last week. Or rather, my boyfriend and I had to solve it quickly, as we found ourselves overcome with a moth infestation. Throwing out quite a lot of food is the only real option at that stage, and I can tell you it hurt. But it had to be done and I hope it will teach me to not buy as much stuff as I did before.
So I start fresh, or almost. There is only one kind of rice in my pantry today. Some quinoa, lentils and chickpeas. But no farro, sushi rice or polenta. And many other things I might not really miss at all.
I know, just having to throw all of these things away is not really an option if you don't have a moth problem. I remember that quite a few of you commented a while ago that you had the same overflowing pantry problem, though. And honestly, I need a good coping technique to keep myself from getting into the same troubles again. How do you deal with wanting to use a variety of grains and legumes in your cooking but not wanting to get hit on the head with a sack of beans when you open the pantry?
One rule I want to implement in my household is that I am only allowed to buy something new if I empty something else. This means that I have to get creative, using a bag of millet in a variety of ways before I can go out and buy some farro.
My idea is to compile a list of recipes for all the grains and legumes I might want to use so that I never run into problems complying with that goal I set myself. And maybe it can help you, too. I really want this to be helpful to anyone else but me, so if you do have any suggestions on what you like to see in future posts, I'd love to hear.

Today, I wanted to start with something easy. Quinoa has a higher turnover in my pantry than most other things I buy. But still, someday I might need inspiration to use up the quinoa still lingering in the back of a cupboard, and for those days I created a special pinterest board. I collected a variety of quinoa recipes, from these quinoa patties to salads, sushi and even dessert. And I'll updated the board as I find more recipes I think might inspire you to go and use that quinoa you sure have in the pantry.
The pinterest board can be found here,
and the recipe for the quinoa patties here.

Mediterranean Quinoa Patties

On a good day, I am bursting with new ideas. Creative. Eager to start. On a bad day, I am frazzled, unfocused, restless. I never finish anything.
On a good day, I am relaxed, content where I am, with realistic expectations. On a bad day, I am lazy, unambitious, with low expectations to life. I settle for less.
On a good day, I like to help. I respect other people's feelings. On a bad day, I am a people pleaser, not respecting my own feelings.

My strengths are my weaknesses, a truth that is revealed to me on a daily basis. As the perception of my self shifts from "I have this great idea, I'm off" to "Lena, just try to stick with something for once" within the course of one day, or even a few hours, I cant help but notice that these two traits go hand in hand, that they are, in fact the same.
In good moments I can see those traits for what they are, my strengths, they make me me.
It is in the other moments, the less than fantastic moments, that I see them as my weaknesses.
I have been trying to see them as a whole lately, for what they are, good and bad, weak and strong combined into my being.

For these quinoa patties I only combined good things, though. If you think of olives and smokey cheese and dried tomatoes as good things, that is. I like to make lighter and easier lunches these days, and these quinoa patties fit the bill perfectly. Combined with a salad of asian greens, as we did, or possibly a ratatouille of sorts they satisfied my cravings for crunchy and salty but still healthy.

Quinoa Salad with Chimichurri Dressing

As I type this, I am sitting in my bedroom, surrounded by boxes and bags full of my stuff. I packed away most of my cookbooks, except the Food Matters Cookbook, that I still needed for today. There are still so many things to do before I move next Saturday, a bed to paint, boxes to fill, so much to clean.
Packing and moving all your stuff is revealing, only now do I realize all the things I bought in the 2 1/2 years I lived in this apartment. Books, kitchen appliances, and so much food, too. I am slowly going through all the things I bought (because I really needed them), and deciding whether I truly like all the things I have at home.
I found that I can do without Amaranth (I really didnt like it) but love quinoa. Kamut is fine, but farro is a lot better. I love chickpeas and split peas but I am not that crazy about other beans.
This is good to know, and as my last recipe, cooked in this small, less than perfect kitchen, I want to share a quinoa salad that I made.
It was inspired by this weeks pick for the Food Matters Project, Mixed Grill with Chimichurri. I decided to try out a new way of posting the recipes I post here, based more on the way I cook, only giving exact measurements when they are necessary. Please let my know your opinion on that in the comments.

Baked Grains with Apple

I always seem to be looking for an easy option for breakfast. During all my life until now I had about the same breakfast, every single day.
Two or three slices of  bread, butter, topped with jam or honey. That is what my family eats for breakfast, and it has been what I ate even when I moved out.
I have written before about how I find that this is not really a filling breakfast, an hour or two later I feel hungry again and so I am on the look for breakfast option that don't require lots of time in the morning. These baked grains can be made the day before and reheated in the morning or eaten cold. They make also a great portable breakfast or lunch. And they can help you use up all of these grains that I keep buying.

Quinoa and Spinach Gratin

I decided to use more whole grains and just "whole" food in general. My first attempt at incorporating quinoa into my diet resulted in this Quinoa and Spinach Gratin. I saw a recipe for baked spinach on smitten kitchen just last week and new I had to try it. But as always I changed things up quite a bit.

Quinoa and Spinach Gratin

Ingredients:
200g spinach, washed and destemmed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic, pressed
salt and pepper
italian herbs, optional
60g quinoa
~35g mozzarella
1 tbsp bread crumbs
1 tbsp ground hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 180°C (or 350°F). Prepare the quinoa according to the instructions on the package. While it cooks, heat the oil in a skillet, add the garlic and the spinach and let the spinach wilt. Add salt and pepper to taste. I also added a teaspoon dried italian herbs. Mix the cooked quinoa and spinach together and pour the mixture into a small baking dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella, the bread crumbs and the hazelnuts. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Serves 1.