Friday, October 2, 2009

Roasted Vegetables with Quinoa


Tonight I finally cut up an acorn squash that has been sitting on the counter since it arrived in the organic box two weeks ago. Half I used for dinner, the other half for dessert. We had roasted vegetables with quinoa followed by spiced squash bread. (I'll share that recipe another day!)


Serves 6
Ingredients:
4 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 heads of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
1/2 acorn squash, peeled and cut into 1 " chunks
1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into 1 " chunks
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets

1 cup quinoa
1-2 tsp fennel seed, chopped

Method
Preheat oven to 190 c.

Toss vegetables in oil. Spread onto baking sheets and cook 20-25 minutes, turning occasionally until vegetables are browned and tender. (Broccoli will brown the fastest, and retain its crunch. I usually add this 15 minutes after everything else.)

Meanwhile, rinse quinoa in a sieve under cold running water. Place quinoa in a pot with the fennel seed and 2 cups water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes or until tender (you will see tiny 'strings' on the quinoa separating from the seed.) Drain if neccesary and set aside in a covered bowl until vegetables are ready to serve.


A note about Quinoa: Quinoa (pronounced 'keenwa') is a complete protein source. It is high in iron and a source of dietary fibre. Quinoa is a seed native to South America. It is not cheap; here it costs me just over $1 for 100g. But that's what I would have to pay for extra lean ground beef.

A note regarding the kids: All my kids loved the broccoli, and most ate the squash. Two ate all their quinoa. No-one like the onion, garlic or parsnip. But hey, you can't please all of the people all of the time. In my book this is pretty good. (There were no complaints about dessert!)




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