Spicy Vegetarian Quinoa and Peanut Stew

11/05/2012

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Spicy Vegetarian Quinoa and Peanut Stew - garnished with greek yogurt and cilantro
This is a great Meatless Monday recipe!  It's super filling, full of awesome nutrition, warm flavors, and it's really good comfort food too.  This is my go-to recipe on cold nights when cuddling up with a bowl of soup for a dinner + movie + fireplace dinner is mandatory.

Spicy Vegetarian Quinoa and Peanut Stew

1-3 tbsp. Canola or olive oil
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 large sweet potato, diced
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. cumin
4 cups chicken or veggie broth
1-2 cups cooked quinoa (you can use cooked brown rice instead if you'd like)
2 14-oz cans Mexican style diced, crushed or stewed tomatoes
1 14-oz cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
3 medium zucchini, cut into ¼ inch pieces
½ cup of chunky or creamy peanut butter
*cilantro
*greek yogurt

  1. heat oil, cook sweet potato, zucchini, and onion
  2. add garlic and cook for 2 minutes
  3. stir in broth, thyme and cumin and bring to a boil
  4. reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes or until veggies are tender – stir often
  5. stir in tomatoes and garbanzo beans
  6. simmer another 5 minutes to heat thoroughly
  7. stir in quinoa (or rice)
  8. stir in peanut butter until melted evenly
  9. serve and garnish with cilantro and a dollop of greek yogurt
If you hate cilantro, visit http://ihatecilantro.com/ for a little laugh and maybe to get some cilantro-hating support.

I hope I didn't forget any ingredients or steps in the recipe.  It's a bad habit of mine.  Please let me know how you like it.  Also let me know if I missed a step.



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Ramblings About Healthy Cooking

02/19/2011

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While thinking about what to cook for dinner tonight a thought came into my head.  Why are so many people afraid of cooking.  Is it fear that your special creation won't turn out right?  Is it that you just don't like cooking?  Are you afraid to really mess up the recipe you're following?  What is it that makes so many people reach for pre-made foods or packaged dinners?

Since I've been an adult cooking for myself I find that the more I cook, the more I know about food and the more I enjoy it.  The discovery of new food combinations is very exciting to me.  There is also something very therapeutic about chopping fruits and vegetables and baking bread or other goodies.

Consider mastering these 3 basic skills to make cooking easier, faster and more fun:
  1. Learn some knife skills.  To eat healthy foods you need to know how to prepare them safely and efficiently.  Buy good knives too because a sharp knife is much safer than a dull knife.  Nothing worse than trying to hack through a butternut squash with a dull knife. Learn some knife skills at Knife Skills 101.
  2. Familiarize yourself with some basic cooking methods.  If you know 3 different ways to cook or prepare broccoli then you probably won't get bored of eating it.  You'll feel more comfortable in the kitchen knowing these basic cooking methods and you'll have more confidence tackling new recipes too.
  3. Discover your favorite flavors using herbs and spices.  Herbs and spices add a ton of flavor to a recipe without increasing the things you might be trying to limit like saturated fat, salt and sugar.  Believe it or not, many herbs and spices provide health benefits such as having antiseptic properties, antioxidant power or anti-inflammatory.  This article will help you learn how to use some common herbs and spices: Seasoning Basics.

After mastering these 3 basic skills I hope you will find some joy in cooking.  I can assure you that your homemade pasta dish will taste better than a package of lipton noodles and your fruit salad will taste better than any canned fruit cocktail.

Happy Cooking!  What are your hurdles to cooking a good, healthy meal from scratch?
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