July 3rd is Johnny's brother, Mark's, birthday. Since they live on the northside, we usually have people over here for his party to cut down on everybody's travel time. This year is a BBQ and everybody's bringing a dish to share.
Mark doesn't eat any dairy and isn't big on anything unhealthy. He loves quinoa and vegetables, so I decided to make a quinoa salad with a bunch of roasted vegetables.
To start, I put 2 cups of quinoa in a pot with 4 cups of water and 1 vegetarian vegetable bouillion. Just enough to give the otherwise bland quinoa a little bit of flavor, but not become overpowering. This made SO much. I got scared at this point! I spread it in a big bowl to cool some, and got started on the veggies.
I cut up:
1/2 onion
1 green pepper
1 small zucchini
1 small yellow squash
2 stalks of celery
1 large carrot
~1 cup broccoli
~1 cup cauliflower
~1 cup asparagus spears
And tossed in a bowl with about 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 Tbsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp pepper. I spread this out on a baking pan and they went into a 425° oven for just over 20 minutes.
Once the vegetables were done, I slid them from the baking pan overtop of the now-cooled quinoa in the big bowl. This looked like even more, and I was even more scared!
Using a rubber spatula, I gently folded the quinoa over the veggies and incorporated everything together without clumping the quinoa or breaking the vegetables up.
I forgot to get a picture before I put it in the serving bowl with plastic wrap over! Oops! I also might have snuck a small bowl to "test" and had to re-fill in the hole so it didn't look like anybody had any yet.
I'm so happy about this, it came out better than I expected. It's vegan, dairy free, and gluten free. A great dish for a group event, especially when you have more than one allergy sufferer! And, it also makes a TON. This filled a huge serving dish - I'd say maybe 10 cups? If you aren't feeding an army, I'd half it!
11 comments:
this is really good! i made something similar for dinner with the boys the other night when they grilled pork ribs. of course i was the only one thinking about a healthy side to the meal...haha.
wow! What a head you have! lol...but seriously, it looks SO good! But of course I'm a dairy-lover so I'll add some cheese in there!
That looks like such a wonderful summer dish. A bit more than is needed for our two-person household, perhaps I could cut it in fourths :)
feta!! feta!! feta!!
I will be adding feta cuz everythings betta wit feta :D beautiful salad
are you on twitter yet?
that does make a lot!!!!! but it looks really good- perfect! nicely done!
I love quinoa, and your salad looks so bright and yummy! It definitely looks like a crowd pleaser to me!
I have a box of quinoa in the pantry. Perhaps I need to get it out and play around with salad ideas like yours after I finish my eggplant stew leftovers. I have a hard time keeping my urges to cook in check when the fridge is already full. Ha!
what a great and healthy invention!!!!!!
Sure to satisfy any craving for veg and yummy grains. Quinoa is fantastic, so nutty and nutritious!
Laura, I would have added crumbly feta if Mark could eat dairy. I'm also not sure how Johnny's whey allergy would handle it - and wasn't going to test it out at a BBQ! ;) In my head there was feta, so you'll have to let me know how it turns out!
I'm not on twitter. I can't wrap my head around that. haha
I have quinoa in my pantry and I need to make something with it and this just looks GORGEOUS! And I love how it is vegan! I should pass this on to Kailey (SnackFace) because she is working for a vegan magazine! Holla!!!
Wow, that is a lot! But great for a potluck!
Next week I get to have whole grains as we move onto Phase II of South Beach - I've missed quinoa!
This was amazingly good and I probably put away most of it. Not only that, I was able to ride ridiculously strong the next day, probably from the healthy carbs. Awesome dish.
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