Tartlette's Quinoa, Roasted Pepper, and Avocado Cream Verrines

I like layers: in my hair, in what I wear (it is the Bay Area after all), and especially in my food. One of these days I'm going to make a 14-Layer Cake.

But layered food isn't just for dessert. I love lasagna, especially with well-defined layers. And I really liked Tartlette's Quinoa Verrines. I pretty much followed her recipe, though I used Greek yogurt and an entire avocado. So whip some up for dinner; life's all about layers.

Quinoa, Roasted Pepper, and Avocado Cream Verrines

1 cup quinoa
1-1/2 cups water
Salt
1 pepper, or a mix of baby peppers
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 avocado
Juice of half a lime
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon red onion, chopped
1/4 cup Greek yogurt

Combine the quinoa, water, and a pinch of salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil; simmer until the quinoa is tender, 15 to 20 minutes, and let cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Toss the whole pepper(s) with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and peppere, and roast until it starts to blister, about 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, then cut in half, remove seeds, and cut into smaller pieces as desired.

Mash the avocado with the lime juice, cilantro, onion, and yogurt in a non-reactive bowl until smooth.

Layer the quinoa, peppers, and avocado cream in glasses. Feel good about eating something healthy and pretty.

Related recipes:
Quinoa with Black Beans and Sweet Potato
Tempeh Provencal
Acorn Squash Tacos

On the Side

Here are a few side dishes I've made recently:

I've had the sauteed mushrooms from our Thanksgiving dinner at The Mogul on my mind ever since. I whipped these up to go with Chris' steak one night, and they did not disappoint.

Wine Sauteed Mushrooms
based on this recipe at Easy-Wine.net

1 lb. sliced mushrooms
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 c. dry white wine
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Salt and pepper

In a pan, melt butter over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and saute until browned and soft. Add garlic and wine and continue to stir for 5 minutes. Sprinkle lemon juice and parsley over mushrooms and toss. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

* * * * *

I made this quinoa salad the other night. I really like quinoa, but only ever make my Quinoa with Black Beans and Sweet Potato, so it was time to branch out. I saw this recipe at Vegetarian Times, and immediately wanted to make it. It makes a lot of salad!

The soup here is potato-leek from "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian"

Spinach-Quinoa Salad with Cherries and Almonds
from Vegetarian Times

1/4 c. sliced almonds
1 1/2 c. quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 c. spinach leaves
1 c. dried cherries, chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/3-inch dice (about 1 1/2 c.)
1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 small red onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 c.)
1/4 c. plain low-fat yogurt
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tsp.)

Preheat oven to 350F. Spread almonds on baking sheet, and toast 7 to 10 minutes, shaking pan occasionally, or until golden brown. Cool.

Bring 3 cups salted water to a boil in pot over medium-high heat. Stir in quinoa. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes, or until all liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and cool, covered, in pot.

Lay 5 or 6 spinach leaves flat on top of one another on cutting board. Roll tightly into cylinder, then slice into slivers. Repeat with remaining spinach. (I forgot to buy spinach, so I used about a cup of chopped frozen spinach, which I defrosted and squeezed the excess water out of.)

Toss together quinoa, almonds, spinach, cherries, cucumber, chickpeas and red onion in large serving bowl. Whisk together yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic in small bowl. Pour over salad, and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill 30 minutes to allow flavors to develop, then serve.

Dog Days of Summer

Last Thursday was Doggie Night in downtown Danville. I don't have any pictures since it was just Ayla and myself unfortunately. Molly's Pup-purr-ee hosted the event and Ayla and I had a lot of fun, as well as a great opportunity to work on our socialization. The parking lot of the store was closed off with a bunch of booths set up, including our trainer's booth. Ayla and I stopped by to say hi and then checked out the store which was full of adorable pet supplies, beds, collars and leashes, toys, treats, and clothing. At the store we were given a bag and a sheet of paper with a list of 15 or so stores to visit for a scavenger hunt/doggie trick-or-treating. The goal was to visit each store on the list, get their sticker (and some doggie treats as gifts while you were there, hence the bag to carry it all) and return the list to Molly's to be entered in a drawing for something from one of the stores. It was hot, we walked a lot, and there were lots of people and dogs. Ayla was a trooper and we hit each store, from shoe stores to fancy jewelry stores to clothing and home goods stores. It was a lot of fun and Ayla let quite a few people pet her, some even enthusiastically. My Chicken Little is really coming far in her training! We came home with a bag full of dog treats and a new hot pink tennis ball that matched Ayla's collar. Next year hopefully Chris will be able to come with us with Mac. The little guy would be really in his element.

Friday was too hot to hike to the ol' swimmin' hole, so I took the pups to Hap McGee Ranch Park in Danville to play. Here's a couple shots:

Mr. Handsome

A really gross tennis ball, just the way Ayla likes them

Here's a recipe I tried out the other day. It started in Women's Health Magazine and has made the rounds of the food blogs I read. I made it with Molly's idea of adding avocado, since almost everything is better with avocado I say.

Quinoa with Black Beans and Sweet Potatoes

1 c. quinoa

1 to 2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. dried red chile flakes
2 c. water
salt to taste
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
juice of 2 limes
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1 avocado, chopped

Rinse quinoa. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a medium skillet . Add sweet potato, scallion, and chile and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add quinoa; toast for 2 minutes. Add water and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, and cover. Simmer until quinoa and sweet potato are tender, about 10 to 12 minutes. If liquid remains unabsorbed in the pan, raise heat to high and cook for 2 minutes until it boils off. Stir in black beans and lime juice and cilantro. Top with avocado and serve warm or chilled.

This was very tasty, and great cold the next day for lunch.

Finally, here's a new project I've started knitting. Its the Traveling Roses Lace Scarf and I'm making it with Muse, a nice lace weight yarn in olive that's shot through with a silver thread so it will be a little sparkly. This is my first real lace project, made on little tiny size 2 needles. I had started on even smaller size 1s, but they were bamboo and held onto the yarn too much making it difficult to work with. The size 2s are are metal Plymouth Speedways and are much easier, smoother, and faster to knit with. This picture isn't a good representation of the color (bad lighting), but the first pattern repeat is done, only 12 more to go and then blocking to make the lace bloom. This will be a gift for a special someone...

Traveling Roses Lace Scarf