Tuesday, May 16, 2006

My Version of Chef Alex's Roasted Vegetable & Quinoa Salad

I was given the DVD Supersize Me for Mother's Day. It included the recipes for the "Last Supper" Morgan had before going on his 30 day fast food binge. The recipes, all from vegan chef Alexandra Jamieson, looked interesting.

I made a variation on her Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Salad last night. Her original recipe called for beets, sweet potatoes, onions, brussel sprouts and cauliflower. Last night, my pantry did not include that variety so I just used sweet potatoes and onions. Per the original recipe, I cut the sweet potatoes into one inch cubes and sliced the onions into large rings. Actually, I cut the onions in half first, so they really looked more like rainbows. Since I wanted this to be a main dish, I also added cubed tofu.

The original recipe called for whisking together 3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil, 2 tsp soy sauce and pepper to taste. I skipped the pepper and let everyone add it themselves. This mixture was poured over the veggies/tofu and tossed to coat. The vegetable mixture is placed on a cookie sheet and baked at 400 degrees for 30 minutes and then tossed with cooked quinoa.

I've really grown to love quinoa. The shape reminds me of the noodles from Lipton Giggle Noodle Soup. Who remembers that from their childhood? As Alex points out in the recipe handout, quinoa is high in protein and calcium. It also has a bit of iron too. Its also a nice change from brown rice.

I really liked this and so did the kids. Jim thought it was a little bland but he's working nights this week and I think it makes his taste buds cranky. I've just requested Alex Jamieson's book, The Great American Detox Diet from my library. I'm curious to see what she has to say.

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