A veggie- & protein-packed Quinoa Fried Rice from Keys to the Kitchen by Aida Mollenkamp! A healthy, easy vegetarian weeknight dinner. Gluten free.
Time to get excited – I have another giveaway!
Aida Mollenkamp’s new book, Keys to the Kitchen, is a new food bible. I planned to post this yesterday, but the book has so much that summing it up in a post is a nearly impossible task. In fact, it took me about 20 minutes to explain why I love this book to Jack (and I talk fast, so you don’t want to know how long a post that would be). Simply put, the book is beautiful, informative, helpful, and will make anyone, at any skill level, a better cook for having the tools it provides at their disposal. If you cook at home, you want this book.
One of my favorite things about the book is how each recipe has a “takeaway” and some suggested “riffs.” Aida takes you through the basics of a recipe and then shows you how to get creative… which is the part of cooking that I love the most. I was immediately drawn to the quinoa fried rice – I always have some quinoa in the fridge, Jack will never say no to having “eggs” and “fried” in his dinner, and fried rice is one of the most “riffable” dishes you can make. This turned out delicious, and I’m sure I’ll be riffing on this one pretty often.
this giveaway is now closed, a winner has been notified.
special thanks to Chronicle Books for hosting this giveaway.
Mushroom & Edamame Quinoa Fried “Rice”
- ½ tablespoon grapeseed or olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 4 oz shiitake mushrooms, stemmed & sliced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- A few handfuls chopped kale
- 1½ cups cooked quinoa
- ½ cup frozen edamame
- ¼ cup thinly sliced basil or cilantro
- 2 (or 3) large eggs, beaten
- 3-4 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari
- Sriracha or red pepper flakes
- Sliced almonds & sesame seeds
- Toasted sesame oil, for drizzling
- Sea salt and fresh black pepper
- Seared tofu or other protein (optional)
- Heat the oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat, and swirl to coat the pan. When the oil shimmers, add the garlic and green onions and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and ginger, season with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes.
- Add the kale, quinoa, edamame, and basil, toss to coat with oil and heat through. Cook until the grain is golden brown, about 3 minutes.
- Make a well in the center of the mixture, exposing the pan bottom. Put the egg and soy sauce in the well and stir until just cooked through. Break up the egg mixture and stir into the grain-vegetable mixture, stir-frying until the edges are golden, about 3 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with sriracha or red pepper flakes and additional soy sauce.
- Top with sliced almonds, sesame seeds, and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil & serve.
This is stunning! Awesome, healthy, recipe!
Freeze tomato paste in ice cube trays. You rarely ever need more than a tablespoon in a recipe so just pop it into the pan straight from the freezer. Beautiful fried ‘rice’ – have never thought to fry up a cooled, cooked grain!
I’ve been hearing great things about this cookbook! I think one of my favorite tips (that I wish I always followed) is to clean as you go. It’s so much nicer to finish cooking and only have a couple dishes to do than to have a huge mess and a sink full of dishes!
Fav kitchen tip of the moment is let your fridge run towards empty. It will bring out your creativity. I have come up with tasty combinations that are now in my repertoire when I didn’t have my pantry stocked.
As others have said, clean up as you go!
*Correction*
My favorite kitchen tip is a simple trick, yet the perfect last step to any meal that I learned from my Uncle.
A subtle and great way to brighten up almost any main course dish is to add a hint of fresh squeezed lemon and a dash of tabasco. Usually you never even notice the addition, and would be surprised to know it was there, but suddenly flavors are more vibrant and distinct
My favorite kitchen tip is a simple, yet the perfect last steph to any meal that I learned from my Uncle.
A subtle and great way to brighten up almost any main course dish is to add a hint of fresh squeezed lemon and a dash of tabasco. Usually you never even notice the addition, and would be surprised to know it was there, but suddenly flavors are more vibrant and distinct.
my fave kitchen tip comes from my mom, the best wedding cake baker ever to live! 🙂 the “secret” to her delicious cakes: add an extra egg to your batter recipe.
… my other fave tip, as others have posted, is cleaning up as you go.
My best kitchen tip is to not take things too seriously in the kitchen…Some of my greatest kitchen triumphs came out of something that was seemingly a disaster. I have seen too many of my friends and family members get discouraged when things didn’t turn out “like they were supposed to”…But cooking is about having fun and freedom…so give yourself a break and just go with the flow!!!
This is more of a food tip, I make my own coconut milk with unsweetened finely shredded coconut. So healthful and good for you instead of animal milk.
Jeanine – I love hearing your riffs on the recipe — especially b/c I full-heartedly feel that crunch makes anything better. Thanks for sharing Keys To The Kitchen and for sharing a few of your kitchen nuggets as well!
One of them is save vegie scrapes in the freezer to make vegie stock.
One of my favorite kitchen tips is “clean as you go.” It’s a challenge for me because I tend to be a very messy cook – but it makes a big difference!
Save time and cook a batch of baked potatoes in the crock pot – just sprinkle liberally with kosher salt and bake away. Wrap in foil afterward and put them in the fridge to reheat during the week.
One of my favorite tips applies to almost everything: ignore the time listed for cooking, just cook it until it’s done! I use this most often for cooking dry pasta, which I find always has a far too long cook time printed on the box. Just pull some out, lightly blow on it real quick to cool it down, and give a piece a little poke or a pinch. You then learn how food should feel and cooking becomes more intuitive!
I love kitchen tips, everytime I read good ones I am immediately like “dang it! why didn’t I think of that?!”
Fried rice tends to be my “go to” recipe when I’m at a loss for what to make! One of my fave tips involving that is to use cold day old rice. It supposedly keeps it from getting mushy and clumpy and gets a better crisp to it. I guess this could work for any other grain as well!
Clean up as you cook!
(Thank you for hosting such a lovely blog!)
One of my favorite kitchen tips is: use the side of a knife to press on a garlic clove to loosen the peel.
it’s small but effective, especially going into the holiday season: when melting chocolate in the microwave, add a bit of Crisco to keep it fluid and to add some shine.
It’s so hard to pick just one! I think the most recent tip I have put to use is using a mandolin to slice vegetables/fruit/etc…. it is so much faster and produces such uniform, beautiful pieces. It’s my new favorite kitchen tool!