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.
I don’t really have any great tips. The only thing that comes to mind is to not be too strict with cooking times. Every appliance and pan is different.
Would love this cookbook!
My favorite kitchen tip is to make extra and freeze it. Those meals in the freezer have come in handy!
Oh, it’s so reminiscent of springtime! Such lovely shades of green~
My little trick is to freeze things in ice cube trays. I’ve done caramelized onion, roasted garlic, pumpkin puree – makes it easy to apportion out amounts.
Use brown rice flour when making gravy. No lumps , gluten free and a silky feel. Yum!
Fluff your flour before spooning it into a measuring cup to help keep it from being too densely packed!
Turn wilted veggies into a delicious vegetable soup!
I like to pack my lunch for the next day as I am making dinner, it saves time the next morning!
I like to place a kitchen towel over the counter space I’ll be working on when I bake something. This way when I measure messy ingredients or need to lay a utensil down, I don’t leave a huge mess on the counter for me to clean up afterwards. I can just fold up the towel and toss it in the washer when I’m done. Voila! Clean counter 🙂
One of the most useful tips is to clean up as you cook!
Always make extra and freeze it!
This may not be a tip, but one of my favorite things to do while cooking in the kitchen is to enjoy a glass of wine 🙂 In fact, many of these tips will come in handy!
this might be my favorite one! 🙂
My favorite tip is to chop the chocolate when making chocolate chip cookies, even if I’m using chips.
smash garlic cloves with the side of a large knife and the peels just fall off!
My favorite kitchen tip is to let things rest a few minutes before cutting into or serving them. This always applies to meats of course but I’ve found it is beneficial in other dishes as well.
When sauteing garlic for flavor in oil use large pieces so they don’t burn.
One of my favorite kitchen tips is to always add a dash of something acidic, be it vinegar or lemon juice, to soup at the end of cooking to brighten it up.
Parchment paper! It’s a wonder in the kitchen. Use it to line pans for easy clean up, on the fly cupcake liners, rolling out pie dough, transferring pizzas to the oven, etc… And it can be reused over and over again until its disintegrating, and then I toss it in the compost.
This cookbook looks fantastic, especially the fried “rice”. Yum.
I love this tip – I just started doing this myself, and I love how I never have to wash my baking sheet 🙂
To avoid water boiling over, lay a wooden spoon across the top of you pot. It will keep the bubbles from overflowing.
pin delicious recipes, like this one, to pinterest; look at your “recipe queue” pinterest board when in need of inspiration
Here’s a kitchen tip that I wish I knew all along: crack raw eggs on a counter surface and they break so that the shell never falls in to the mixing bowl.
I enjoy this beautiful blog so much! Thanks!