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.
My kitchen tip is that kisses make everything taste better 🙂
Two words, soy sauce. It is amazing how adding a few drops will enhance the flavors of sauces, gravies and salad dressings. And please, stick with naturally brewed versus the caramel colored liquid pretending to be soy sauce. Hey, that was two tips in one.
Oh, gosh, I don’t know if I have any favorite kitchen tips– I just started cooking (instead of eating out most meals!). I do like the “clean as you go” tip that other posters mentioned. It’s always so daunting to have a kitchen full of dirty pots and pans, and I’m always so tired after cooking!
When I mince onions or garlic, I use the magic bullet or food processor. If my hand do smell, I squeeze lemon on them, wait a couple seconds and washout with soap. Last but not least, no matter how tired I am I always clean the stove, even with some quick clorox wipes cause I hate grease build up! Harder to clean later.
I was taught while living in Florence to remove the heart of garlic cloves (the fine-stem that runs down the center) The Italians believe it’s indigestible!
clean up…keep clean up…keep the kitchen counter as clean as possible…
Definitely clean as you cook, and have all ingredients open, prepped, chopped and ready to go (mise en place) before you begin so you’re not struggling to open a can of something while something else burns (usually garlic, in my case).
This cookbook looks amazing! My best kitchen discover is parchment paper. Parchment paper for everything! I have destroyed a lot fewer pans with my roasted veggie obsession.
My best tip is when cutting onions – if you run the knife under cold water before cutting them, you won’t get that stinging in your eyes. I cut up red onions a lot, so this tip really helps.
Wipe down all surfaces as soon as you’ve used them. When living in an ancient apartment where everything is cracked and kitchen surfaces are worn, cleaning can become a huge hassle when little dried drips of flour, egg and millk simply refuse to be scrubbed off your countertops. So I always wipe them right away!
I just read how you can easily shred chicken with your KitchenAid mixer. Crazy!
Tip….? Read awesome inspiring blogs. Then when I am at a complete loss for a helpful tip I leave with yummy recipes & 20 other tips! I love the link to Camille Styles Roast Beet & Pear salad. Easiest way I have ever heard to roast beets, olive oil, salt , pepper & wrap it in a mess-free (ish) tin foil ball. 350′ 40min-1hr & , cool pop skins off under running water. simple & brilliant.
My kitchen tip is always keeping a lemon or lime and at least one fresh herb around – you can brighten any meal with these!
read the entire recipe before starting !
Microwave winter squashes (such as butternut, acorn, and pumpkin) for a minute or two before trying to cut it open to bake and/or peel.
I think my favorite kitchen tip is for softening butter. Instead of waiting hours for a whole stick to soften, cut the stick up into small chunks and the waiting time is usually no longer than a half away, which is the time it typically takes to preheat the oven and gather all the ingredients!
To freeze individual portions of anything from pancakes to casseroles to desserts. Have gone to the freezer many nights for a little late night craving!
My tip is simple, but effective- pull out all your ingredients before baking/cooking. It makes the process go by much more smoothly, and if you can manage to put your ingredients away as you use them, clean up is much less intimidating!
Too many! Here are two of my favourite cooking tips:
Be more adventurous and try one new recipe a week to keep things fresh and make cooking a learning experience. Cooking can be so fun!
And the other is to take a bit of time to look into what is simple and cost effective to be homemade. Things like vinaigrettes are SO easy to put together, taste better than store bought ones and you probably have everything in your larder already.
My favorite tip is when you can, make it from scratch. Simple things like salad dressing don’t take a lot of time or ingredients but make all the difference in flavor. Nothing ruins a lovely salad like a bottle of store bought dressing.