I Must Love Me Too

If you have neglected yourself,
make a sincere apology to thee.
Gather the "love-me-not-petals" of your life
and start counting "I-must-love-me-too".
In no time at all you have
a beautiful flower blossom within you. ~ Dodinsky Writings

Monday, November 22, 2010

Red Quinoa with Roasted Butternut Squash, Cranberries and Pecans

The Gluten Free Goddess has this recipe on the blog for Thanksgiving. So don't walk, run over there and see how gorgeous this dish is, then make it for your own feast.

Red Quinoa with Roasted Butternut Squash, Cranberries and Pecans

I find red quinoa is a tad more crunchy than the usual quinoa I cook, so I add a bit more water to make it softer. If you like your quinoa al dente, use a grain to liquid ratio of 1:2 with red quinoa. If you prefer it a little softer, add another 1/4 cup water.

You'll need:

1 cup red quinoa (I used
Ancient Harvest Red Quinoa)

Cook the red quinoa in a rice cooker, using a 1:2 ratio of 1 cup red quinoa to 2 cups water. As mentioned above, if you like it softer, add an additional 1/4 cup water. If you don't have a rice cooker, cook the quinoa on the stove in a pot, according to package directions.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium roasting pan add:

1 smallish butternut squash, peeled and diced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, halved or chopped as you prefer
1/2 of a medium red onion, diced fine
1 clove of garlic, minced

Drizzle the butternut squash, cranberries, onion and garlic with a little olive oil, to coat. Add a teaspoon or two of pure maple syrup- not too much. Sprinkle with sea salt. Toss everything together. Roast in the top half of the oven until the squash is tender- about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pan and set aside.

In a large dry skillet, add:

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Heat the skillet and lightly toast the pecans briefly, till fragrant.

Add in the cooked quinoa and the butternut mixture.

Add:

2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
A sprinkle of cumin, ginger or curry, to taste
Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

Drizzle the quinoa mixture with some fruity extra virgin olive oil and toss to coat. Taste test and adjust seasonings. Heat through gently.

Serve.

Makes 4 servings.


Read more: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2010/01/red-quinoa-with-butternet-squash.html#ixzz163wsZpWA