Green Queen Recipes: Quinoa Craze – 3 Fabulous New Ideas Including Addictive Quinoa Sushi

We’re still on the quinoa bandwagon. Last week we gave you three quinoa salad ideas. This week, we share a quinoa recipe for breakfast, lunch AND dinner. More fodder for your quinoa repertoire! Don’t feel obligated to have them all in a day (although we couldn’t resist!) – go ahead and spread them out throughout the week. We are pretty sure these will become weekly repeats!

For the perfect how-to-cook-quinoa instructions and to learn more about why this super seed supersedes (couldn’t resist) in every way, refer to last week’s post.

Warming Quinoa Porridge

It’s getting cooler by the day in Hong Kong and we’re sure we aren’t the only ones craving a warm breakfast! So why not tuck into this piping bowl of goodness. Note: Quinoa flakes are very thinly sliced quinoa grains, so expect them to cook super fast… like blink of an eye quick! Make sure to keep your globals on it otherwise, you will end up with a big bowl of burnt…

Ingredients – Serves 2

• 2/3 cup quinoa flakes
• 2 cups of your plant-based milk choice
• a pinch of sea salt
• maple syrup or agave to drizzle
• 2 handfuls of fresh berries of your choice

Directions 

1. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil then add your quinoa  flakes & salt. Return to boil.
2. Stir frequently with a spatula for a couple of minutes until it’s thick and creamy. Remove from heat and divide in bowls.
3. Serve with maple syrup and berries.

Quinoa Sushi Wraps

This is so delicious for lunch. No need to use rice in these sushi babies, quinoa saves the day again! Nothing special about the filling ingredients, we went with what we had on hand but the glorious thing about sushi is that you can pretty much use any ingredients you want- so be sure to experiment. You might just create a kickass concoction! BTW, if you don’t have a sushi mat, don’t worry at all. We actually find it easier to roll without it. Just pretend you are rolling a wrap or a tortilla.

Ingredients – Serves: 2/ Makes: 4 rolls

• 4 cups cooked, cooled quinoa
• 4 nori seaweed sheets
• ½ medium carrot, julienned
• ½ bell pepper, julienned
• 8 thin slices of pan-fried tofu
• handful of coriander
• tamari or soy sauce for dipping

Directions

1. Place nori sheet on a sushi mat. Layer quinoa thinly across the nori, making sure to leave at least a couple of centimeters on all sides except for the bottom.
2. Layer your toppings without overfilling- too much makes it difficult to roll.
3. Dampen the top end of the nori with water so it sticks when sealed.
4. Starting from the bottom end, roll the sushi carefully upwards, securing with the now sticky end of the nori.
5. With a wet knife, slice the sushi tube into bite-sized pieces and serve with a bowl of sauce.

Quinoa and Zucchini Patties

Quinoa patties are incredibly filling. The recipe is versatile in that you can use various ingredients like sweet potato or carrots instead of the zucchini and you can have it as a hot meal for dinner or as cold lunch- ideal to take to the office.

Ingredients – Makes 8 Patties 

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 large or 2 medium zucchini, grated
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
• 2 vegan eggs
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp flour (optional, use GF alternative if you prefer)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, divided
• 2 tbsp vegan yogurt
• chopped herbs (optional)
• choice of side salad or vegetables

Directions

1. Place grated courgettes in a colander and let drain for up to 30 minutes. You can also manually to squeeze out the liquids to speed up the process.
2. In a bowl add cooked quinoa, zucchini, nutritional yeast if using, your egg replacement of choice and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well to combine. Feel free to also add chopped herbs if you like.
3. Roll quinoa mixture between your palms and lightly squash down until it resembles a pattie. Repeat process. If the mixture is too wet for you to handle, the flour makes a good binder, just add to mixture.
4. Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil over medium heat. Add patties and fry until golden brown about 4 – 5 minutes before flipping over to cook the other side for another 3-4 minutes.
5. Assemble on a plate with your salad and/or vegetables and serve with vegan yoghurt or cashew cream.