Chickpea Crazy!

Anything with chickpeas is good in my opinion and I’m always looking for other ways to cook them . This Hummus-Quinoa Casserole is from Vive! and although it sounds like a strange mix it turned out really well. It’s a layer of quinoa covered with a layer of hummus and topped with veggies roasted in balsamic vinegar (to which I added garlic to make them extra tasty). It came out a little dry, but I think that was because I loosely halved the recipe and ended up with too much quinoa. I’ll definitely make it again with a few changes and I’m looking forward to it cos it was really good.

It looks quite pretty in the dish, but I made a bit of a mess taking it out so it looked a little different on the plate :)

For my casserole I made Creamy Hummus also from Vive! As I’m not crazy about tahini I substituted peanut butter as suggested by laura jesser and Melody a while back. And it was yumalicious! So thanks for the idea! And it also enhanced the smell of the casserole as it had a lovely peanutty aroma when I took it out the oven.

Last night we had some Morroccan Chickpea Patties that I have blogged about before. They are so good! And great with some potato wedges and a salad. Try them if you haven’t done it already!

Chickpea Broccoli Casserole

Chickpeas and broccoli are two of my favourite things . So put them together in the same dish and it’s sure to be a winner, right? Well, kind of :) I’ve flicked through Vegan With A Vengeance so many times and paused at this recipe and then decided that I’ll make it another day and moved on. I keep getting put off by the blurb before the recipe where Isa admits “it is a little bland”. Hmmm, that’s not really enticing me. Anyway, I saw it on Eat'n Veg'n and Don't Get Mad Get Vegan recently and it got mixed reviews so I thought I should just finally try it for myself.
When it came out of the oven it wasn’t the most appealing dish. I served it over quinoa with some greens in Mustard Tahini Sesame Sauce which I’m not sure was the best combination. When I put it in front of Wee G I was not greeted with a joyful face. It seemed kind of dry and stodgy, but I forgot to set the timer when I put it in the oven so I think it might have been a little overcooked. The first few bites I wasn’t too sure, but by the end of it I thought it was pretty yummy!! I suppose it’s the taste that matters so I will be making it again, and trying not to overcook it this time :)

Quinoa Whole Wheat Bread

Quinoa is something that I always mean to eat more of, but I never manage to do anything creative with it usually having it alongside a stir fry. So I found this recipe for a whole wheat bread including quinoa and thought I would try it. I modified it slightly and it turned out really well. I haven’t ever added vital wheat gluten to my bread before and I think this made a difference...I definitely think it was less “stodgy” than any other whole wheat bread I have made. It was a bit crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and a little bit of a bite all the way through it from the quinoa. I made 3 small loaves (one in a tin, and 2 not in tins)

And, have you ever seen a field of quinoa growing? Isn’t it pretty?

Photo Source

Here’s the recipe:

Quinoa Whole Wheat Bread Recipe (makes 3 small loaves)

1 cup, whole uncooked quinoa
2 cups warm water
1 tbsp raw sugar
1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 cups whole wheat flour
1½ cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp vital wheat gluten flour
1 tsp salt

Directions

1 Thoroughly rinse quinoa in a sieve under a running tap.
2 In a small bowl combine half the water, the yeast and the sugar. Leave for 10 minutes until frothy on top.
3 In a large bowl combine flours, quinoa and salt. Make a well in the centre of the flours and pour in water/yeast.
4 Mix well with your hand until water is soaked up. Gradually add remaining water as needed, until a soft, moist dough is formed.
5 Place dough on a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes.
6 Place dough in a large, oiled bowl and cover with a dish towel. Leave to prove in a warm, draught-free place for about 1½ hours, until doubled in size.
7 Knock air out of dough by kneading for another minute or so. Now make it in to the desired shape. I made 3 small loaves, but next time I think I will do one large one. Score across top of loaves with a knife if desired. Place on oiled baking tray or tin and leave to prove for another 1½ hours.
8 Preheat oven to 400F (200c). Bake loaves for around 30 minutes, until brown and sound hollow when tapped.