From Quinoa to Cookie

Posted on August 25, 2014 by melsmosaic

I make birthday cookies for my friends and for a recent one I emailed her with an idea because of dietary concerns. I know she’s big into quinoa and I looked for (cookie) recipes with quinoa in them. She was kind enough to send me a link to the cookie (recipe) she would like for her birthday goodies. They where basically simple chocolate chip cookies, but with a coconut kick.

As I investigated the recipe, it of course called for quinoa flour. I went to Whole Foods and they had it (I was just talking to them about it, didn’t actually see it but could only fathom the price — just googled it $10-$13). But then I thought, there has to be a way to make this stuff. Of course! This makes it much more fun, and beyond less expensive. You pay $3-$4 for the quinoa and you’re set.

So, found a great recipe for it on Homemadeadventure. You just take 2 cups of quinoa and put it in a skillet over medium heat.

Toast it for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

The quinoa will start to make a light popping sound, kind of like popcorn, when the toasting starts. You want this sound for about a minute or two. Then it gets nice and brown.

Let it cool then put it in a food processor.

Blend until fine. I did mine for probably about 8-10 minutes.

Then baking started!

The recipe was from Ambitious Kitchen and named The BEST Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups quinoa flour (homemade or store bought)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled (Trader Joe’s has great stuff)
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl whisk together quinoa flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. (I always tend to just put this on top of the wet mixture later).

In bowl of an electric mixer beat together melted coconut oil and brown sugar until smooth. Add in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla; beat again for 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy.

Add in flour; and mix on low speed until just combined. Slowly add in chocolate chips.

Roll dough into 2″ balls and place on cookie sheet leaving 2″ apart. Love the Silpat mat! It didn’t say whether you would spray the cookie sheet or not so glad I have it. Bake 8-11 minutes or until edges just being to turn a golden brown. If you noticed that your cookies are baking flat, then you may want to chill your dough for 10-20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool at least 5 minutes on baking sheet. The cookies will need to set and will be very fragile at first so you have to be a little patient for the edges to harden a bit before removing them. Once the edges and bottom harden a bit, transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. Makes 18-20 cookies. I got about 2 dozen out of this recipe!

My friend loved the cookies and not sure how many are left. Very coconut-y and the great chocolate in there.

New Cheese Find

Posted on February 18, 2014 by melsmosaic

When at (one of) food shopper’s heavens the other day, Trader Joe’s, I was actually shopping for cheese. Yes, cheese. I was initially just going to grab some Manchego but then decided to see how many labels I could read to determine which ones had sheep’s milk (vs cow’s). After going through a good bit of the cheese case, I did find several that I could eat, being lactose intolerant. I found this new (to me) one that looked intriguing. One of the Crew Members walked by and I asked if he’d had it before to get his thoughts. He said…not yet. He took it back to the sampling area and opened it open so we could both try it. Awesome customer service! And, amazing cheese. A bit softer than Manchego but a bit harder than cheddar. It’s Mini Basque Cheese from France. Totally buy some. You won’t be disappointed.

I actually ate…

Posted on February 6, 2014 by melsmosaic

…goat cheese. Yes, it happened. I admit it, I did it. I normally can’t stand the stuff. I used to not touch it because of lactose intolerance, then I found out lactards (love the name my friends gave us) can tolerate all milk but that from cows. But then I tried goat cheese and it’s just gross…the taste, the texture. I’m saving it for the lovers of the stuff. Then the other day my friends offered some that is dangerous. Trader Joe’s does it again, hurting one’s wallet and waist.

The full, fancy name — Trader Joe’s Goat Cheese – Blueberry Vanilla Chevre. What’s in it, not a ton — pasteurized goat’s milk, wild blueberry (wild blueberries, grape juice), salt, vanilla extract (vanilla beans, water, bourbon), cheese cultures, vegetable rennet, natamycin (natural yeast and mold inhibitor).

It pretty much tastes like blueberry cheesecake. Melts in your mouth. You can eat it on a (graham) cracker, right off your finger or a fork. Would be great with some extra berries, too. Definitely check it out!

Give Me a Fiver

Posted on January 9, 2014 by melsmosaic

Who’s not always looking for a bargain, and a good tasting one at that? Just saw this great article/blog on epicurious.com about value wines under $5. Will definitely add these to my notes. Never hurts to have them around.

Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw (aka Two Buck Chuck)
Trader Joe’s Coastal
Whole Foods Three Wishes
Walmart Oak Leaf
ALDI’S Winking Owl

Source: epicurious.com

Use What You Have

Posted on September 5, 2013 by melsmosaic

It’s amazing what you can find in the kitchen, between both the cupboards and what you recently bought at the store, that can make a great meal. I got creative tonight and whipped up a tasty salad that required nothing but ‘shopping’ in my own cupboards and fridge. It took less than 10 minutes but has and will provide(d) hours of happiness, from a full stomach…to multiple meals, aka leftovers.

Ingredients:

-(Trader Joe’s) couscous
-(Trader Joe’s) grape tomatoes
-(Trader Joe’s) frozen artichoke hearts
-(Costco) hearts of palm
-Grapefruit
-Leftover chicken breasts
–Tessemae‘s Lemonette
-S&P

Directions:

-Cook couscous per directions — boil water, put in couscous, let sit 5 minutes.
-While that’s happening, defrost artichoke hearts, cut hearts of palm, peel and cut grapefruit. The chicken I had was already sliced from last night.
-When couscous is done, place in large bowl, top with all other (solid) ingredients. Toss with salad dressing, season to taste. Eat.

Rough, right? Just think about all the additions/subtractions/changes you could make to this, too, to fit your tastes.

-add nuts
-add beans (garbanzo (chick peas), black, kidney)
-no meat
-seafood (I’m out of chicken — only had a couple pieces left so salmon or tuna’s going in there tomorrow)
-dried fruit
-different dressing
-more seasoning
-base of quinoa vs. couscous

What’s the most important thing? You can make SO MUCH out of what is in your kitchen so you don’t have to go out night after night. What’s the worse case scenario? You experiment, it’s not great. You know everything that went in there and you just keep trying. Cook on my friends, cook on.

Hot Temps Mean Refreshing Dinners

Posted on July 16, 2013 by melsmosaic

Washington, DC (All Summer) — It’s mid-July, I’m in the DC-area. What does that mean? HOT temps. And, it’s only going to get worse. This Thursday is going to be high 90s without factoring in the humidity. So, easy-to-make, refreshing dinners are the best way to go.

My brother told me about an Alton Brown Grilled Mahi Ceviche recipe that was top-notch, and it sounded great. Since it’s grilled you don’t have to remember to throw the fish in the lemon and/or lime juice many, many hours ahead of time. Just two and then you throw it on the grill. Decided to pair that with some easy oil-based coleslaw, chips, salsa and guacamole.

For the Mahi, you just put some basic ingredients together and let them sit for a couple hours. I bought the Mahi chunks from Trader Joe’s because they were half the price of the steaks!

After a couple hours, pat the fish dry and throw it on the grill.

You keep the ‘marinade’ from the fish, heat in on the stove, and eventually use it again on the fish.

For the ‘slaw, I grabbed a great bag of broccoli slaw mix from Trader Joe’s — super easy! No cutting or chopping required for the base. I did chop some cilantro and garlic and for the dressing, just did a quick vinaigrette of:

-lemon juice

-lime juice

-cumin

-coriander

-olive oil

-hint of chili powder

-S&P

Next step was prepping the pre-made guacamole (because the avocado would have required electrical equipment to mash). I always add some spice to the packaged stuff:

Now, it’s dinner time!!!! Mahi, coleslaw, tortilla chips, salsa, guac, red wine. All to wrap up a great weekend.

As I enjoyed this dinner, I kept thinking the guac was off. Well, I was house sitting and used what appeared to be salt for the guac. Yes, I was right when it tasted sweet the first time and added some more of the fine crystals. It finally occurred to me to taste the stuff. Oh, I was adding sugar not salt. Note: Sweet guacamole IS NOT good.

There’s no place like home

Posted on April 8, 2013 by melsmosaic

I have been out and about the past few days and as much as I love it, I have been tapping the heels of my ruby red slippers together to get back to my kitchen.

Tonight I was finally able to do so. With the amazing weather I wanted to make something light and refreshing and one of my favorite salads is Nicoise. But, I love just making spinoffs of it. So, after walking around outside for hours and doing a mental inventory of my kitchen, I stopped at Trader Joe’s to pick up the balance of ingredients I needed to make the ideal dinner.

My relaxing night preparing ‘Nicoise’ included making a vinaigrette with:

-Lemon olive oil

-Italian herb vinegar

-Dijon mustard

–Penzey’s Sunset Spices

-Garlic

-S&P

Then, the ingredients for the salad ended up being:

-Arugula

-Pan seared shrimp

-Green beans

-Grape tomatoes

-Artichoke hearts

-Greek olives

-Peanuts

-Generic triscuits on the side

Oh yeah, red wine, too. Had more of what I was enjoying while writing the post about the wine bar in Annapolis — Anakena Pinot Noir from Chile. It’s about $13/bottle in the DC-area.

All in all, delicious and refreshing. Trader Joe’s has great fresh, frozen and canned ingredients. Actually, there is VERY little that isn’t great at TJ’s. I will say, don’t go generic for triscuits, not worth it (I didn’t get the crackers at Trader Joe’s).

Great way to end the week. And tomorrow is Monday, it’s supposed to be in the upper 70s, and work calls. I digress…