Nutty Quinoa Salad and Seitan Cutlets

I got quinoa last week, mainly because it was a complete protein, and I've been wondering what to do with it. Last night I looked it up in The New Basics Cookbook, which is a fantastic cookbook that I think everyone should have. It describes all the vegetables, grains, types of rice, etc, and how to cook them and what they're best used for. Anyway, it had a recipe for Nutty Quinoa Salad, and it looked good, so I decided to try it.

When I opened the quinoa, it smelled a little strange, so I decided it would be a good idea to rinse it--except that it was too small and would go through the holes in my colander. So I lined a bowl with a clean dishrag, put in the quinoa, then the water, and then lifted the quinoa out using the dishcloth. Rinse and repeat.

 
 
 

Then you cook the quinoa and water, add the raisins, and cook a bit more until the water's absorbed. My stove is a bit finicky about coming to a boil if the saucepan is big--after all, it's only a 6-inch burner--but it did pretty well. It took a little longer than the recipe, but that's normal. Then it looks like this:

 

It said to remove from the heat and spread it in a thin layer on a baking sheet to cool. I completely disregarded this instruction, because I didn't want to have to wash the baking sheet, and I had nowhere to put the baking sheet anyway. So I put it in a bowl and added the green onions (so they would cook a little with the steam). Pretty soon I learned why they want you to spread it out: otherwise, it sticks together in a big glob. That's okay by me. After all, it's The Modest Kitchen.

I started in on the Seitan Cutlets, which I made like the Chicken Cutlets Mom used to make. I was a little dubious about the lump of seitan I was using, because it had been in the fridge a few days, but I tried a little bit and it tasted all right, so I kept going. I sliced the seitan:

 

Then I dipped the slices in egg and bread crumbs and sauteed them in the pan.

 

 

When I was done, I didn't want to waste the egg, and it hadn't been contaminated by raw chicken or anything, so I scrambled the leftover egg with some of the leftover breadcrumbs.

 

Back to the quinoa salad. I added the peanuts, mandarin oranges, and some toasted sesame oil. The recipe calls for regular sesame oil, but it wasn't available at either of the nearby grocery stores, except an extra-virgin sesame oil (???) that cost more than $8. I was planning to add some canola oil if I needed a little more oil, but I don't like oily food, and a couple of tablespoons of toasted sesame oil seemed like plenty.

 

Then I sat down for dinner, and I soon realized that I hadn't added the mint or the orange zest. I was too hungry to go back to food prep, so I just added a little mint and orange zest to the portion on my plate. The quinoa salad was good--it really tasted gourmet. Unfortunately, most of the seitan had gone bad. A couple of the slices tasted ok, but most of them tasted like chewy fish. Ick. The egg, however, was fantastic. I have to do that again sometime.

After dinner, I added the mint and orange zest to the rest of the salad. Here's the final version:

 

Nutty Quinoa Salad
from The New Basics Cookbook

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup sesame oil (I used a tablespoon or two of toasted sesame oil)
3 green onions, white bulb and 3 inches green, sliced
1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
1/2 cup canned mandarin orange sections, drained (I used an entire small can, because I didn't want to waste the leftovers)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves (I used much less, probably 10-15 leaves)
2 teaspoons grated orange zest

1. Combine the quinoa and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the raisins and continue cooking until all the liquid has evaporated, 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and spread the mixture out on a baking sheet. Let it cool completely.

2. In a large bowl, combine the quinoa and raisins with all the remaining ingredients. Toss gently and serve.

4 to 6 portions


Seitan Cutlets

Egg(s)
Italian style bread crumbs
Sliced seitan
Oil

Put egg and breadcrumbs in separate bowls. Beat egg. Dip slices of seitan in egg and then breadcrumbs to coat.

I think this would have been good, if I hadn't used too-old seitan, and if I hadn't cooked the seitan too long when I first made it (see previous post about seitan). I'll chalk that up to experience and try again, because this really is promising.


Scrambled Egg(s) with Breadcrumbs

Scramble egg(s) as usual, but add Italian-style breadcrumbs when you add the egg. Yum.