Chocolate-Peppermint Cookies...

If you've been following us for any length of time, then you know we are deep in the trenches of preparing for the annual Christmas Baking Spree! We've made our runs to the various markets to pick up supplies (hello 68 sticks of butter sitting in the refrigerator) and have got all our traditional recipes lined up, along with a few new ones. We did decide to try out one of the new ones, these Chocolate-Peppermint Cookies, and make them for the Weekly Wednesday Treat Day just to make sure the process of making them would be smooth later on.

The dough for these wafer cookies ends up being jet-black thanks to the use of Dutch-process cocoa powder - this not only allows the wicked dark color, but gives the cookies a rich chocolate flavor that is more smooth and mild. I do suggest seeking the cocoa powder out as we both found it to blend well with the peppermint bite and provide a striking constrast to its white chocolate wrapper.

Rolled quite thin, this dough does tend to warm up quickly - you'll notice a few resting steps in the directions which you can use your judgment on. If you find the dough difficult to work with, pop it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up - however, if you are in a cool room and work quickly, you may be able to get the business done in a snap. To make sure the cookies bake evenly and keep their shape, I do recommend that you at least don't skip the final freezing step before they go into the oven to bake. With such a dark cookie, doneness isn't as simple as a visual cue of baking until "golden brown" - you should notice a definite chocolate aroma when they are close and if you touch the tops of one or two, the cookies should feel set and dry.

Once baked and completely cool, we dipped the entire surface of each cookie in a large vat of melted quality white chocolate. If using real chocolate frightens you, there are a couple other options - almond (white/"vanilla") bark or candy coating could take the place of the white chocolate easy enough. If you'd rather use the chip variety, you may need/want to add a dollop or two of shortening as they don't always melt or smooth out well on their own.

Just after they are dipped, the cookies are sprinkled with crushed candy canes for another peppermint punch, along with extra crunch. If you want to be super clean and fancy, you could sift the candies, giving you plenty of mint-y dust, while keeping the larger pieces aside. Then use just the dust to give the cookies a sparkling finish against the white background - we, however, liked the chunky pieces on the cookies! Jeff noted that he really enjoyed the texture of the cookies - they have a notable snap, but they don't shatter into a million pieces when you bite into them.

After this trial, I'm very glad we picked these cookies and they are definitely making their way into our gift packages. You could even make the dough ahead of time, cut out the cookies, freeze them raw and keep the rounds, well wrapped, in the freezer to get a jump start. If you wanted, I'm sure you could even bake them ahead of time and keep the naked cookies frozen until you are ready to dip them -I would let them thaw completely before working with them though.

I do have one comment on the cookies themselves after making and baking them off. While they are fantastic with the peppermint twist in the dough, if you replaced it with vanilla (and maybe a hint of espresso powder), I think you would have a very close clone to those expensive "famous" wafer cookies! Dark, thin (you could easily roll them a touch thinner too, if desired) and super crisp, with plenty of chocolate to go around, I'm looking forward to giving just the cookies a try sometime - maybe ground up and used as a decadent homemade base for a cheesecake!

Recipes

Chocolate-Peppermint Cookies

Sesame chicken tenders

My husband has been "forcing" himself to eat pie leftovers since Thanksgiving. I made pumpkin pie and company brought apple pie. What torture for my spouse to eat all that pie since I cannot eat any of it. I think he will soon go through pie withdrawal after the supply ends.

Most traditional Thanksgiving foods are not candida-diet friendly for those of us eating low-glycemic diets. I love turkey but what happens when the supply dwindles. I turn to low-carb sesame chicken tenders. We gobbled them up greedily. Fortunately, I snatched a couple aside to snap a photo.

Low-Carb Sesame Chicken Tenders

Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders
2. 4 T. sesame seeds
3. 1 -2 tsp. Chinese Five-Spice
4. 1 T. olive oil
5. Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray and oil baking sheet or pan and preheat in oven to distribute the oil.
2. In a shallow bowl or dish, combine sesame seeds and five spice.
3. Rinse chicken tenders in water.
4. Roll chicken tenders in seed/spice blend to coat.
5. Make additional seed/spice coating if needed.
6. Place coated tenders in preheated, oiled cooking pan.
7. Bake in oven for approximately 15 minutes. Then turn tenders and bake another 15 minutes until crispy.

Serve with a hot, spicy dipping sauce. Saute 2 T. chopped onion in 1 tsp. oil in a small skillet. Add can of tomato sauce (purchase the kind with no additives); 1 tsp. each Bragg's Amino Acids and hot sauce of your choice. Continue cooking until heated through.

No Croutons Required - The winner for November

The winner of the November challenge which featured quinoa is Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook with this most tempting Vegetarian Avgolemono Soup with Quinoa. Such a unique and inspired dish with eggs, herbs, fresh lemon and carrot and of course quinoa.

Jacqueline will be hosting the December edition of No Croutons Required. Like we have done before in December for the past few years, we are deviating from our usual practice of featuring soups and salads and are asking for festive photos. You can submit a landscape photo, picture of your Christmas baking treats or decorations - basically anything that you feel represents the holiday season.

Craving Something Green!

I don't know about you but after a couple of days of turkey leftovers I'm turkeyed out and craving something green, broccoli rabe/ rapini will always satisfy my craving!

Broccoli rabe is highly nutritious and contains many antioxidants in just a small portion, something I definitely need right about now!

If you've never tried broccoli rabe it's taste is something similar to kale with a slightly bitter bite to it, wonderful as a side dish and so good with pasta!

Blanching in boiling water for 3 minutes and then placing in an ice bath will help reduce that bite a little, but after all it's a hearty green and that slightly bitter taste is the distinctive quality of broccoli rabe.

Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil in the bottom of a saute pan, add shaved garlic and cook until golden along with red pepper flakes to taste. Place your drained broccoli rabe in the pan and cook until tender around 10 to 15 minutes, you can add a tiny bit of water or even some broth to create steam to help it cook through to your desired tenderness, finish off with a squeeze of lemon on top and a drizzle more of olive oil.

I served my broccoli rabe on the side with spaghetti squash tossed with roasted red peppers and a boneless pork cutlet, I told you I was turkeyed out!

Buon Appetito!

Sumac Chicken

A simple dish that is as easy to make as it is full of flavor. Put it together in 5 minutes then forget about it for an hour, and voila: delicious, fall-off-the-bone chicken that tastes, well, of sumac. Sumac is a bit tart—but not overly. It tastes like lemon and is therefore delicious on dishes that go well with lemon such as chicken and fish. Even if you've never cooked with sumac, you may have walked by a sumac tree once or twice and thought its red berries were absolutely gorgeous, unaware that they were also the source of an unbelievably tasty spice.

It is widely used throughout the Middle East and most Mediterranean countries and adds a beautiful reddish color to food. In Morocco it is not widely used in cooking as much as it is in tanning leather and dyeing textiles.

My daughter kept asking for more of this chicken. She ate her serving and had most mine as well. She said it was the best chicken I’ve ever made. I don’t know if it is but it certainly is one of the easiest I’ve ever made.

Serve it with rice, couscous or roasted vegetables.



Sumac Chicken Recipe

4 servings

4 chicken leg quarters
1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking spray
2 garlic cloves, minced
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon ground sumac

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Trim the chicken quarters of excess fat.

Place the chicken in a rimmed baking dish. Brush the chicken with olive oil or spray it with cooking spray. Rub it with garlic then sprinkle it with salt, pepper and sumac. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake the chicken for 30 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake the chicken for another 30 to 40 minutes.

Thanksgiving roundup...

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! Jeff, Gus and I played it low-key at home, spending the time cooking, baking and enjoying the process. We decided to keep the camera in its docking station for the most part, rather than try to figure out how to snap pictures before we ate (though we did take a picture of the dessert as I managed to get that done the day before!).

A couple of the recipes were new this year and are definitely worth mentioning, but I do apologize for the lack of pictures. Rather than a giant turkey for just us three, we went with a seven pound turkey breast, making this Turkey Breast with Roasted Garlic and Fresh Herbs. We skipped the injection (we had a brilliant local turkey and felt no need to do this), but we did keep the wicked good garlic and herb butter rub for under the skin. Using fresh thyme, parsley and a bit of sage for the herbs, this was a smashing success - it was done faster using the "convection roast" setting on the oven. This was the first time using the convection setting for a turkey and I'll definitely be using it again - the skin was delectably burnished and very crisp.

Besides smashed 'taters (Yukon Golds, with the skin left on of course!) and gravy, we also made those stunning Roasted Garlic and Fresh Rosemary Cloverleaf Rolls.

Seriously good - I've tried to make other rolls, but Jeff insists these are always on the table. Another new recipe we tried was from the always lovely Kalyn. We've been doing stuffing muffins for the past few years, but when we saw her recipe for Whole Wheat Stuffing Muffins with Sausage and Parmesan, I had the printer humming immediately. There wasn't much changing we did, other than using sweet Italian turkey sausage (tossing a few crushed fennel seeds in with it), swapping out the Parmesan for Asiago cheese and using an ample amount of freshly dried sage (prepared the day before in the dehydrator!). We don't usually add eggs to our stuffing (yes, I realize it should be called dressing - however, "Dressing Muffins" just doesn't have the same ring to it!), but the extra richness and moisture was pleasant and I can certainly see this recipe added to our Thanksgiving tradition. Rockin' job, Kalyn!

The final new recipe was for a Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling. This is the classic recipe from Libby's, which has been on our list for years to make. Jeff decided this was the time to try it and since it was our first go, we decided to stay close to what was called for. We did add a splash of vanilla, ground ginger and grated nutmeg to the cake batter, along with a pinch of salt to the smooth, sweet filling.

Using a lightweight cotton towel to roll up the baked cake, I was quite pleased to see the moist sponge was sturdy, yet pliable enough, to not crack or break and with a generous storm of confectioners' sugar showered over the towel, no sticking either! You can roll up the cake (hot from the oven!) from either the long or short side - we went with the narrow end for a larger, tight spiral as you can see. Jeff requested no nuts, but a cupful of chopped walnuts strewn over the cake batter before baking might be a nice touch of crunch for those who want that! I do suggest chilling the assembled cake for at least a couple hours before serving - this allow the filling to firm up slightly and helps ease cutting.

Recipes

Roasted Garlic and Fresh Rosemary Cloverleaf Rolls

Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Cranberry Hummus

Waiiit…don’t throw away your leftover cranberry sauce. Recycle it!

OK, I know you haven’t digested your Thanksgiving dinner yet, but you’re not done with Thanksgiving flavors yet. I haven’t digested mine yet either but I know that as soon as I have I will want more pumpkin, more cranberries, more pecans in my life. I know I will be having them many times many ways before the year is over.

So, if you have any cranberries or cranberry sauce left, please make this hummus. You’ve got to make it, for your own sake, please! Chances are you still have family over and you want a great dip to mingle around. Everybody loves hummus and has a great conversation at its presence. I know so. Imagine how pleased everybody will be to see yesterday’s cranberry sauce in the hummus. They’ll love you for that.

Now a bit of description, so listen up. This is not a traditional hummus, meaning it’s not made with hummus (chickpeas in Arabic). It is made with cannellini beans which give a smoother dip. The cranberry sauce adds a tart, almost lemony taste. The flavor is bright and redolent of half traditional hummus, half cranberry dessert. All in all, a fantastic dip!








































Cranberry Hummus Recipe

4 to 6 servings

1 garlic clove, peeled
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (or 1.5 cups home cooked beans)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ cup cranberry sauce


In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the garlic until finely minced. Add the cannellini beans, lemon juice, tahini and olive oil. Purée until you obtain a smooth paste. Transfer to a serving bowl. Stir in the cranberry sauce until the dip becomes pink. Serve with pita, flatbread, chips or crudités.


Basic Cranberry Sauce

Yields ½ cup

1 cup fresh cranberries
½ cup orange juice
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons honey
¼ teaspoon grated orange zest

To make the cranberry sauce, combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally and pressing the cranberries down, until you get a thick sauce, 10 to 15 minutes.

How to Make Butter

Please welcome our guest, Bryan Williamson, from Armchair Chef

I am so excited! Thank you so much Nisrine for letting me play a part in Dinners and Dreams; it means a lot to me! As for my "how to" contribution you might ask the question "Why on earth would you make butter?" Really I am not sure... bragging rights maybe. Kind of like growing a garden, just to say that I made something myself from the beginning to the end. To be honest I had my reservations about making butter I thought that I would end up with a slimy unpalatable mess, but it turns out it was easy.

Take 2 cups of heavy cream and pour into a mixing bowl, the amount doesn't really matter, just know that your cream will yield about 1/2 butter and 1/2 other stuff. Take your mixer and start beating at high speed you will get the cream going through all of the phases that you are used to.


Soft peaks






















Stiff peaks

Then it does something that doesn't make sense to my non-scientific mind... when you continue to beat it after stiff peaks the cream breaks, and butter starts to form. The lumpy mash is butter the liquid that separates from it is buttermilk. You have to use your hands here... pick up the butter and squeeze out as much liquid as you can then set in a strainer and run cold water over it to get as much of the watery liquid out as possible.

What is left is soft sweet butter. I sprinkled a little Kosher Salt on top then some green onion slices as a garnish in this picture it is with my Sourdough bread (something I am still figuring out)

Spicy Mung Beans with Tomato and Onions

Though my favorite bean is probably chickpeas, mung beans are a close second. The addition of fresh tomato and un-fried onion and green chilies add a nice crunch to this spicy dish. I have adapted the recipe from 1000 Indian Recipes. This extensive collection of delights was a gift from my dear friend Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook. As I noted before, this cookbook is not strictly vegetarian, but there are lots of vegan and vegetarian ideas for spice blends, condiments, starters and snacks, soups, salads, vegetables dishes, paneer, legumes, curries, breads, desserts and beverages. I particularly enjoy the wide range of recipes from various regions of India.

Spicy Mung Beans with Tomatoes and Onions

1 cup of mung beans, washed and soaked for a few hours
2 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of dried red chilies
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of mango powder (amchoor)
a generous handful of fresh parsley
1 large tomato, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 - 2 fresh green chilies, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of olive or sesame oil
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 tablespoon of ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne

Drain the mung beans and rinse. Transfer to a medium size saucepan, along with the water, turmeric, salt and dried red chilies. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed - roughly 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Stir in the mango powder and parsley and transfer to a serving dish. Gently mix in the tomato, onion and green chillies.

Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, toss in the cumin seeds and stir and fry until they darken a few shades. Add the coriander and cayenne, stir a few times and pour over the mung beans.

Serves 4 - 6.

Other Mung Bean dishes that you will be sure to enjoy from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:
Mung Bean Paneer
Spicy Mung Bean Soup with Coconut Milk
Indian Sour Mung Bean Soup
Savory Mung Bean Pancakes

On the top of the reading stack: Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey by Najmieh Batmanglij

Audio Accompaniment: Kwark

Couscous Stuffing

Moroccans make the most delicious stuffing. They obviously don’t celebrate Thanksgiving --I hope this doesn’t shock anyone :)--, but they like to stuff their birds for holidays and other festive occasions. Turkey is not typically cooked whole so they prefer to stuff smaller birds such as pigeons or small cornish hens called “coquelets”.

This is also a wonderful a side dish to prepare anytime.


Happy Thanksgiving!

Couscous Stuffing Recipe

8 servings

3 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup chopped almonds or pecans
½ cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger

2 cups uncooked instant couscous (about 2 "10-oz" boxes)

Place the water, butter, honey, almonds or pecans, raisins,parsley, salt, cinnamon and ginger (the first 9 ingredients)in a medium saucepan and bring to just a boil. Add the couscous and remove from the heat. Cover with a lid and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Stuff your bird or serve alongside it.

Second Verse, Same as the First: Thanksgiving Cooking

I'm rerunning this because Thanksgiving means much loved favorites that only get trotted out once a year. This year both girls will be home for Thanksgiving and that is a reason for much rejoicing ... as well as feasting!

These dishes, for us, represent the perfect versions of their oeuvre.

Our day-after-Thanksgiving meal also is mandated by tradition. Chef salad featuring turkey (of course), blue cheese dressing and crumbled bacon (the real thing please!) on top. Mmmmmm, crumbled bacon ... except that since we do meatless Fridays, this feast actually comes on a Saturday.

Here are a few links to recipes I've posted before.

Herbed Thanksgiving Stuffing
This is the best stuffing ever and cooks in a slow cooker. I have made this five times now and never been disappointed. It really frees up the oven for other things and, if you happen to have a problem with sticking your hand up a turkey (no problemo here) then you're set free from that as well.

Skillet Cornbread
If you happen to like cornbread stuffing (which I do not), you may want to make this for your base. I've never found a better recipe.

Sweet Potatoes Baked in Cane Syrup
The funny bone in the menu is the sweet potato selection which in the past I have always played around with. However, I now believe I have found the perfect way to enjoy sweet potatoes so that may be set in stone also. Only time, and many Thanksgivings will tell!

Cranberry Ginger Relish
I also used to change up the cranberry recipe from year to year. No longer. This relish is practically perfect in every way!

Perfect Piecrust
This is not a misnomer. Very easy and very delicious. It is long but that is because of the detailed directions. You can't go wrong with this.

Pecan Pie
This is non-negotiable. Gotta have it.

Pumpkin Pie
Are you allowed to have Thanksgiving without this? Or watch the Cowboys play without having some? Nope.

AND Afterward ...
What do you do with the turkey carcass? I used to toss it, until being given a fantastic recipe for Turkey Bone Gumbo.

It is fantastically simple, especially if you fear not the roux which has been given a bad rap as far as I can tell. It does take some time but I do it in steps here and there so that on Sunday we have a delicious bowl of gumbo that hasn't been much trouble at all.

Revisiting Chipotle-Maple Peanut Brittle

With this being Thanksgiving week, several of Jeff's co-workers won't be in the office for the weekly Wednesday treat day item. Since there should be at least few people there, we did still make a smaller treat to bring in and while it won't be new to us, it will be to them!

Before I could even think about what would be good to prepare, Jeff chimed in with "I already have an idea! Let's do that crazy Chipotle-Maple Peanut Brittle!". I had to remind him that this wasn't only for him and he would have to share - he pouted for a minute, but then agreed and said he would do his best to not horde it all.

I did update the directions slightly in the recipe. First is pan selection - when you pour the molten candy on the piece of parchment paper, try and line the paper (a silpat works wonderful here too) in a pan that either doesn't have raised edges or is open on at least two sides. When you flatten the candy with a rolling pin (fantastic method, by the way!), if you use a traditional four-sided sheet pan, it makes it a little tricky - doable, but tricky. Also, as you top the candy with parchment paper to roll, be sure to leave it there for about 5 minutes once you are done - if you try to tear it off right away, the candy likes to stick a bit, pulling up thin strings that harden quickly into sharp spears!

Sweet, a touch salty (salted peanuts are a must!) and a burn that slowly creeps up to take you by surprise, if you love unique treats, this is one you can't pass up! If you missed our first post and would like to read about our first foray into this intriguing brittle, check it out here.

Recipes
Chipotle-Maple Peanut Brittle

Thanksgiving Desserts

Just in case you're still trying to decide on Thanksgiving desserts, below are some of my favorites. Those marked with an asterisk are gluten-free, sugar-free and guilt-free!

Pecan Torte *
Maple Pots de Crème *
Pumpkin Cake
Double Carrot Cake
Almond Blackberry Torte *
Baked Apples with Dates, Raisins and Walnuts
Tangerine Mousse
Peach Yogurt Brulee
Espresso Mascarpone Stuffed Dates *


P.S. Many many thanks to Azélia for featuring my pecan torte recipe in the BBC forum. So kind!!

Lamb and Carrot Tagine

It’s time for a tagine again! As soon as the weather starts cooling off a bit, I feel the need for a comforting, all-in-one-pot tagine—the salad dinners simply don’t cut it anymore and I find myself craving more flavor, more substance. This particular one is very flavorful and often made by combining carrots with peas, which makes it pure eye candy. Use lamb, veal or beef to make this tagine. I used lamb in mine.

Bessaha! Enjoy!

For other tagine recipes, click below:
Meatball Tagine with Onions and Raisins
Shrimp and Mushroom Tagine
Beef Tagine with Fall Vegetables
Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons and Olives



P.S. Check out the post I wrote for About.com










































Carrot Tagine Recipe

3 to 4 servings

1 pound stew meat
4 medium carrots, sliced lengthwise and cut into bite-sized cubes
1 medium yellow onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
Juice of half a lemon
¼ cup olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 1/2 cups water


Place all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir the ingredients to combine the flavors. Transfer the ingredients to the base of a tagine, placing the meat on the bottom and the carrots on top. Sauté the contents of the tagine over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes. Add water , lower the heat to low and cover with the tagine lid. Cook the stew for about 3 hours, checking occasionally and adding water if necessary.

Alternatively, use a slow cooker.

Spaghetti squash stew

I keep looking for ways to use up my store of spaghetti squash from last summer's garden. Spaghetti squash chicken stew tops my list as my favorite spaghetti squash recipe. My son, who is not a squash lover, even enjoys it.

Spaghetti Squash Chicken Stew
(serves 6)

Ingredients:

1. 1 T. grapeseed oil or other oil of your choice
2. 6 boned, skinless chicken thighs
3. 1 medium onion, chopped
4. 1 red pepper, cut into one-inch pieces
5. 2 garlic cloves, minced
6. 8 ounces chicken broth, gluten-free, sugar-free
7. 6 chopped roma tomatoes or 14 1/2-ounce can of diced tomatoes
8. 1 T. paprika
9. 1/2 tsp. sea salt
10. 1 baked spaghetti squash
11. 8-12 ounces of frozen or fresh green beans
12. 1/4 cup unsweetened sunbutter

Directions:

1. Bake the spaghetti squash until fork tender; allow to cool and scoop out the squash and cut into bite-sized pieces; set aside
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and saute until browned; remove to a plate.
3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic, onions, pepper and saute until softened.
4. Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, paprika and salt. Bring to a boil and add the chicken and green beans. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the chicken and veggies are tender.
5. Add the sunbutter and stir until well-blended.
6. Add the squash and cook until mixture is hot and thickened.
7. Serve in bowls or as an option, ladle over additional spaghetti squash as pictured above.
   

No Croutons Required - Quinoa

The challenge for November was to come up with a soup or salad featuring the mighty quinoa. Please do cast your vote in the comment section or via email. Please note that my submission is not eligible for voting. Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry this month.

Our first entry comes from Tigerfish of An Escape to Food who submits this tempting Butter and Black Pepper Mushrooms with Quinoa & Brown Rice Salad. Who could possibly resist this combination of quinoa, King/Trumpet Oyster mushrooms, butter, sea salt and black pepper? (California, USA)

Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe is up next with this most healthy and pretty Curried Quinoa, Chickpea and Red Lentil Soup. Onion, carrots, celery, garlic, ginger, curry powder, promite, seeded mustard, chili paste, smoked paprika, lentils, veggie stock, tomatoes, chickpeas, quinoa with a dollop of yogurt are combined for a meal fit for a king and queen. (Melbourne, Australia)

Mango Cheeks of Allotment 2 Kitchen submits this lovely Spiced Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas and Mango Chutney. Quinoa, chili flakes, baby spinach, chickpeas and mango chutney make for one healthy dish indeed that is a complete and balanced meal. (West of Scotland, UK)

Susan of Holly Grove Kitchen enters this month with a mouthwatering Quinoa, Courgette and Dolcelatte Salad. Quinoa, Courgette, red onion, cherry tomatoes, red chili, dolcelatte, red wine vinegar and olive oil are tossed together to create this wonderful salad that could not fail to please lovers of this most delicious grain. (Shropshire, UK)

Janet of Taste Space contributes this gorgeous Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa Salad. Black beans, quinoa, tomatoes, green onions, fresh mint are combined and dressed with lime zest, fresh lime juice, olive oil and maple syrup. This Mexican salad could easily become a favorite in my household. (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

My contribution this month is this Quinoa Spinach Salad with Feta, Pomegranate and Toasted Almonds. Quinoa, toasted almonds, baby spinach, red onion, feta cheese, and pomegranate seeds are drizzled with a dressing of red wine vinegar, olive oil, honey and Dijon mustard. If you want to wow your dinner guests, this is the salad to serve. (London, Ontario, Canada)

Vanessa of Sweet Artichoke submits this most appetizing Quinoa, Chickpea and Fennel Salad. Caramelized fennel with cider vinegar is combined with quinoa, chickpeas, chillies, freshly squeezed lemon juice, fresh coriander, fresh dill, fresh mint, olive oil and cumin. How could I resist trying this dish? (Switzerland)

Valerie of City|Life|Eats enters the fray with this most delicious Chickpea Quinoa Salad (Gluten-Free, Vegan, Nut-Free, Soy-Free). Quinoa, chickpeas, fresh lemon juice, olive oil and parsley are here presented as a complete and healthy meal. Certainly a comforting dish as winter sets in. (Washington, DC, USA)

Our final entry is from Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook. This lovely and unique Vegetarian Avgolemono Soup with Quinoa begins with vegetable broth, which is then transfered to a a mixture of eggs and lemon juice. Quinoa is then added and the soup is garnished with grated carrot and fresh dill. If you want to impress your dinner guests, this is surely an ideal choice to include on the menu. (New York, USA)

Jackie will be hosting the next edition of No Croutons Required. Check back at the beginning of the month for the theme.

Quinoa Spinach Salad with Feta, Pomegranate and Toasted Almonds

It's no secret to my friends or to regular readers of this blog that I consider quinoa to be an absolutely essential staple grain in anyone's kitchen and diet. As simple to cook and as versatile an ingredient as ordinary white rice, quinoa's light and fluffy texture and a delicately sweet and nutty taste make it a treat on any plate even on its own. But it's an almost perfect balance of essential amino acids and proteins — rare in the plant kingdom — that make quinoa such an important food, especially for vegetarians. You just can't lose.

So it was a no-brainer for me to pick up Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming's wonderful new quinoa cookbook, Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfoodthe other day. And it was not a disappointment! Filled with beautiful colour photographs and a wide selection of easy-to-follow recipes for all sorts of dishes and occasions, this book is a perfect introduction to those who have never tried quinoa before, and will provide plenty of inspiration to those who have long enjoyed this amazing grain.

This simple but colourful and delicious salad is adapted from Quinoa 365and can serve as a side salad or as a light lunch or supper on its own. An appetizing and healthy light lunch for me today, I'm also posting this as a friendly reminder that I'm taking quinoa recipes until November 20th for this month's No Croutons Required food blogging event. Anyone with a favourite quinoa recipe is invited to submit it to me following the instructions posted here. Bon appetit!

This also goes to Jayasri who is asking for recipes featuring pomegranate seeds. Thanks to Priya for staring this event.

Quinoa Spinach Salad with Feta, Pomegranate and Toasted Almonds

Salad:

1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 lb. baby spinach
1 red onion, sliced
1 cup sheep feta, crumbled
1 pomegranate, seeded

Dressing:

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Rinse and scrub the quinoa under cold running water. Place in a small saucepan, cover with 1 cup of fresh cold water, and leave to soak overnight. The following day, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and set aside to cool.

Preheat an oven to 350°. Slice the almonds and spread with the flesh side up over a baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 5 minutes or until the almonds are lightly browned and fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

Distribute the spinach over 4 to 8 dinner plates depending on the desired serving size. Scatter the onion, feta, almonds and pomegranate seeds over top each plate. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients and drizzle over the salad servings. Serve right away.

Other quinoa salad recipes you may enjoy:
Quinoa and White Bean Salad with Wasabi and Roasted Asparagus
Roasted Beet Salad with Quinoa, Chickpeas and Miso and Tahini
Chickpea and Quinoa Salad with Lemon and Tahini

On the top of the reading stack: Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey by Najmieh Batmanglij.

Audio Accompaniment: Carbon based life forms.