Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Quinoa Mixed Vegetable Upma





Quinoa is a south american grown grain-like crop. The reason for picking this recipe is due to its enormous nutritional values. It is compared to oats and unlike rice or wheat, contains a complete set of balanced essential amino acids for humans. It is gluten free and considered to digest very easily.This is one of the healthy breakfast which includes all the vegetables and nuts.

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa
1 whole onion
1 green chilly
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 cup Mint leaves (Pudina)
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1 cup finely chopped cabbage
1 cup grated carrot (Optional)
1/2 cup grated beetroot (Optional)
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/2 cut lemon
Mirchi powder (accordingly)
Salt (accordingly)

Method:

This is very similar to vegetable upma prepared by south Indian families using Bombay rava/Vermicelli.

1.Boil Quinoa:
For 1 cup of Quinoa, use 2 cups of water and boil it for about 15-20 minutes on medium flame. You can see the quinoa opening up with a white stalk coming out. Once all the water is evaporated and the quinoa is well cooked, remove from flame and keep it aside.

2.Take a pan, add about 1-1/2 tsp of olive oil.(Can use any oil, olive oil is preferred for its taste)

3.Add the finely chopped onions, chopped green chillies and fry till they turn golden brown.Add the mint (pudina) leaves and now you can smell an amazing flavor. The combination of onions, mint and oil creates an awesome mouth watering smell.

4.Add the Ginger Garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes.

5.Now add the chopped cabbage,peas and corn. Let it cook for sometime. No need to add water, as the cabbage is already washed and it retains water in it.

6. Add the well cooked quinoa that you kept aside and mix all the content together on a low flame.

7.Add the mirchi powder and salt according to the taste levels.Mix well and remove from the flame.

8.Finally, dress it up with the grated carrot, beetroot and cilantro.

9.Squeeze the Lime just before you eat for a refreshing yummy taste.

So, there goes the Quiona Mixed Vegetable Upma!

+1 (IDEA)
Can add boiled broccoli or chopped lettuce or meal maker to make it more nutritious and delicious! Style it with sliced almonds, cashews or walnuts.

6 comments:

kavi said...

hmmm...looks yummy and sounds nutritious!!Thanks for the recipe.
Good work..keep it up!

ANU said...

Thnks Kavitha...yeah it is a nutritious diet, specially as a snack! I forgot to say that you could add any vegetable of your choice, like artichokes or squash or red bell peppers, this is to make it more yummy n nutritious! Let me know if you try cooking this!

ANU said...

For Information, It is pronounced as "KEENWAH" as against "QUINOA", and you can get in any food market in USA, specially in the whole foods section!

Unknown said...

yumm......... it looks so colourful !!

Anonymous said...

hi anu, that was a nice recipe. This quinoa is nothing but kambhu in tamil. Very normally available in india. Very nutritious and all of our ancestors used to keep Powder of this and mix it with honey and have it. So they were having better health and living than what we have. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Everyone should start using this more. For more info u can view this link. http://www.ammas.com/topics/Recipes/a153139.html (Courtesy Ravindran)

With regards
Madhavi Ravindran

ANU said...

Thanks for the info akka....I never knew it was available in ind, infact never seen them before in A.P, well, dats a useful piece of information for all the ppl down south.....Things hav changed a lot now a days akka, now ppl r getting more health conscious, so this should be one of their prime option! And, do lemme know if you are aware of any other form in which this can be eaten!