Vegetable Quinoa Stew

So I wasn't really paying attention when I went grocery shopping for this recipe, and picked up a genuine sweet potato instead of a yam like I had planned. Cue me having a personal crisis over believing I ruined my stew (spoiler: I didn't) and frustration over yam/sweet potato being synonymous in North American conversation. A lovely orange yam would be gorgeous in this, and that was originally going to be my main selling point for this recipe. But I digress - and to be truthful, the sweet potato was still delicious. (Honestly, couple of regular baking potatoes would probably even do the trick in a pinch.) Either way, a bowl of this soup will fill you up but it's not heavy enough to make you feel groggy and bogged down. It's perfect if you have lots to accomplish, like the spring cleaning you've put off all year.

I intended on making this soup vegan, but couldn't help myself by adding some freshly grated Parmesan on top to garnish...and well. Cheese is always a good decision if you can spare it. (Plus it made for pretty pictures!) However, it's certainly not necessary, and this stew can definitely stand on its own dairy-free. You could always add a handful or two of mushrooms for some extra umami goodness.

Vegetable Quinoa Stew
Author: Amanda
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced, or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 4 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, deseeded, and diced
• 1 medium sweet potato or yam, peeled and diced small
• 1 large 28oz can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 bunch kale, washed, woody stems removed, and shredded into bite sized pieces
• 6 cups vegetable or miso broth
• 1/2 cup dry quinoa
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan for garnish (optional)

Directions
Saute onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and red bell pepper in olive oil over medium heat in a large pot or Dutch oven until vegetables are soft. Add diced and peeled sweet potato or yam and the entire can of diced tomatoes in their juices to the pot. Add the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer for 30 mins, or until sweet potato is tender. Add kale pieces and seasonings, and adjust seasonings to taste. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan, if desired.

Step-by-Step Photos

Dice up your onion, carrots, celery, and red bell pepper and throw them in a Dutch oven with some olive oil to saute and soften. In the interest of full disclosure, I forgot about mincing my garlic, so I cheated and used some garlic powder. You can too. I won't tell.

While the vegetables are sauteing, peel and dice the sweet potato (or yam. And if you meant to get a yam instead don't cry. It will still be delicious, just not as pretty as you imagined) and toss that in there too. Give it a good stir for good measure.

Pour in a can of diced tomatoes and a few cups of vegetable or miso broth. Give it another stir and bring it up to a simmer partially covered for about a half hour, or until the potato pieces are tender.

While the soup is simmering, wash off a bunch of kale and use a knife to discard the woody stems and roughly chop the kale into bite sized pieces. Add it to the soup once the potato pieces are tender. Add half a cup of dry quinoa and return the pot to a simmer for another 15 minutes or so. The quinoa will continue to soak up some broth as leftovers in the fridge, so it's okay to under cook it a little bit here.

Add the cumin, red pepper flakes, thyme, salt and pepper that you totally meant to earlier in the process but forgot because of how disappointed you were in yourself for picking the wrong potato. (If you like, you can also add the seasonings when you add the tomatoes and broth.) Taste the soup, realize it's still delicious and not a disaster, and adjust seasonings to taste.

Serve with freshly grated Parmesan, if desired.

Banana Cheesecake Quesadillas

The first time I told my boyfriend I wanted to make a cheesecake quesadilla, he looked at me as though I sprouted two heads. Fortunately for both of us, it turned out to be a delicious endeavor. The cheesecake inspired filling is warm and gooey, contrasting beautifully with the crunchy tortilla shell. Warning: this can definitely be a messy dessert, and it would probably be wise to give it a minute to cool before eating, unless you enjoy a mouth full of lava.

These are rich enough that splitting a single quesadilla for two people for a dessert would be reasonable. I won't lie and say I didn't eat the whole thing myself though, so I will leave that for you to decide.

Banana Cheesecake Quesadillas
Author: Amanda
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 3-4 quesadillas

Ingredients

• 2 overripe bananas
• 1 package cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3-4 10 inch whole wheat tortillas

Directions
Mash bananas in a medium mixing bowl with a fork until pureed. Add softened cream cheese, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and nutmeg and mash together until well incorporated. Lay out a tortilla and add 2-3 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture to one half of the tortilla. Fold over, and fry tortilla in an ungreased skillet until browned on both sides on medium-low heat. Remove from skillet and use a knife to slice quesadilla into quarters, and serve.

Step-by-Step Photos

Mash the bananas and cream cheese together in a medium mixing bowl with a fork. Add the nutmeg, brown sugar, and vanilla extract.

Stir together until well incorporated.

Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the cheesecake mixture onto half of an open tortilla. Spread it around evenly, but leave a bit of a border for when the quesadilla gets all delightfully gooey and melty.

On low to medium-low heat, dry-fry the quesadilla without oil in the pan. Use a spatula to move it around frequently so that it doesn't stick, and flip it once to brown both sides.

Remove the quesadilla from the pan, place on a cutting board and cut into quarters. I also ended up dusting it with a bit of cinnamon, which took this treat to the next level. Serve warm!

Beef Tortellini Chilli-Stew

For some reason, making chilli has never been my strong suit. I always looked forward to the days my mom would make chilli, especially if she had some cornmeal muffins to go with it. It's a staple I will probably never be able to truly recreate, but this chilli recipe does help ease the pain. It's got flavour, texture, and fibre positively exploding with every spoonful. You really can't ask for more.

Though I'm sure you could figure it out from the title, this is not a traditional chilli in any sense. It's loaded up with vegetables, beans, and the tortellini adds just a little bit of a treat. This recipe has a lot going on - and as a result, made so much chilli I had to freeze a good portion of it for another time. If, say, for simplicity's sake, you wanted to leave out the beef for a vegetarian chilli or lose a can of beans for a meatier version, I don't think anyone could rightfully get upset. One of my favourite parts of cooking is tweaking it here and there to make it yours. It's all about the little things, you know?

Beef Tortellini Chilli-Stew
Author: Amanda
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 8-10+

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 4 fresh tomatoes, diced
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes
• 1 package fresh cheese tortellini
• 1 can black beans (or 1/3 cup dried, soaked overnight, and simmered till soft)
• 1 can great northern beans (or 1/3 cup dried, soaked overnight, and simmered till soft)
• 1 can red kidney beans (or 1/3 cup dried, soaked overnight, and simmered till soft)
• 3 cups beef broth or water
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon chilli powder
• salt and pepper, to taste
• toppings such as diced avocado, sour cream, plain unflavoured yoghurt, or shredded cheese

Directions
Brown beef over medium heat in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add onion and garlic and saute until softened. Add diced bell peppers and fresh tomatoes, and allow to cook until softened. Add crushed tomatoes, drained and rinsed beans, beef broth, tortellini, and seasonings to the pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer covered for 30-45 minutes. Serve with desired toppings.

Step-by-Step Photos

I stopped using canned beans a couple years ago, and really can't see myself going back. I love beans, and there's a world of freshness locked in dried beans that is too good to pass up (and they're cheaper to boot!). Since I typically use black beans the most, I cook batches ahead of time and portion them in the freezer to pull out as needed, which is almost as easy as opening a can. Budget Bytes has a great guide on making beans ahead of time. However, if you need to prepare the night before, soak the beans in separate containers or else they will leech their colours onto each other. (That goes for boiling, too.) It won't affect the flavour, but it won't be as pretty of a final product. Simmer the soaked beans in a small pot until soft, about 30-45 minutes or so. If you are using canned beans, disregard this portion, and just remember to rinse off the beans before adding them to the chilli.

Brown beef over medium heat in a large pot or Dutch oven. I didn't end up using any extra oil, but if your beef is super lean it might be worth throwing in a splash of vegetable oil. Use a wooden spoon to break up the beef into small pieces.

Add the diced onion and minced garlic and continue to cook over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent, around five minutes.

Add the diced bell peppers and tomatoes.

Stir occasionally, and continue to cook until the tomatoes have started to lose their shape and the peppers are softened.

Add the seasonings, beef broth (or water!), crushed tomatoes, beans and tortellini to the pot. Stir well to combine, and bring to a simmer.

Simmer covered with the lid tilted to let off excess steam for 30-45 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Serve with desired toppings.

Greek Quiona Salad

I think this might be one of my favourite quinoa salads to date. Greek salad is already a favourite of mine, and the quinoa helps bulk it up with a bit of extra protein, making this versatile as a side dish or a light main feature. I am personally not a huge fan of olives and didn't have time to go out and get kalamata olives for this recipe, but they would definitely be a more-than-appropriate addition if you happen to have them laying around.

Quinoa is one of those grains/seeds I find tastes a little bland on its own, but really shines when with other ingredients. If you have some chicken or vegetable stock to spare, use that to cook the quinoa rather than salted water. It can give it a little extra flavour for the final dish, but certainly isn't necessary.

Greek Quinoa Salad
Author: Amanda
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 6+

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked quinoa
• 3 tomatoes on the vine, diced and deseeded if desired
• 1 whole English cucumber, diced into quarter moons
• 1/2 red onion finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste (I used 1/2 teaspoon of salt)

Directions
Combine cooked and cooled quinoa with vegetables, lemon zest, and feta cheese. In a small jar or other container, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and oregano. Shake or whisk with a fork to combine well and pour over the quinoa mixture. Stir well to combine and serve.

Step-by-Step Photos

Prep the vegetables while the quinoa is cooking and cooling, respectively. I only used 2/3 cup of crumbled feta but if you are feeling indulgent you could easily increase it to 1 full cup of crumbled feta. Combine the quinoa, vegetables, and feta in a large bowl and combine well.

In a small jar or bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt, and pepper and either whisk together with a fork or tightly screw the lid on the jar and shake well until combined.

Pour the dressing over the quinoa mixture and combine well. The salad is now ready to serve.

Greek Garlic Bread

Oh golly. This bread is definitely an indulgence, but one that is well worth it. I knew I wanted garlic bread to go with a meal I was planning for some friends coming over, but with a Greek flavour to it. Essentially, this bread is saturated with an unholy amount of butter and spices and (of course) feta cheese, making it the perfect crunchy side for any meal. It can easily be prepared the night before to reduce meal prep time if needed. (Another idea would be to divide the bread in half before baking and freeze the other half in foil for another use - this bread is best fresh!)

It would be possible to vegan-ize this recipe by eliminating the feta cheese and either using vegan butter or simply brushing the loaf with 1/4 cup of olive oil combined with the other seasonings, if necessary. It would still be incredibly delicious!

I'm already looking forward to tweaking this recipe for other purposes in the future!

Greek Garlic Bread
Difficulty: easy
Author: Amanda
Serves: One loaf

Ingredients

• 1 unsliced loaf French bread (or similar, for example, two baguettes would work)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• fresh cracked pepper, about 20 cranks
• zest of one lemon
• 1/4 cup finely crumbled feta (optional)

Directions
Slice loaf of bread lengthwise, like a hot dog bun. Mash spices and lemon zest with softened butter with a fork until well combined, and use a butter knife or spatula to spread half of the butter over each half of the loaf of bread. Sprinkle feta on one side of the bread. Wrap bread back together in tin foil and bake at 375F for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from foil, slice, and serve.

Step-by-Step Photos

Take the softened butter, and mash in the garlic powder, oregano, paprika, salt, fresh cracked pepper, and lemon zest with a fork. Adjust and add more seasoning if necessary. And try your hardest to not eat all the butter here because it will taste amazing and lemony.

Take your loaf of French bread (I even made this one myself from scratch!) and cut it like a big ol' hot dog bun. Spread the butter over both sides of the exposed bread and sprinkle feta on one side.

Place the bread back together and wrap it tightly up in foil. At this point you could put it in the fridge overnight before serving if needed. Or if you were only going to cook a portion of the bread at one time, cut the loaf in half (the other way) and wrap each half in foil individually. It can be kept in the freezer for a couple weeks if needed.

Bake at 375F for approximately 20 minutes - the butter will have soaked into the bread and made it super amazing, and the crust will have a bit of extra crunch. Once baked, remove from foil and slice on a cutting board.

Serve.