{Guest Post} Cooking Quinoa: Fave Recipes

Today’s post is brought to you by the queen of cooking with quinoa, Wendy Polosi.

Somehow I came across Wendy (most likely via twitter) this past spring. Wendy’s blog is uber-popular. Just to give you an idea: her tortilla quinoa salad (see below) has been pinned, to date, 426 times! She has 7,000+ followers on twitter (if you’re not familiar with twitter, that’s alot). She is also a successful cookbook author. Point is, this lady has no business talking to a little nobody like me.

Despite this, she goes out of her way to interact with readers & twitter followers. You know she cares. You know she’s a good person. And, you know her recipes are A-mazing. (She’s also vegan AND gluten-free.)

So happy she found time to grace Bring Joy today.

♥♥♥

Intro

{Editor’s note: Wendy Polosi is way too kind.}

I ran across Janae’s blog a few months back and became a loyal reader instantly.

In addition to reading, I’m (almost) embarrassed to say that I soon developed a blogger crush.

Almost, because since you read Janae each day like I do, you understand. Her joy of being a mother is evident, something you don’t run across often enough these days. She’s overwhelming positive, but real. She doesn’t pretend that her life is perfect, but also doesn’t dwell on the negative. Despite having four children and having a life in transition, she still manages to find time to lift us up and share delicious recipes and fitness tips with us!

I got to know her a little bit through twitter and when she asked me if I’d be interested in sharing some of my favorite recipes for summer while she and Joseph were taking some much needed time together, I was of course delighted.

Quinoa: The rundown

I’m assuming that most of you have heard of and cooked quinoa, but for those who haven’t, I’ll bring you up to speed.

Quinoa is a seed that is related to spinach and Swiss chard. It is gluten free and one of the best sources of vegan protein around.

Although I’m not one to fuss about where I get my protein, it is worth mentioning that quinoa is a complete protein, which is extremely rare in the plant world.

It has all eight of the essential amino acids and the World Health Organization has compared the protein quality to that of dehydrated Whole Milk. Many of my recipes start with cooked quinoa, because I’m a big believer in cooking it once a week so that I have it on hand for a quick meal.

(I’m a homeschooling mom and like many of you, I need all the help I can get when it comes to getting dinner on the table fast!)

Quinoa will last 7 days in the refrigerator and may also be frozen, so it is ideally suited for bulk cooking. If you are new to cooking quinoa or find that your quinoa comes out soggy, you may want to check out this post.

Now, let’s get on with some of my favorite recipes.

The recipes

Tortilla Quinoa SaladThis quinoa salad tastes just as fun as it looks. I’ve served it for company with rave reviews.

Quinoa Energy Bars

When you are gluten free and vegan, eating on the go can be tricky. I eliminate the stress by always having a snack like this on had.

Quinoa Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce.

These Spring Rolls are so light and the sauce is so delicious that my family was standing in the kitchen eating them while I was hurriedly trying to take photographs so I wouldn’t miss out. I could bathe in this sauce. Seriously.

Chipotle Quinoa Tacos I’m asked all the time what my family’s favorite recipes from the website are.

The truth is that because I’m always testing out new recipes, there are only a few they get to try over and over.

This is one of those! My husband absolutely loves this.

Because I almost always have steamed tempeh and cooked quinoa on hand, this is a go to dish when I am trying to answer the “what’s for dinner” question.

Flourless Chocolate Chip CookiesHalf the job of being a mom in the summer is keeping active little tummy’s full.

I feel great about keeping these healthy cookies on hand. I’ve even been known to allow them for breakfast!

Grape, Walnut & Quinoa SaladThis easy quinoa salad is part of my Quinoa +5 series that has recipes that have just 5 ingredients plus quinoa. I’ve packed it for cross country road trips and have several readers who have declared this their go to dish for potlucks.