Creamy Coconut Quinoa & Veggie dish

Delicious creamy Coconut Quinoa!

I was going to add zucchini to the dish, but craved to have my baked cashew un-cheesy sauce zucchini rounds, so I made it a side dish instead. You can find the recipe in a previous blog here.

So often a new dish I make for the first time instantly becomes my new favorite dish.  This dish was no different!  The abundance of flavors and textures made this dish not only a treat, but it's healthy too:) With sweet potato, organic corn and red onion to make it sweet and succulent, and lots of healthy fats from the tahini (ground sesame seed paste, similar to peanut butter), coconut milk and cashews to make it satisfying and very filling.  Not to mention the amazing aromas of the spices and lovely texture of the protein filled quinoa! Definitely a comfort food worth the time it takes to make it. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed well then soaked for 30 minutes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds or powder
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1 sq inch fresh ginger
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp dried sweet basil
• 2 tbsp organic tahini
• ½ lemon (for the juice)
• 1 15oz can lite coconut milk (or regular...I used natural regular)
• 2 ripe tomatoes (fresh from my aunt's garden...thank you Sue!)
• 1/4 cup fresh coconut (you can get frozen shredded or dried...I used dried)
• Handful of raw cashews (lightly crushed/chopped)- soak for 8hrs first
• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 can of Organic sweet corn (make it organic, corn is one of the top GMO foods)
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 green chili- chopped fine
• Cayenne to taste
• Himalayan salt, pepper and more cayenne to taste

Recipe:

Before cooking be sure that you have soaked the raw cashew nuts for at least 8hrs. 

Also thoroughly rinse and soak Quinoa for 30 minutes before adding to dish. I some times soak it for 8hrs prior to use.

Boil water, then cook sweet potato for 10-15 minutes separately, until soft but not mushy.

Heat oil in a saucepan on medium heat.

Then add mustard seeds…they should sizzle upon contact. Let cook for 30 seconds or so, until they're almost done popping. Add the cumin seeds if using whole seeds (if using powder add it when adding other spices. I sometimes use both

Add onions, stir frequently and cook for a couple minutes.

Add chopped tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes, stir frequently, until tomatoes break down a bit.

Add all dry spices, green chilly, garlic paste, fresh ginger and stir in well for about 30 seconds.

Add coconut milk, turn up heat and bring to a boil. When reached a boil turn down heat to medium- simmering.

Add quinoa, cashews, corn and lemon juice. Stir in, then cover and cook about 10 minutes until nearly almost cooked, but still soupy.  Stir occasionally.

Stir in broccoli, cover and cook 5-10 minutes until broccoli is tender (add other veggies at this time if you wish to...you don't want to over cook vegetables so put in the ones that take longer to cook in first).

Turn off burner and add in cooked sweet potatoes and cilantro. 

Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.  Then serve hot!
It's great to have as leftovers...I usually add some more steamed veggies and spices to the pot when having my leftovers. I re-moisten it with coconut milk and it gets better and better each time:)  Another great addition is adding chopped pecans, a great presentation garnish as well. 

 All Ingredients

  All Ingredients prepared for cooking.  I then chopped up the soaked cashews to smaller pieces before adding to dish.

 Add all spices to the onions and tomatoes.  Boil the sweet potatoes separately for 15 minutes. Be sure to use the orange looking ones (or yams, they're sweeter), not the light yellow sweet potatoes. Drain and cover when done to add to the dish at the end.

 After sauteing the onions, tomatoes and spices for a few minutes add the coconut milk, corn, lemon juice, quinoa and broccoli (however next time I plan on adding the broccoli 10 minutes before the dish is done so I don't over cook it, that's 10 minutes after this step...it didn't over cook, but it's healthier to undercook just slightly to maintain nutrients, especially if you'll have leftovers to reheat the next meal).

 Stir it all in, and it should look like this...so colorful and beautiful...and smells grrreat!  Turn up the heat to bring it to a boil, then reduce right away to a simmer and cover to cook 20 minutes. Don't forget to check on it occasionally to give it a quick stir...you don't want it to get too dry. 

When it's done cooking, turn off the burner and add the cooked sweet potato and cilantro.

Give it a quick stir and then cover it for 5 minutes. 

It is then ready to serve and eat:)

It was so delicious! 

Did you know- Cashews contain proanthocyanidins, a class of flavanols that actually starve tumors and prevent cancer cells from dividing.