Sunday, June 03, 2007

Quinoa & Tofu Switch-Out

Many of you know my Lemon-Herb Tofu recipe from Vive. It's an easy dish, and the tofu becomes very flavorful. A few nights ago I made Cran-Apple Quinoa with Pistachios, another new recipe for E,D&BV.


Needed something to go with it... hmmm, Lemon-Herb Tofu sounded good, but I didn't want tofu for dinner...

So, I did a recipe switch-out and made Lemon-Herb Chickpeas. I rinsed and drained a can of chickpeas and tossed them in the marinade. Worked out very nicely, though the marinade didn't soak into the chickpeas quite as much. I think that's partially because I used a smaller dish to bake the chickpeas. Still, most of it did coat and flavor the chickpeas, and there was just a few teaspoons of marinade hanging out in the bottom of the dish, which made a nice drizzle.

The combination was delicious. The quinoa was a little sweet-tart and the chickpeas were tangy, savory, and had that distinctive tamari flavor. We had a salad alongside as well, and the girls also had a few slices of whole-wheat bread. They ate some of their dish as it was, and then they often like to stack some of their chickpeas and such on the bread (with some EB margarine). Like a bread roll-up. Do you remember doing that as a kid? Still do maybe?... that's okay, be a kid, just don't lick your plate when others are watching. ;)

p.s. I'll post the Lemon-Herb Tofu recipe for you in the next couple of days.

10 comments:

Teresa said...

Lemon Herb chickpeas, what a grand idea. I love the tofu version so I must try it with chickpeas. And cran-apple quinoa, YUM! I remember doing roll-ups as a kid, but unfortunately it was always meat and cheese. Your girls are much smarter than I was.

-Teresa

Anonymous said...

wow, that looks absolutely delectable! I can't wait to try the recipe when your cookbook comes out. normally, I make a tofu & vegetable stir-fry with quinoa - your recipe will be a nice change for cooking one of my favorite grains :)

sugarsandsalts said...

I love Tofu with muti kind of mushrooms,bell pepper,and add salt/pepper/honey/spicy pepper at the end.I am going to try yours tonight.;)

myrtle said...

wow, that quinoa dish looks and sounds wonderful.

I'll have to try the Lemon Herb chickpeas... DH is not a tofu fan, so I've been skipping that recipe.

Dreena said...

Hiya guys! Thanks for dropping a note...

Myrtle - if you do make the dish, you may want to increase the amount of sweetener just a touch. I normally use agave nectar, and the recipe calls for 1/2 tsp of honey alternative. Use the 1/2 tsp, and then after the chickpeas are cooked, taste test and see if you want to toss another 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of agave through the chickpeas. The natural taste of the chickpeas seemed to benefit from the little extra sweetness against the lemon and tamari base. Good luck!

(p.s. Teresa, I just remembered doing those roll ups too - I used to use ham slices, processed cheese, and mayonnaise. Eww.)

Bookphilia said...

I've converted several tofu-haters by feeding them Dreena's lemon herb tofu - maybe DH would be convinced too!

Judy said...

What a great idea! There is something about chickpeas and quinoa together, or chickpeas and couscous, that really hits the spot. I'll have to try your switch up.

JENNA said...

what a great idea, Lemon Herb Chickpeas!! i've been obsessed with chickpeas recently so i'll have to give this a try.

JENNA

laura k said...

How very clever! I love chickpeas with quinoa, and this sounds like a good idea to try! Thanks for the inspiration! Mmm, cran-apple quinoa sounds pretty fabulous...

Anonymous said...

I've tried two different recipes for lemony chickpeas...very good, indeed! ;)

HARMONIA