The Food Site

I used to make a lot of salsa, then bottle them up and keep in the freezer. I’d use them for my salads, sandwiches or even to eat with rice. It has been awhile since I made salsa. Since, I do not want to freeze them this time, I thought of changing the recipe a bit and made a sorta chicken and quinoa salsa stew. Originally, I wanted it to be vegetarian, to leave out the chicken but then, I changed my mind and added the chicken for the two meat-eaters at home.

The great thing about cooking this salsa style dish is that it is very versatile and can be eaten as it is or with rice, salad, bread, even spaghetti! It is pretty simple to make too. First, you will need…

carrots, tomatoes, celery, onions, potatoes, bell pepper (capsicum), ketchup, balsamic vinegar, ready-made pasta sauce and

quinoa. I used red quinoa because it’s what I have. You can use pearl quinoa (the white quinoa) or black quinoa, whichever one you like. The cooking method for all types of quinoa is the same. After chopping up all the vegetables into chunks…

You will need to heat up a pot with some olive oil. First, you sautè the onions for a short while and then you add the carrots, tomatoes, capsicum, tomatoes.

After you stir it around for a minute or so, you add the potatoes, celery, sauces and water. Also add a sprinkle of dried mixed herbs for extra flavours. The quinoa is the last one to go in, after adding all the other stuffs. Then, you just leave it to simmer over low fire for close to two hours. If you don’t have the time, just dump all ingredients into the crock pot or slow cooker and leave it to simmer on low overnight. It will be ready the next day! And that’s it. Easy and so darn good, you may want to make it again and again!

So, here’s the recipe:

Wholesome Healthy Quinoa Salsa Stew

Ingredients

3 large carrots, cut into chunks

4 large tomatoes, diced

3 large onions, chopped

2 large potatoes, cut into chunks

3 stalks of celery, diced

1 – 2 capsicum (bell peppers), cut into chunks

1/2 cup red quinoa

5 tbsp pasta sauce

4 tbsp ketchup

1 tsp dried mixed herbs

1 – 2 cups of water (depending on how thick / watery you want it to be)

palm-sized chicken breast, skin removed and sliced thinly or minced. (if you want to add chicken or you can leave it out if you want a vegetarian one)

Instructions

1. Heat up a large pot with some olive oil.

2. Sautè the onions and then add the carrots, capsicum and tomatoes. Stir for a minute or so.

3. Add in the rest of the vegetables (potatoes and celery) and then stir in the sauces.

4. Add water and pour in the uncooked quinoa. Stir to mix the ingredients around.

5. Turn the heat up to medium and let it boil. Add the herbs, then add the minced chicken (or sliced chicken, whichever you like).

6. Turn down the heat to low and leave it to simmer for up to 2 hours. Remember to check on it and stir often to make sure it doesn’t burn.

7. If you are using the crock pot / slow cooker, then you can skip the sauteeing part. Instead, just dump everything in, add the sauces and water and leave it to cook on slow.

Special note: Water is important so you must not leave it out and it is important to add more as quinoa absorbs a lot of water and it needs a lot of water to cook. Here’s how to cook quinoa.

This quinoa recipe is great to go with any food. If you are cutting down on calories, you can eat this as it is with salad as I also like to call this recipe an all-in-one meal which contains vegetables, protein (quinoa is very high in protein) and healthy carbs (potatoes).

If you simply must have rice…

or if you prefer bread…

It is pack full of nutrients from all the vegetables and quinoa so it is not only low in fat (especially if you cook it without the chicken), it is very wholesome and best of all, so good you won’t even feel as if you are eating diet food!

Who needs to go to Cameron Highlands for some English tea scones when you can make it at home? I am not really a scone fan but then, that’s because I’ve never had really good ones until I tried some really good ones in Cameron Highland’s Ye Olde Smokehouse Hotel. Those are really amazing.

So.

I decided to make it myself. I mean, if I can bake up cakes and cookies, what are scones, right? Right. So, I went searching around the net and found several recipes until I decided to take whatever I feel comfortable with and wing it from there. My main focus is on using the least ingredients and the simplest method. Well, I have to limit my baking time these days as I can’t stand for longer hours nowadays what with a big huge belly and aching back.

And do you know scones are made up of the simplest recipe ever? You only need flour, butter, milk and baking powder. That’s all!

You need to cube the butter and rub it into the flour until crumbly. Then add in the milk.

Knead it into a smooth dough. Then pat into small round shapes (the size depending on you, I like bite-size scones so I made them really small) and place on baking tray. Sprinkle them with some flour and then bake them.

Scones are best eaten with some nice jam and cream.

Oh and yeah, they are damn good hot from the oven!!

Here is the recipe:

Easy English Tea Scones Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup plain flour

40g butter, cubed

1/2 cup milk

3 tsp baking powder

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2. Rub the cubed, softened butter into the flour until crumbly.

3. Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk.

4. Mix with a spatula until it forms a soft dough.

5. Take the dough and knead it on a floured surface but don’t over-knead it.

6. Shape it onto small rounds and place on baking tray. Sprinkle with flour.

7. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

These scones are best enjoyed hot from the oven with some fresh cream and jam.