News and Reviews

We are delighted to announce that celebrity chef Rozanne Steven’s has volunteered to bring her wealth of knowledge of food and recipes to our organic blog. Roz has been a great supporter of organic food and a frequent visitor to our store.

She even recently mentioned us on her weekly Pat Kenny show.  She has recently rebranded her wonderful cookery school and we strongly suggest you check out her fantastic courses.

Below is her first update about the wonderful Quinoa and an exciting recipe to match!

Rozannes Recipe Corner

I first tried quinoa about 15 years ago when I read about it in The Readers’ Digest of all places. The article about this South American wonder grain was fascinating but gave no real clue as to how to cook it and make it appealing. Quinoa has been called a super food and a wonder grain. It is in fact the fruit of a South American herb of which there are over 300 varieties. But we won’t split hairs. Quinoa created such a stir because it is a complete protein, something rare in the plant kingdom. A perfect protein means that quinoa contains all the essential amino acids that your body can’t produce and must obtain through food. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, used in every cell of our bodies. Vegetarians would normally have to ‘protein combine’ and eat several foods in one meal to ensure a variety of amino acids. Plant proteins are much easier to digest than animal proteins, so even if you aren’t a vegetarian, quinoa is a fantastic food to try. Protein gives a feeling of fullness so you wont get the munchies soon after. It also provides high quality building blocks for all the cells in your body.

My first experience cooking with quinoa was pretty bad, it smelt and tasted pretty horrible. This is because quinoa is covered with a natural phytochemical called saponins. This substance is meant to deter insects from eating the grain before it has a chance to germinate. This gives quinoa a funny taste and smell. So before cooking, rinse very well in a sieve. It took me 10 years to find that out! The following recipe I must admit is a makey uppy recipe that turned out really, really well. I took some of my favorite foodie treats, combined with some French cooking technique and the result is a colourful, ,moreish dish with contrasting textures and colours. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do, it is one of my favorites.

Xxx Roz

Colourful Quinoa Casserole

- 2tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 sticks celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 cup quinoa, well rinsed
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2tbsp pitted black olives
- 3-4 artichoke hearts in oil or brine, halved
- 10-12 semi-sundried tomatoes
- 2 fresh tomatoes, diced (optional)
- 1tbsp sundried tomato pesto or paste
- 150g green beans, cut into short lengths (can use frozen peas) – 2tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a non stick frying pan. Gently fry the onions, garlic, carrots and celery until softened.

Add the quinoa, chicken stock, olives, artichokes, tomatoes and paste. Bring to thee boil, the reduce to a simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the quinoa is coming apart and the liquid has mostly evaporated.

Add the green beans and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Season and stir through the parsley. – Keeps well in the fridge for 3 days.

Posted by

Darren

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