Try a new recipe every month

The man and I are making an attempt to eat less meat, so to that end we are trying to include 1-2 meatless dinners per week.

I found this recipe for curried quinoa at this site:

http://www.quinoa-recipes.com/

We both think it is pretty tasty, and really isn’t that much work.

Ingredients:
1/2 c Quinoa
1 c Water
1 1/2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1/2 c Diced Onion
1 tsp grated Fresh Ginger Root
Fresh Green Chile (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Coriander
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 c frozen Peas

Directions:
1.Place oil and diced onions in a heavy saucepan. Saute the onions on medium high heat for four to five minutes.
2.Add the ginger root, chile, and quinoa. Cook for one minute stirring constantly.
3.Stir in the turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, and salt. Cook for one minute stirring constantly.
4.Add the water and bring it to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
5.Stir in peas. Cover and cook for four or five minutes or until peas are tender and all the water has been absorbed.

We’ve had it twice now. I usually don’t have fresh chiles around, so both times we have not included those. Also the recipe on the site calls for salt, and we always omit extra salt when we are cooking.

I tried a new recipe tonight and it tasted pretty decent so I thought I’d post it here.

I found the idea for this recipe on the back of a pasta box, but I did modify it to suit our tastes. On the back of the box this was called “Tuscan Pasta Bake.” On the box this recipe called for it to be baked, but I didn’t bake it. Anyway, not sure what to call this, but this is what I did:

I bought a package of Italian sausage and used half of it so 2 1/2 sausage links. This is probably about 1/2 pound of Italian sausage. I browned the sausage in a frying pan.

I bought a package of mostaccioli pasta and cooked half of the pasta.

I chopped about a 1/2 cup onions and 1/2 cup mushrooms and sauteed them w/ the sausage after it was finished cooking, along w/ about a teaspoon of minced garlic.

I combined all the ingredients along w/ about a jar of my favorite brand of spaghetti sauce and set it back on the stove to heat through.

I added some mozarella / parmesan cheese to the top and Voila! Dinner!

I’m only cooking for two, so I usually try to keep the amounts small. If you need more portions you might need to double up or something. The man and I both thought it tasted pretty good.

It looks like me and 1 other person wants to do this, hehe. Well, this has been something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. The man and I often get stuck in a food rut and I would really like to try to expand our repertoire. I’ll post them here if I find any good ones.