I love checking cookbooks out from the library. Since I usually use them for inspiration and don’t actually follow them, I like to look through them first before buying. No sense in another cookbook collecting dust in the pantry.
Before I went to the beach, I was super excited to finally be able to pick up my copy of Veganomicon. I immediately scanned through the recipes and marked some I needed to look at closer.
Only by the time I got back from my trip, the book was due, and I never got a chance to take another look. 🙁 Time to get back on the reserve list!
One recipe definitely stood out to me, so I decided to do my best attempt at recreating it from what I could remember. The name of the recipe pretty much reveals the biggest secret: “Pineapple Cashew Quinoa”- at least I knew 3 ingredients I needed!
First up, the quinoa. (If you’ve never had quinoa, click the link to learn more- it’s so yummy!)
I love using red quinoa- it’s pretty much the same as regular quinoa, but it adds fun color to a dish and tends to have a little more fiber!
The only thing I could remember from the recipe was that it called for the quinoa to be cooked in pineapple juice & soy sauce, so I combined my 2/3 cup quinoa with 2/3 cup each of pineapple juice & water, plus a splash of soy sauce.
As the quinoa simmered away for 15 minutes, I sautéed a huge handful of cashews and a yellow bell pepper in sesame oil. As it cooked, I added 2 cloves of garlic, a few slices of chopped jalapeno, ginger, red pepper flakes, & some Worcestershire sauce.
Finally I added the better half of a can of pineapple chunks. Once the quinoa had absorbed all the liquid, I tossed it in with the pineapple and cashews to mix it all together.
Before I knew it, I had dinner ready!
All I have to say is I need to get my hands back on that cookbook. This was amazing!!! Even the husband loved it, despite me forgetting to add chicken to his portion. If this dish was this good just from me remembering the title, I can’t imagine how good it would be if I actually used the rest of the ingredients in the recipe.
I served it along with some sugar snap peas. The sweet peas went perfectly with the spicy heat of the quinoa dish.
Along with the last of my forgetter’s bread. I should’ve made a double loaf!!
What’s your favorite cookbook? Do you follow recipes?
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