ED&BV Quinoa Chickpea Confetti Casserole
My first Eat, Drink and Be Vegan recipe! With a fennel bulb and leftover chickpeas we have on hand, this recipe caught my attention as a fun one to try. It was good, but overall a little bland. So I jazzed it up with plain yogurt and some spicy hot sauce. In Dreena’s defense, she does recommend her Balsamic Maple Sauce on top, so I probably should have made that too but it was quite a busy day! This was a “chop and throw it all in a pot” recipe, which I LOVE and I have to admit I was very skeptical that the quinoa would absorb all the liquid – but it did!! Like magic!
Quinoa, red peppers, fennel, zucchini, chickpeas, herbs + spices:
I actually went back for MORE yogurt – I had about 1/3 a cup stirred in. I learned this from my college roomie who was Arabic and taught us to put plain yogurt in our brown rice. Ever since, I have always loved plain yogurt in grains. It was the perfect addition to make this dish thick and rich.
I also had a hunk of beer bread – mmmm!
From above with “the orange cup” –
The quinoa was 350 kcal, 14 grams fiber and 14 grams of protein. With the yogurt + bread, dinner was about 470 kcal, 15 grams of fiber and 21 grams protein.
Peanut Butter Soylicious!
The husband had a rough day today, so I picked up some peanut butter chocolate ice cream for him (he LOVES PB if you didn’t know). It was the Soy Delicious soy milk ice cream that we have had before and love from EarthFare. They make quite a few yummy flavors. This peanut butter is a favorite 🙂 I had half a cup –
I can’t WAIT to read in bed tonight!! And guess what!?!? NO CLASS tomorrow!! My 12:30 is canceled and I’m using the opportunity to take my car in to the shop for a tire leaking issue ( 😡 ). So I won’t be able to “make” my 2:00 class. Meh – one missed won’t hurt and it’ll save me an HOUR of driving!
Julz says
OH I adore plain yogurt on grains….especially when the grains have curry in them, Mmm! I’m glad your review of this recipe was good overall…I have yet to try it and now I very well may be, this weekend! Kudos to you! Cheers and have a wonderful evening 🙂
chandra says
Sounds like you had a great day!!
No pressure or anything but let the husband know I am DYING to make the BEER BREAD!! 😀
hk says
horray for no class tomorrow! Dinner looks grreeat! hope husband’s day is better tomorrow:) glad that PB ice-cream was able to pull in in the clutch!!
Carrie H says
I have a question for you guys …
For some crazy reason, it has always been hard for me to regularly take vitamins, but I’d like to start. A year or two ago, my mom gave me a bottle of One-A-Day Women’s Vitamins and I want to start taking them. The problem is that they are expired. I don’t want this whole bottle to go to waste, but I also don’t want to take them if they’ve gone bad! Can vitamins even go bad? What do you guys think? Thanks.
Carrie H
Kiala says
I love the Soy Delicious Peanut Butter Ice Cream or whatever it’s called. The problem is that I tunnel through and dig out the peanut butter parts and then leave the chocolate which would be fine if I was married to a person who hated peanut butter. But I’m not.
Sorry Dane…I guess we’re getting a divorce. You can blame Kath.
Kiala says
You know what else? I miss the Kath who had wine every night or almost every night. What happened to that Kath? She made me feel good about my Life Choices.
Kelly T says
OOh I want to be friends with that Kath, too! And the one that buys me things….where’s that Kath?
Jill says
Kiala, I need to join you! I would eat only the chocolate and leave the rest. I haven’t tried the soy delicious ice cream but have been curious…. this just means I’ll need to try it! Aren’t they the ones that make the green tea flavor? Yuuuuuuuuum.
Susan says
Kath,
I was looking at some archives and you used to eat alot of roasted root veggies. I know those included potatoes and butternut squash but I can’t tell what the other veggies you roasted were. I saw some yellow veggie. How long and what temp do you recommend roasting?
Thanks for all the great ideas!
april says
i have a question for anyone who can help…i just made steel cut oats for tomorrow morning but accidentally put a little too much salt and all i can taste is salt! is there anything i can do to fix this?
Romina says
This is definitely on my list of recipes to make!!! I might actually make this tomorrow. Thanks for the reminder. It looks so good!
LolaFunk says
Kath, it almost seems as though you’re eating habits have changed since I first started reading your blog. I am in NO WAY saying its a bad thing, I think what you’ve done with your eating habits and life and body is AMAZING and I applaid you. But it seems like when I first started reading your blog (last year some time…?) that you would have NEVER had any ice cream before dinner time, and probably not after either!
I just want to know why this changed. And Im with Kiala (pie-duh….haha yupp, Im the one who asked how your name was pronounced!), what happened to the Kath who drank wine every night?!
Maybe its just a change in weather, or something. Anyway, I was just wondering. I think its amazing that you eat so healthily and have such a great relationship with food! <3
Cara says
Mmm yogurt and rice sounds great! Mmm.
I hope you made the husband’s night better 😉
Also good luck with the tire, I hate car issues. Car issues stress me out more than anything it seems….
Andrea says
i love the new pictures on the side… the one with you and the husband is so cute
Kath says
chandra ,
I think he’s making it this weekend so hopefully it will be post worthy! I thought this loaf was the BEST BREAD he’s ever made – it was so doughy!
Carrie H,
I wouldn’t take the Vitamins if they are expired more than a month or so. I don’t know for sure, but I think things like vitamins degrade over time, so I doubt they’d hurt you but you probably wouldn’t be getting the proper doses.
Kiala ,
I agree – the peanut butter part is WAY better than the chocolate. I gave myself more PB and him more chocolate last night. Shhhhh don’t tell!!!
By wine every night, do you mean last week!? I’d say Spring Break was a bit over the top for me with all the company and meals out. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a little wine every night if that’s your cup of tea…er…glass of wine?, but for ME and my body, I just don’t feel my best. I retain water and feel dehydrated – even off 1 glass! I try not to have it more than twice a week on a regular basis – unless of course I’m craving a big glass of Pinot 🙂 Note that over spring break while I was having all this fun with wine and dessert I do feel like I gained weight! I don’t weigh myself so it’s just a guess, but I could just tell by the way my body felt and clothes felt that I was getting a little rounder. Perhaps it was just water weight, but I’m feeling much better after this week’s healthier agenda. So wine and dessert (again, for me) are not something I can have every day and maintain my weight.
Susan ,
I know – we haven’t made those in FOREVER!! I’ve been wanting to but keep forgetting. We usually throw in carrot, sweet potato and/or butternut, parsnip (the yellow?), turnip, taro root, fennel, red pepper, mushrooms. Or some combo of the above. Toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and roast at 400* or so until the veggies are fork-tender. They are SO GOOD!!
april ,
I’m not sure how to handle the salt, but try Googling “added too much salt” and I bet there are some natural remedies for the problem. Maybe just balance with lots of brown sugar!? Or could you make a batch of quick oats to mix and and dilute them?
LolaFunk ,
I do think my attitude towards food continues to get better (and easier to be healthy) as times passes. But I think the opposite about dessert – I used to have a lot more “fake” desserts and have smaller dinners just so I could have one. A sugar-free pudding cup, some of the more processed ice creams, etc. I think now I have dessert when I want it, not just because I can. So I think I have less desserts on a regular basis than I did 6 months ago!
Kath
Ally says
Kath, that turned out really great!
The close up shot is making me hungry despite just having breakfast!
Enjoy your day off from class!
Betsy says
fennel is one of my favorite ingredients, and underappreciated i think. I can get it really cheap at the farmers market (well, when summer comes around and alot of times I just munch on it like celery!!
Katie says
I love that you made this in your dutch oven. I have a love affair with mine. lol. Looks great. My neighbor makes a quinoa pilaf that is quite similar. I love the addition of the chickpeas though. Yum!
Kara says
Just for future reference: “Arabic” refers to a language, the people are “Arab”
MLT says
Hi Kath,
I just wanted to say I think your meals lately have been extra-delicious looking! I love how you are always trying new things…i always feel like I get stuck in a rut. Your meals every night for the past week have been amazing looking! And I love all the ingredients you are using that I never would have thought to use…fennel, quinoa, and whatever that grit-like stuff was in the rachel ray dinner. Thanks for the inspiration!
MLT says
One more comment!
re- root vegetables-
Where do you buy taro root? And fennel?
And when you say “roast” do you mean put it on a cookie sheet with foil? I don’t have a dutch oven…would a pyrex with foil on work?
Thanks!
Kath says
Kara ,
Thanks for the correction – I guess I should know better 😳
MLT,
So glad you’re enjoying the meals! If only blogs were scratch and sniff – or even better – scratch and taste!
Fennel is pretty widely available – ask your grocery store manager to point it out to you. Taro might be harder to find. We get it at EarthFare, so I bet Whole Foods would have it if you’re lucky enough to have one of those nearby.
To “roast” we just put on a cookie sheet at 400* or so for a while. Just cooking spray and high temp is all you need. It’s my favorite way to cook veggies because it brings out all their great flavors!
Kath