Coconut Curry Quinoa with Roasted Vegetables

Oh how I love coconut curry sauce! This only takes about 30 minutes to make, and it is so satisfying and delicious.

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
1/2 medium size onion, minced
2 vine-ripened tomatoes
1 cup baby portebello mushrooms, quartered
1 red pepper, chopped
1 can coconut milk
1 Thai chili pepper, minced
1 bunch of green onions, minced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

To make the quinoa:
Saute onion in olive oil until slightly golden.
Add quinoa and saute for a couple of minutes.
Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil.
Cook on low for 15 minutes.

To roast the veggies:
Toss tomatoes, mushrooms, and red pepper in 1 Tbsp olive oil.
Layer onto a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes.

To make the sauce:
Saute garlic in olive oil.
Add chili pepper, ginger and green onion and saute.
Add curry powder and cayenne.
Add coconut milk and stir.
Heat to a low simmer.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve by dishing quinoa first, then layer on veggies and spoon the coconut curry sauce on top.
Enjoy!  :o)

Holy Guacamole!

It's hard to go wrong with guacamole if you start with fresh ingredients, don't add too many different flavors, and don't overmix. I like to keep my guac a little on the chunky side, not mashed.

This was a spur-of-the-moment dish that I hadn't planned for, so I didn't have any cilantro or lime juice on hand, but it was still incredible.

I used fresh, flavorful avocados and strawberry tomatoes from Sosio's at Pike Place. The avocados are possibly the best I've ever tasted and just as the guy at Sosio's described - not stringy or discolored.

Ingredients
1 large avocado, scooped out
6-8 strawberry or cherry tomatoes, minced
1/4 onion, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 small Thai chili pepper, finely minced
Maldon's Sea Salt

Mix all ingredients carefully with a small spoon. Do not overmix unless you like your guac more mashed.

Serve with tortilla chips or rice crackers and enjoy!

Vitamin Blast: Roasted Yellow Squash, Strawberry Tomatoes and Sweet Potatoes

After a night of debauchery, I needed a meal that would pump vitamins and nutrients into my system to counterbalance the abuse from too much food and drink. Last night was the Voracious Tasting at the Paramount Theater. It was lots and lots of small tastes of all kinds of foods - New Orleans style, Italian, Northwest, cupcakes, wood-fired pizza, elixirs, fried grasshoppers (no I didn't try them), gin drinks, vodka drinks, wine, beer. And then we ended the night at Lola for more wine and fresh donuts before we headed back to Hotel Max. It was a great time with great friends!

This morning we had breakfast crepes and walked through the market, where we stopped at Sosio's to buy fresh produce, including yellow squash, strawberry tomatoes, artichokes, and avocados.

Ingredients
Yellow squash, sliced
Small fresh tomatoes, sliced in half
Sweet potatoes, cut into fry size
Kale
Garlic, minced
Maldon Sea Salts

To roast the veggies:
Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Toss sweet potatoes in olive oil and spread evenly on a baking sheet.
Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and put into oven.
Toss yellow squash in olive oil and spread evenly on a baking sheet.
Add the tomatoes to the other end of the baking sheet, cut side up.
Bake them for 15-20 minutes.

To saute the kale:
Heat the minced garlic in olive oil.
Add the kale and a sprinkle of smoked sea salt and gently toss to cook.
It should only take 3-4 minutes. Keep from overcooking the kale by turning off the heat before it's completely wilted.