Friday, November 19, 2010

Vegan Mofo: Quinoa Queen

According to Sarah Kramer's 2010 Go Vegan wall calendar, I'm the Quinoa Queen for a Day. That's because I made the recipe of the month — Rustic Quinoa & Yam Salad:

November features a kitschy-cute picture of Sarah donning a pageant crown and a big ole bowl of unadorned quinoa nestled in one of Vegan Dish's awesome bowls (By the way, mom and dad ... if you're reading this, a Vegan Dish mug would be a great Xmas gift idea! Hint, hint!) Anyway, Sarah deserves her crown for inventing this yummy salad.

The quinoa is mixed with cooked sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, onions, cilantro, lemon juice, maple syrup, and Bragg's. So, so good. Thankfully, the recipe makes a ton so I have plenty more for leftovers.

A word on "yams": I've never eaten, nor even seen, an actual yam. I've eaten my weight (or more) in sweet taters though. That's all you'll find around here. Yams and sweet potatoes are too totally different tubers. Sweet potatoes are orange or yellow with a brown-ish skin. Yams are purple, white, or red with a dark skin. I've never understood why people confuse the two.

And I'm not totally sure if Sarah intended on her recipe to include sweet potatoes or actual yams. But regardless, it's delicious made with sweet potatoes!

Have you ever eaten a real yam? I want to know what it tastes like....

15 comments:

Sarah W. said...

Hmm... just reading the list of ingredients doesn't inspire me, but it sounds as if the final result may be more than the sum of its parts.

And I have eaten a real yam. In Japan (well other Asian countries too) they are popular roasted. I'm not a sweet potato connoisseur, but if I had to compare them, according to my (slightly rusty) memory the yam was a little sweeter and a finer texture... maybe more real like a regular potato (I find sweet potatoes slightly stringy). While I prefer the texture I think that sweet potatoes have more complex flavor... but like I said, my yam memory is rusty.

Lauren said...

From what I understand it is very hard to find a true yam in the United States. I am sure you could go out of your way and find one, but what is usually labeled as "yams" in stores, are actually just sweet potatoes.

panda with cookie said...

I just eat the sweet potatoes.

Babette said...

Thanks for reviewing this recipe! I haven't done the November recipe yet, and I wasn't sure it would be good... but you've convinced me... I was also confused about the yam thing... I'll for sure use sweet potatoes then.

Kara Hadley said...

Wait, I've definitely seen purple sweet potatoes.

Linda Moore Clark said...

I am from Memphis but I have lived in western Canada for 12 years now and it's all about yams here. Occasionally I will find what they call sweet potatoes in the stores, but these potatoes are shaped like sweet potatoes, but are a light golden color on the inside. They taste rather bland compared to what I was used to in the south. I do miss those yummy southern veggies!

Leslie Richman said...

That looks deeelicious!!

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

I believe I have yad a real yam...I recently had yellow-fleshed sweet potato, too.

Sarah Kramer is so awesome. I totally adore her and her recipes! I'll have to give this one a shot.

Vegan Dish makes the cutest stuff! I have one of the big mugs, though, and it doesn't retain heat well. I like the dishes better. :)

Ainslie Greig said...

This got me wondering, so I did some research and am now 100% sure I have never had an actual yam, despite having eaten a lot of orange sweet potatoes labelled "yams." I've even worked in restaurants that got boxes and boxes of "yams" that were definitely sweet potatoes. In conclusion, I need to make a trip to an Asian market for some real yams, but in the meantime I now have a fierce craving for mashed sweet taters! And this salad!

MeloMeals said...

I think I have eaten a real yam and it was much sweeter, almost like dessert.... and lighter.. very good.

I think the quinoa salad sounds delicious.

Anonymous said...

I hope you get a VeganDish mug for Christmas! I have one, and it has such a nice hand-feel. Best of all, it's super cute!

Anonymous said...

I need to jump on the quinoa bandwagon. The few times I've had it, I've not been a fan. That dish just sounds too good not to try, though!

Anonymous said...

I also never had a jam. But I love me some quinoa.

Happy Older Hippie Woman! said...

Congratulations! In my book - you are the Queen of All That's Vegan in the Kitchen! Quinoa's a huge favorite of mine, too, I have a great breakfast dish recipe with it. And, I just bought a couple of nice fat yams for Thanksgiving, along with a nice variety of other veggies and fruits, bread and wine.
Have a great T-Day dinner, enjoy your friends and family.
Peace, Carol

Susan said...

I made this recipe for Christmas lunch last year and it was delicious. I made it with sweet potato, which I use for anything that says yam. I have never eaten yams, nor have I seen any or sale. Though we do sometimes get purple skinned sweet potatoes... Maybe they are covert yams?