More Quinoa!

In Crunk news, fellow Memphis blogger Melissa of Treats with a Twist is giving away a copy of Cookin' Crunk. So if you missed the last giveaway on Allison's blog, here's your chance. Click here to enter.

And now on to tonight's post: On Sunday night, I promised you two quinoa cookbook review posts this week, and I'm making good on that promise with tonight's review of 500 Best Quinoa Recipes by Camilla V. Saulsbury. Much like the Complete Idiot's Guide Quinoa Cookbook that I reviewed on Monday, this book isn't vegan or even vegetarian. But as to be expected with a quinoa cookbook, there's plenty of vegan dishes. I mean, with 500 recipes, how could there not be some vegan ones?  I also assumed there'd be vegan recipes since the book's author, Camilla V. Saulsbury, has written vegan cookbooks for this same publisher, Robert Rose.

The chapter on Vegetarian Dishes has a recipe index that could fill a small cookbook on its own. Seriously. There's got to be about 40 dishes in there, and most are vegan. Most are also pretty unique and feature very inventive uses for quinoa, which as I've mentioned, I could use a little help with. There's a Quinoa-Millet Polenta with Mushrooms and a California Quinoa Club Sandwich (with hummus, avocado, and quinoa sprouts).

But I was drawn to the Chimichurri Tempeh & Quinoa Bowls:

First, you make a tangy chimichurri sauce with lots of cilantro, and then you mix it into the cooked quinoa. That's topped with sauteed tempeh and bell peppers, more chimichurri sauce, and optional fresh mango. I think, perhaps, it was the savory use of mango that made me want to try this. The garlicky sauce, fluffy quinoa, meaty tempeh, and sweet mango were the perfect combination. And look how pretty and colorful it is!

If you're looking for a few new ways to use quinoa, don't let the meat recipes in this book turn you off. Some, like Broccoli, Chicken, and Quinoa Stir-Fry, would be easy to make vegan with a meat-free stand-in, like Morningstar Farms strips or Soy Curls. Plus, there are loads of veg recipes tucked into various chapters outside the Vegetarian Dishes chapter. I found a Roasted Cauliflower Quinoa Soup recipe in the Soups, Stews, and Chilis chapter that is calling my name. And the Toasted Coconut Banana Quinoa Pudding in the Desserts chapter sounds like healthy sweet ending.