Apollo's Rainbow Quinoa Bowl

Hey, everybody! I hope you all had a great first day of fall! Today's post will be short - my weekend was really busy, and I'm currently posting this in the midst of completing all my homework. Part of what made my weekend so busy was that I had some team members over at my house to discuss goals and ideas for the year. We each made a potluck dish and had a great time. Next week, there will be a video introducing all of the team members, so keep an eye out for that!

All of our dishes from the Teens Can Cook, Too potluck

For my potluck dish, I made a quinoa entrée that was inspired by the Sunshine bowls I had at the Mercer Island Farmers' Market. They taught me about the ingredients that go into their emulsion sauce, so I figured I'd do a nice variation on that. I think it turned out really well! This is the perfect dish to have as the grocery stores sell their final summer vegetables, but you could essentially make it with any veggies you want to. The name originates from the sunshine bowl, because Apollo is the Greek sun god. The flavors and vegetables I chose could definitely be Greek, but it could really go any way. Feel free to experiment with the vegetables and flavor profiles in the sauce, and email me your recreations at teenscancooktooteam@gmail.com!

Apollo's Rainbow Quinoa Bowl
Serves 8 - 10

Ingredients
2 cups rainbow quinoa
1 quart chicken broth
1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced
2 bell peppers (any color), diced
2 beefsteak tomatoes, diced
1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup pine nuts
Salt and pepper, to taste
8 handfuls of pre-washed baby spinach
4 green onions, finely chopped (for garnish)

For sauce:
1 cup raw, unsalted cashews
2/3 cup raw, unsalted and sliced almonds
2 large handfuls basil
2 garlic cloves, peeled
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
The juice of one large lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation
1. In a medium-sized saucepan, bring the quinoa and chicken broth to a boil at high heat. Then, reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Do not check the quinoa's progress during this time, or the steam will evaporate and the cooking time will be all wrong. Once cooked, remove from heat. Fluff with a fork and let rest, covered.

2. While the quinoa  is cooking, soak the cashews and almonds. You need just enough water to cover all of the nuts, but do not add any more than that. Let soak for about 15 minutes. Pour the nuts and all of the water into a blender or Vita-mix. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and blend on a high speed until a thin, smooth consistency is reached. Adjust seasonings if needed.

3. Combine the quinoa, sauce, cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, feta, pine nuts, salt and pepper in a large serving bowl. Adjust seasonings if needed.

4. To serve the quinoa bowls, add a handful of spinach to the bottom of each bowl. Scoop a generous helping of the quinoa on top. Garnish with green onions. Enjoy!


Thank you all for reading tonight's blog post! Check back next Sunday to meet our lovely team members, and don't forget to follow us on all of our social media handles - especially this blog! As long as you are logged into a Google account (Google +, YouTube, Gmail, etc.), you can become a follower. Just click "Join This Site" on the right-hand side of this blog.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/teenscancooktoo 

Instagram: http://instagram.com/teenscancooktoo (@teenscancooktoo)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Teens-Can-Cook-Too/113579778813832

YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdiKFPsBoLhYw2W42P7LvKQ

 

Stay healthy!