New Hobby And Lemon Quinoa

Lately I have been getting frustrated at my evening commute. no matter when you start from work, I end up spending almost an hour sitting in the car. Sometimes I listen to radio, sometimes finish talking to my friends. By the time I reach home, I am dead tired. I do not have any energy left to open my laptop again and write. Hence this blog has been neglected for over a month now.

Recently I took on a new hobby of making bead earrings. It is fun to make things that I can make in 15-20 minutes and wear immediately. Talk about instant gratification!!! I spend hours trying different bead combinations and making the earrings. It is very satisfactory. Here are some earrings I made recently -

Earrings galore


With work, commute, new hobby and knitting on the side, I am left with minimum cooking time. If I have cooked something earlier then we always have that for dinner. But like last few weekends if I have spend all my weekends on knitting or painting or beading, then I have to think about cooking something in a jiffy and healthy for dinner. In such crunch times I tend to cook my favorite grain - Quinoa. It cooks quickly, tastes wonderful with any Indian daal or sabji. I also tastes good in soups and very versatile to be used in pasta salad or in Israeli couscous salad. But I often make this lemon quinoa and it sure satiates me. Here is how I make it.

Lemon Quinoa

1 cup Quinoa
1 Bird Chili
2 Red Chilies
2-3 tbsp Peanuts
2-3 tbsp Cashews (broken into pieces)
1 large Lemon
3 tbsp Oil
Few Curry Leaves
Salt to taste
Tempering - Mustard Seeds, Urad Dal, Hing, Turmeric Powder, Fenugreek seeds
1.5 cups Water

Preparation -
Wash quinoa thoroughly and cook it in rice cooker with 1.5 cups of water.  You can add pinch of salt while quinoa is cooking.
Cool the quinoa for 15-20 minutes. Separate cooked quinoa grains using fork.
Slit green chili. Chop curry leaves if they are too big.
Heat oil in thick bottom pan and add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds.
Once mustard seeds start spluttering, add curry leaves, 1/tsp fenugreek seeds, 1 tbsp urad dal, pinch of hing and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder.
Add green chili and red chilies. Roast for couple of minutes.
Now add cashew pieces and peanuts. Roast on medium heat till golden brown.
Add quinoa and mix throughly.
Now squeeze lemon juice, add salt and mix well. Cover it for few minutes.
Remove the cover, mix well. Add chopped cilantro and enjoy.

Tips -
  1. I like adding small red onion. I chop it and roast in oil till golden brown before adding quinoa. 
  2. If I have a fresh lemon, I add little bit of lemon zest at the end. That gives really fresh aroma to the final product.


Comments

  1. great earnings and very good recipe.
    It is like lemon rice but healthier. Making this weekend . :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. great earnings and very good recipe.
    It is like lemon rice but healthier. Making this weekend . :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow ur so creative,..:) still to try quinoa,looks delicious,,.

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  4. nice collections .... recipe looks yummy

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  5. Lovely earrings! Guess what, I will be getting a pair from Priya soon :) #excited

    Makes me want to take up a class or two and learn this art PROPERLY :)

    ~Mrinal

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  6. The earrings are beautiful!
    This is dinner tonight, can't wait to try it.
    Meyer lemons will take it up a notch don't you think?
    Hopefilly a certain person is listening :)

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    Replies
    1. TC, certain person doesn't lurk here often. We have to make explicit demands ;)

      Delete
  7. Thank you all for your lovely comments.

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  8. Did someone say Meyer lemons? Btw, tamarind quinoa (made like tamarind rice) is delicious too. Add some papad on the side for crunch. I actually like tamarind brown rice or tamarind quinoa better than regular tamarind rice. I know, I am odd like that.

    Beautiful earrings, and the polaroid style collage showcases them even better!

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  9. Love your new hobby, Mints! You can have jewelry to match every outfit!

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  10. Hi Mints! I had to post a comment after seeing those beautiful earrings. can you tell me where you bought the beads and fishhooks etc from?

    and what a novel quinoa recipe. I am making it this week!

    - Manu ( will surely come back to your blog more often now :))

    ReplyDelete

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