Quinoa, Vegetables and Oregon Dukkah

I was inspired by Martha Rose Shulman's Bulgar Bowl with Spinach, Mushrooms and Middle Eastern Nut and Spice Seasoning. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/health/bulgur-with-middle-eastern-seasoning-recipes-for-health.html. I prefer to use quinoa for two reasons. One, it is gluten free. The other, that it is high in protein and lower in carbs.

Ingredients:
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1 cup quinoa
1/2 cup minced white or yellow onion
1 3/4 cups hot water or stock (chicken or vegetable)
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided, plus additional for drizzling
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced across the grain
1 pound white, cremini or wild mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
2 to 4 garlic cloves (to taste), minced
2 tablespoons dry white wine (optional)
Freshly ground pepper
12 ounces baby spinach, washed
1 - 15 oz can of chickpeas, well rinsed and drained
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or Italian parsley
3 - 4 tablespoons Zesty or Traditional Oregon Dukkah 

1. Place quinoa in a bowl filled with water. Switch and drain into a sieve. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute minced onion until soft. Add quinoa and saute until lightly toasted. Add the hot water or broth and salt to taste, reduce the heat, cover and simmer about 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Remove from the heat.

2. In a large, heavy skillet heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat and add the red onion and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is very tender and lightly colored, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

3. Add the mushrooms to the skillet and turn up the heat to medium high. Cook, stirring or tossing in the pan, until the mushrooms begin to sweat, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and continue to cook, stirring, until just tender and moist, another couple of minutes. Add the remaining olive oil and the garlic, stir together for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, and stir in the wine. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, until the liquid in the pan has evaporated, and add the spinach and salt to taste. Cook, tossing the spinach in the pan with tongs, until the spinach has wilted, which shouldn’t take much longer than a couple of minutes. Add the cilantro or parsley and stir everything together.

4. Combine the quinoa and chickpeas and heat through, either on top of the stove or in the microwave. Spoon into wide bowls and top with the mushrooms and spinach. Arrange the red onions on top and if desired add a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle each serving with about 2 to 3 teaspoons of Oregon Dukkah and serve.

Red & White Coleslaws

Middle Eastern inspired coleslaws based on recipes from www.taste.com.au

Preparation Time

30 minutes

Ingredients (serves 8)

• Red cabbage, beetroot and pomegranate molasses slaw

• 1 tbs pomegranate molasses (see tip)
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 2 1/2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 (450g) red cabbage, thinly shredded
• 1 beet, peeled, grated or cut into julienne (matchsticks)
• 1 shallot, halved, very thinly sliced
• 2 tbs Traditional Oregon or Smoky Hot Dukkah 

• White cabbage, mint & feta slaw

• 60ml (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbs Zesty Oregon Dukkah
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 lemon, zested, juiced
• 1/4 (650g) savoy cabbage, thinly shredded
• 1 bunch mint, leaves picked, thinly shredded
• 1 long green chili, seeded, finely chopped
• 100gm(3.5oz) feta, crumbled
• 
  
• Instructions:

1. To make red cabbage slaw, whisk pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, oil and honey in a large bowl until combined, then season with salt and pepper. Add remaining ingredients and toss well to combine.
2. To make white cabbage slaw, whisk oil, dukkah, honey, garlic and lemon juice and zest in a large bowl until combined, then season with salt. Add remaining ingredients and toss well to combine.
3. Transfer each coleslaw to a separate platter to serve.

Notes

• To give your slaws extra crunch, soak cabbage in a bowl of iced salted water for 10 minutes. Drain, then spin dry in a salad spinner.
  Tip: If you can't find pomegranate molasses, substitute red wine vinegar.
  
  

Oregon Dukkah Dusted Lamb with Pea Puree

This recipe is inspired by Adelaide Now.

DUKKAH DUSTED LAMB WITH PEA PUREE

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 6-8 minutes

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock

3 cups frozen peas

2 tbsp yogurt or sour cream

Sea salt and white pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped

8-12 lamb cutlets

1/3 cup (45g) Zesty Oregon Dukkah for dusting

GARLIC AND MINT YOGURT

1/2 cup plain yogurt

* 1 tbsp mint leaves, chopped

* Olive oil for drizzling

* Baby mint leaves for garnish

Instructions:

Bring the chicken or vegetable stock to the boil in a medium saucepan. Add frozen peas, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Drain peas, reserving 1 tbsp stock.

Place 2 1/2 cups of peas (reserve 1/2 cup and keep warm for serving), reserved stock, yogurt or sour cream into food processor and puree. Season with sea salt and pepper and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan, add garlic and cook for 30sec, stirring continually. Remove garlic and drain on paper towel.

Dust the lamb cutlets generously on both sides with dukkah. Reheat olive oil in frying pan, add cutlets and cook on medium-high for 3-4 minutes on each side.

Spoon heated pea puree and reserved peas on to serving plates. Top with cooked cutlets and serve with combined yohurt, pan-fried garlic and chopped mint. Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with baby mint leaves.

Avocado Salmon Tart with Dukkah Prawns

This recipe has some of my favorite food components - salmon (treated like ceviche), prawns, avocado, labneh and of course dukkah. I can't wait to give it a try with either Traditional or Smoky Hot Oregon Dukkah! I found this amazing recipe on www.adelaidenow.com.au - so creative!

Avocado Salmon Tart with Dukkah Prawns

Serves 2
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Skills needed: Basic
You will need:

(bet we can use Northwest salmon here)

250g/ 9oz fresh Tasmanian salmon fillet, skin off, diced

1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp capers, chopped
1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
2 tbsp whole egg mayonnaise
1 large avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped
1 soft boiled egg
1 tbsp labneh
2 tbsp dukkah
2 king prawns, peeled leaving only the tail and deveined
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon wedges and extra chopped dill to garnish
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Combine salmon in a bowl with lemon juice, capers, dill, salt and pepper and refrigerate for at least an hour.

After the salmon has been marinated, add in the mayonnaise and stir to coat it through, set aside.
In a bowl combine together the avocado, egg, labneh and 1 tablespoon of dukkah.
Using a stainless steel mould ring (approx 5cm/2" high 9cm/3.5" diameter) or ramekin, place in half the avocado mixture patting down to fill the area and then top with half the salmon mixture before removing the ring, repeat with the other portion.
Coat prawns with remaining dukkah. Heat olive oil in a pan and pan-fry the prawns until cooked through.
Place a prawn on top of each avocado and salmon portion and garnish with a lemon wedge and some chopped dill.
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Chef Watch:

"Use sushi-grade salmon if possible. You'll notice the smoother texture when you eat it,"chef Hassan M'Souli says.

"Don't overmarinate the salmon. You want it just long enough that the lemon changes the salmon's texture to something softer."

"Choose just-ripe avocado. You don't want it too hard as it will be difficult to use and not taste as great, too soft and it doesn't hold its shape."

Ahi Tuna with Smoky Hot Oregon Dukkah

This recipe was inspired by one in Mark Bittman's cookbook
How To Cook Everything.
It is a simple recipe that let's the wonderful taste of the Ahi shine through with a crunchy crust from Oregon Dukkah!

Ingredients:

2 (1" thick) Ahi Tuna steaks - about 1.5 to 2 pounds
Juice of 1 lime
2 Tbs tamari or soy sauce
2 - 4 Tbs Smoky Hot Oregon Dukkah
Lime wedges

Directions:

Heat grill or broiler to quite hot with the rack close to the heat.
In a shallow bowl, combine the lime juice with the soy sauce.
Place a few tablespoons of Smoky Hot Oregon Dukkah on a plate. Reserve until later.
Marinate the tuna in the lime-soy sauce mixture for 15 - 30 minutes, turning once.
Grill (or broil) the fish, brushing once or twice with the marinade. The fish should be nicely browned after 4 minutes; turn it. Grill 3 more minutes, checking doneness by inserting a sharp knife into the flesh. When the knife meets a little resistance and you can see a slight translucence
to it, it is done. Press both sides of the tuna into the dukkah. Serve with lime wedges.

Makes 4 servings

Roasted Vegetables with Dukkah

With Autumn comes the urge to roast and bake, especially using the fruits and vegetables of fall harvest. Here is a recipe inspired by Taste.

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/23016/pistachio+dukkah+egyptian+spice+mix

Ingredients:

Your favorite combination of -

Cubed eggplant

Peeled and cubed sweet potato

Peeled and cubed pumpkin

Chunks of potatoes

Chunks of carrots

Large dice of red onion

1 -4 peeled and chopped cloves of garlic

olive oil

Zesty, Smoky Hot or Traditional Oregon Dukkah

Preparation:

Preheat oven - 425 degrees

• In a large bowl, toss vegetables with olive oil and Oregon Dukkah to coat. Turn vegetables onto a lightly oiled baking sheet. Roast until tender.

Dukkah Crusted Pork

Serve with roasted yam and sauted kale for a lovely fall supper. Inspired by a recipe from taste.com.au.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 2 red peppers, thickly sliced
• 2 yellow peppers, thickly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tsp extra-fine granulated sugar
• 2 tbs capers, rinsed, drained
• 1/3 cup (60g) raisins
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 2 x 1lb pork fillets, trimmed, halved
• 2 tbs Zesty or Smoky Hot Oregon Dukkah
  
• Olive oil spray
• 2 tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep fry pan over medium-high heat. Add the peppers, garlic and sugar, season, then cook for 15 minutes, stirring, until capsicum is softened. Add capers, raisins and vinegar and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the liquid is reduced.

3. Meanwhile, heat an ovenproof fry pan over high heat. Season the pork, then coat in the dukkah and spray with oil. Cook the pork for 6 minutes, turning, until browned on all sides. Transfer to the oven for 12-15 minutes until cooked through.

4. Slice each pork fillet, place on plates with salad and serve garnished with chopped parsley.