broccoli » Living Lou

Quinoa Bowl

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen developing recipes. There are meticulous notes involved, multiple drafts and different coloured pens – the whole nine yards. But there is something magical about being in the kitchen and just throwing whatever you have together. While most of my time in the kitchen is spent working on recipes, I try to carve out a few times a month where I just go in there with nothing in mind and just throw whatever together. There are definitely some pretty big failures, but also some great successful dishes.

That’s how this Quinoa Bowl came together. It was 11:30 at night and I needed something to bring to work for lunch the next day. I wasn’t looking to create a “blog worthy” dish, or follow a recipe, I was literally just throwing ingredients together. I had leftover zucchini, broccoli and kale in my fridge that needed to be used up. With the addition of a little Italian sausage, I had a meal ready to go in 15 minutes. Plus, I love when things are monochrome, so the idea of this dish having all green vegetables pleases my nerdy, uniform side. This Quinoa Bowl is the kind of thing that works well for a quick dinner, but I love to make a batch at the beginning of the week and bring it for lunch.

Quinoa Bowl (serves 2-4)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 1/4 cups water
1 link hot Italian sausage, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 zucchini, sliced in semi-circles
1 cup chopped broccoli florets
1 cup chopped kale
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a small pot, bring water to a boil. Add quinoa and cover. Reduce heat and cook for 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook sausage over medium-high heat, about five minutes or until fully cooked. Remove to a bowl and set aside.

In the same pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, cooking for a minute or until fragrant.

Next, add zucchini and broccoli. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until beginning to soften.

Add kale. Cook for another 2-3 minutes or until kale has wilted.

Finely, season with lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Toss vegetables with sausage and cooked quinoa.

This Quinoa Bowl will quickly become a lunch staple.

- Lou

Crustless Quiche

Can you believe that it’s been a month since my last Secret Recipe Club post? Wow. Time sure flies! I was on the hunt for something festive for December’s reveal, and I realized that I didn’t want to go for cookies or something sweet. Why? Well because brunch is one of my favourite meals. There is nothing better than a nice, slow and relaxing morning ending with a comforting brunch. Quiche just screams brunch to me, and this quiche is not your traditional quiche. For starters, it’s crustless, AKA it takes about 30 minutes to make. It’s also packed with healthy vegetables such as broccoli and instead of regular potatoes I decided to opt for sweet potatoes.

You may be wondering where I got my inspiration for this crustless quiche? This month I was assigned to The Tasty Cheapskate which is run by the lovely Jean who makes frugal, albeit simple and delicious meals. I was so pumped when I got my assignment for December because her blog is packed with recipes. I had so many to choose from and I’ve already made a couple like her Chocolate Gingerbread which was so decadent and perfect for the holidays! I love that she makes healthy, wholesome recipes with some sweet indulgences on the side, she also tells you how much each recipe costs to make. For a college student like me, her blog is right up my alley!

Crustless Quiche (serves 4)
Recipe inspired by The Tasty Cheapskate

Ingredients

4 slices of bacon
1/2 cup diced sweet potato
1/2 cup chopped broccoli florets
1/2 onion, shredded
6 eggs
3 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp chili flakes
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook bacon in a pan, remove from pan (leaving fat) and crumble with hands.

If needed add olive oil to coat the pan. Add the sweet potatoes and cook for 5-7 minutes over medium heat. Add in the broccoli and cook for another 5 minutes. Add in onion, and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk eggs, milk, salt, pepper, chili flakes and cheddar cheese. Add in the cooked vegetables and pour into a 9-inch quiche dish.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until fully cooked and eggs have set.

I hope you enjoy this month’s SRC post! Happy holidays.

- Lou

Spicy Broccoli

When I was little I always hated broccoli. Actually, correction, I hated the idea of broccoli. It seems that at some point, all kids decide that broccoli is the most disgusting, repulsive, sickening vegetable on the planet. Luckily, I’ve matured (somewhat) since those days and now I wholeheartedly embrace broccoli in all it’s greeny goodness, and am proud to call it my favourite vegetable. I could seriously eat broccoli every day. Sometimes I’ll eat a steamed head of broccoli for dinner, I love it that much.

Now if you’re an adult and you still think broccoli is disgusting, repulsive and sickening, I challenge you to try this recipe. It’s a new take on the slightly boring steamed or boiled broccoli with a little butter. It reminds me a bit of my favourite Green Beans in Vinaigrette. This dish does not take long to make at all, and yields delicious, flavorful results. Garlic, hot chili pepper flakes and lots of cracked black pepper make this side dish delectable.

This side dish would go nicely with Spicy Honey Glazed Chicken Thighs or my Foolproof Sunday Roasted Chicken .

Spicy Broccoli (serves 2-4)
Recipe slightly adapted from: Martha Stewart

Ingredients
2 medium heads broccoli, chopped
2/3 cup water
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp white balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp hot chili pepper flakes
freshly cracked black pepper

Directions

In a pot or pan bring 2/3 cup of water to a simmer. Place chopped broccoli in the pot/pan, cover and cook for 4 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine olive oil, garlic and hot chili pepper flakes.

Drain the excess water. And pour the oil mixture on top of the broccoli. Tossing to coat broccoli with flavouring.

Remove pot/pan from heat and add the vinegar.

Serve warm.

Enjoy your serving of vegetables today!

- Lou

Brown Rice Broccoli and Sausage Pilaf

Dishes like this Brown Rice Broccoli and Sausage Pilaf are my favourite. Not only is it made in three easy steps, with very few ingredients, and made in one pot, but its flavor is also slightly exotic.

Cumin has to be one of my favourite spices, and if you’re new to cumin, this dish serves as a great introduction. Sauteing the broccoli with the cumin is a way of subtly incorporating the flavor into this dish without overpowering the taste buds. This dish is relatively healthy, using brown rice and broccoli as its main components, I added in sausage to please my sister and father – but feel free to leave it out if you’re looking for a vegetarian option.

Brown Rice Broccoli and Sausage Pilaf
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice
2 1/2 cups water
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 large head of broccoli, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely diced
1 tsp ground cumin
3-5 chicken, turkey or pork sausage links, cut into 1 inch pieces

Directions

Chop broccoli into bite size pieces. Finely dice garlic.

Step 1, cook the broccoli. Heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat in a medium pot (this pot will be used to cook the rice as well). Saute broccoli and cumin for 5-8 minutes, making sure broccoli is cooked through. Add the garlic and saute for another minute or so until fragrant. Remove to a plate using a slotted spoon and reserve.

Step 2, cook sausages. Add 1/2 tbsp more oil to the pan if necessary, fry sausage pieces until fully cooked. Remove to the same plate as broccoli and reserve.

Step 3, cook rice. If necessary add the remaining 1/2 tbsp of oil to the pan. Toast rice for a minute. Add 2 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for 40-45 minutes, or until no water remains and rice is fully cooked. Add the broccoli and sausage back to the rice and stir to combine.

Enjoy!

- Lou

Gluten Free Vegetarian Quiche

Ah, another Monday and you know what that means? Time for another one of Lou’s Meatless Monday vegetarian dishes… on today’s menu: quiche! And guess what, not only is this a vegetarian quiche, but it also has a gluten-free crust! And want to know something even better? It tastes amazing. This quiche has the perfect balance of hearty veggies, cheese and delicious eggs, some milk and maybe a smidgen of cream… yum! This is a fun and unusual take on Meatless Monday, usually a nice soup or stew or pasta dish would be a Meatless Monday dinner, but not today!

I’m sure that everyone in your house will enjoy this quiche, it’s a big hit here! And the gluten-free crust is made with ingredients available at practically every grocery store!

Note: If you don’t want/need a gluten free crust, this can be made in literally an instant, it’s the crust that takes a little bit longer. You can use either a store bought crust, or your own recipe!

Vegetarian Quiche

Gluten-Free Crust
1 cup ground almonds
1 cup rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
4 tbsp olive oil

Directions

Pulse ingredients together in a food processor until it forms into a ball. Remove from food processor onto a well flour surface and knead lightly. Press dough into pie dish.

Quiche Filling
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cream
1 cup broccoli chopped
1 cup white button mushrooms sliced
1/2 cup cheddar cheese grated
1/2 tsp onion powder
pinch of nutmeg

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Firstly, prep the ingredients, chop the veggies and grate the cheese. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and pour into pastry lined dish.

Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes, or until center of the quiche has just barely set. Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes prior to serving.

Hope you all have a great Monday, that’s meatless and delicious! Plus, how fun is this post? Two recipes for the price of one… woo!

- Lou