Quinoa with Charred Vegetables and Queso Fresco

Some days the sun just seems to shine brighter-you know, the days where everything seems to go your way, you fit into your skinny jeans and your heart seems to swell with happiness. Last Saturday was one of those days for me. I was in the midst of a 3 exam, 2 paper and 1 presentation week at nursing school, but I got up early, cleaned my room, went for a massage and saw Shutter Island with Carlos (highly recommend this film!!) and cooked dinner.

I decided to make quinoa with charred zucchini, bell peppers, queso fresco and a smoky-spicy tomato sauce. I couldn't have been more pleased with the results-healthy, refreshing and simple to prepare.


To Make:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (use vegetable stock to make this a vegetarian dish!)
1 quart whole milk
2 limes
3 bell peppers (I used 1 red, 1 orange and 1 yellow)
2 small zucchini
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes with diced chiles
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 small diced tomatillo
4 cloves minced garlic
1 small diced onion
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt

Heat up milk in heavy sauce pan over medium heat until steaming, but not quite simmering. Add juice of 1 lime and stir as milk curdles. Turn heat to low and let cook additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, add salt and let sit 20 minutes.

As milk is cooking, heat up 2 tablespoons olive oil in saute pan over medium-high heat. Add onions, tomatillos and garlic and turn to medium. Stir constantly until you are sure that the garlic is not browning (if it is, remove from heat and let cool for a minute). Cook about 5 minutes until onions become translucent.

Add spices and cook 1 minute until fragrant.

Stir into tomatoes/chiles into mixture and cook 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour milk over a cheesecloth-lined colander. If you do not cheesecloth, a very fine strainer will do. Once liquid has mostly drained, form curds into a ball and twist cheesecloth over the ball so that the pressure from twisting causes excess liquid to drain. Hang over sink or a bowl for 2 hours so that cheese may dry out.

Slice bell peppers and zucchini lengthwise into small strips.

Heat up remaining olive oil in a cast-iron grilling pan over medium-high heat. Add bell peppers and zucchini (you will probably need to do this in 2-3 batches) and cook until lightly charred, adding extra olive oil if necessary. Remove from heat.

Heat up quinoa and broth over high heat. When it begins to simmer, turn heat down to medium-low and cover. Cook 20 minutes, stirring a few times to fluff quinoa.

Serve quinoa with vegetables, cheese and spicy tomato sauce to taste.

Artichoke, Sun Dried Tomato and Cheese Potstickers

Ingredients:
Wonton wrappers
2 cloves garlic
1 can marinated baby artichokes, drained
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil
3/4 cup Belgioioso Fontina cheese, cut into small squares 1/4 inch thick
1 cup grated or shredded Belgioioso Parmesan cheese
1 cup Belgioioso Asiago cheese, cut into small squares 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup minced fresh basil (2 teaspoons dried basil may be substituted)
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup cream or evaporated skim milk

Chop up artichokes. Mince sun dried tomatoes and mix with artichokes. Heat up oil from tomatoes in saute pan over medium-high heat. Add artichokes and tomatoes and turn to medium. Cook about 3-5 minutes, stirring to prevent mixture from sticking to pan. Remove from heat.

Chop up and grate cheese if needed. Reserve 1/2 cup Parmesan for use later. Mince basil and add 1/2 of the basil to the cheese mixture. Add cooled artichoke-tomato mixture to cheese and stir well. Add crushed red pepper if you want to add a little kick to the recipe.

Add a small scoop of cheese-artichoke-tomato mixture in the center of each wonton wrapper. Moisten the edges with water and seal, pressing the edges with your fingers.

Add a 1/2 tablespoon tomato oil to saute pan and at medium-high heat, add minced garlic. Turn heat to medium, cook about 5 minutes or until garlic is tender but not brown. Remove garlic from pan, reserve oil in pan.

In small sauce pan, heat up cream with garlic and parmesan cheese over medium heat, stirring until cheese has melted. Remove from heat, stir in remaining basil and set aside.

Heat saute pan at medium-high heat. Add wontons and brown them on both sides. Add 1/2 cup water to the pan and quickly cover to allow the wontons to steam through. Repeat this process until all wontons are first browned, then steamed; reserve and keep warm.

Drizzle parmesan-basil sauce over wontons before serving.