Quinoa with Mango and Curried Yogurt

My mom is on a restricted diet because of her health, and this motivated me to try out different gluten-free options! I've never cooked quinoa so I took it up as a challenge to make it as dinner for my family. 

Here's what I learned from cooking challenge: 

1. I actually love the taste of quinoa and you can cook it just like rice! It's simply another grain substitute so imagine rice but smaller, more tapioca like.  I'm actually going to buy a bag and take it with me to college.

2. There are three different ways you can cook the grain. You can cook in the microwave with the 2:1 water ratio, on a stove top,  or in a rice cooker! I chose the latter with the 2:1 ratio because I thought it was the easiest method. 

3. The recipe calls for WAY too much quinoa. I used only about half of what the original recipe called for and it still fed all three of us for dinner + we had leftovers. Don't worry the recipe I posted has all my modifications. 

4. I'm not sure how I feel about this recipe. I'm going to cook it again but I'm not in love with it. See that's my whole problem. I can't decide how I feel about it. My dad was not a fan of the recipe but that didn't surprise us much because he the only grain he likes is white rice. My mom and I liked the recipe but added some chili-garlic sauce for an extra kick and found that to really help the flavor. It definitely wasn't bad but not drool-worthy like my BBQ chicken paninis. Maybe we're just crazy because it has 4 forks on epicurious and 95% of people would make it again. 

Either way, I wanted to share my cooking-experiment and let you try and see for yourself! Plus, the quinoa was just screaming to be photographed. 

Quinoa with Mango and Curried Yogurt 

Modifications to Original Recipe from Epicurious.  Makes 4 servings or 6 side dishes. 

1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons curry powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil
1 1/2 cups COOKED quinoa or 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 firm-ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 fresh jalapeno chile, seeded (if desired for less heat) and minced
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup salted roasted peanuts (2 1/2 oz), chopped
Chili garlic sauce (optional)

1. Whisk together yogurt, lime juice, curry powder, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until combined.

2.  Use a 2:1 water ratio to cook the quinoa. If uncooked use 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa and cook in a ricecooker.  Cook until fluffy and dry, 10-12 minutes. 

3. Toss quinoa with curried yogurt and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Fresh Peach Mint Lemonade

This recipe is frighteningly easy. In essence you are making regular lemonade and adding peach puree and mint. We had a whole bag of lemons, a whole bag of peaches, and mint growing rampant in my backyard so I thought why not?

And in this summer heat, my lemonade hit the spot. If you don't like mint/have mint then simply leave it out of the recipe! I guesstimated when typing up this recipe so adjust as necessary. 

Fresh Peach Mint Lemonade

Makes 2-3 cups of lemonade

5 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 peach 
Handful of mint leaves

1. Combine mint, sugar, lemon zest, and water in a small saucepan. Stir to dissolve sugar and cook on medium/low heat for approximately 5 minutes. (Cooking the simple syrup allows the mint leaves to steep flavor and the sugar to dissolve).

2. Remove from heat, strain the mint leaves, and let cool. 

3. Quarter the peach and puree in the food processor with the simple syrup mixture. 

4. Combine lemon juice with peach puree and simple syrup. Mix well and garnish with mint leaves or peach slices. 

Tips:

If you want the cop-out version (like I made) you don't have to to cook the simple syrup mixture. Just stir all the ingredients together in a large glass & make sure all your sugar is dissolved! The primary reason for heating up the lemonade is to bring out the mint flavor so without it the mint won't play a defining role. I just chopped up a couple of springs and ate them while drinking (A bit weird) so I could get the full effect without having to spend time heating it up. Click HERE for another peach mint lemonade recipe in case you want to make a pitcher's worth instead of a couple of glasses.