I love quinoa (KEEN-WAH)! This ancient seed, a member of the
same botanical family as spinach, has been a staple in South
America for thousands of years and can be used in so many ways. Here,
we use it as a binder instead of breadcrumbs in our meatballs. Quinoa is a
wonderful source of low-fat, cholesterol-free protein (about 8 grams protein
and 3.4 grams of fat per cup of cooked quinoa) as well as a good source of iron,
magnesium, and fiber (USDA nutrient database). It also happens to be gluten free. As with any food, watch what you add during the cooking
process for maximum health. If you add
salt, butter and cheese, sadly, this changes the healthfulness of the dish. I prefer to buy quinoa uncooked, like rice, it
is less expensive, stores much longer on your shelf in this form and it cooks
up quickly. Quinoa does have a natural seed coating (saponins) that is very bitter and must be rinsed off prior to cooking.
Sources: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/quinoa.html
Serves 4-6
Time to table: 1 hour 15 minutes (includes time to cook
quinoa)
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light magazine September 2013
Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey breast
½ cup cooked quinoa (see instructions below for cooking)
2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated (about ½ cup)
a palm full of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (2 Tbsp)
a palm full of chopped fresh basil (2 Tbsp)
¾ tsp kosher salt, divided
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
6 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
½ of a sweet onion
2 stalks celery
2 medium carrots
5 cups chopped kale (7-8 oz), trimmed from the stems (the stems are very tough)
Hot sauce to taste (we like Frank’s or Sriracha)
1 Tablespoon tomato paste (see directions below for freezing the rest in the can)
4 cups organic, low-salt chicken broth
1 cup water
1. Measure one cup of dry quinoa into a fine mesh strainer
and rinse repeatedly (for a full minute) under cool water to remove the seed
coat. If you do not have a fine mesh strainer you could put the dry quinoa in a
bowl, cover with cool water, swish with your fingers and then carefully drain
the water. Repeat 2-3 times. Once rinsed, add the quinoa to a small saucepan with
1½ cups water. Bring to a boil over high
heat, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes. You can tell it is
cooked when you can see its funny little tail curled around itself (this is
part of its sprouting structure). I like my quinoa with a little bite or
texture to it (not mushy), if you like it a softer just cook it a little
longer. Remove lid and fluff with a
fork. This will make about 5 cups of
cooked quinoa. Let the quinoa cool and
then store your leftovers in the fridge. You only need ½ a cup of cooked quinoa
for this recipe; however, I cook up a batch this size and keep it in the fridge
to toss into salads, soups or just eat it right out of a bowl. Check out the
recipe for my curried quinoa salad to use up the remaining quinoa from this
meal!
2. While your quinoa is cooking, chop up your onion, celery,
and carrots into ½” pieces. Give the kale a rough chop into pieces that are
about an inch or so, you just don’t want long, dangling pieces of kale hanging
from your soup spoon. This makes for a mess.
3. Combine ground turkey, quinoa, grated parmesan, parsley,
basil, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, about 1/3 of your minced
garlic, and egg in a large bowl. Mix
gently but thoroughly and shape into 24 meatballs.
4. Heat a large Dutch oven or stock pot over medium-high
heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Add half of your meatballs (a crowded pan =
poorly browned, hard to turn meat) and cook for about 8 minutes, flipping them
over half way through the cooking time so that they brown, top and bottom. If they crumble a bit, no worries, it’s just
a meatball. Remove them from the pan and
place on a clean plate. Repeat with 1 teaspoon of oil and the remaining
meatballs and add them to the first plate of meatballs.
5. Add remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to your pan along with
the chopped onion, celery and carrots.
Stir the veggies around a bit in the pan, scraping the browned bits of
turkey from the bottom of the pan (super yummy flavor for your soup) and let
soften up for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining garlic, ½ teaspoon of salt, ¼
teaspoon black pepper, and the kale. The
kale will be huge, fill the pan and you will think “oh my gosh, this might not
work”. Carefully, stir and rather
quickly the kale will begin to wilt down into the pan. Add the chicken broth, water, hot sauce and
tomato paste and bring to a boil. Return the meatballs to the pan, reduce heat,
and simmer until the kale is tender and the meatballs are cooked through, about
15 minutes.
6. Serve and enjoy! Excellent with a little extra parmesan on
top.
Notes:
I use tomato
paste in soups and stews to add a little depth of flavor. Most of the time you
would never guess that it is in there, it just adds a lovely oomph. So, what do you do with the remaining paste
in that little can after you take out the measly tablespoon? A small can of tomato paste has about 10
tablespoons in it. I like to put the remaining paste into a Ziploc bag, zip it
shut, flatten the paste out into a brick shape and divide it into 8 or so
little pieces by drawing with your finger into the bag (don’t poke a hole
through). Now, throw it in the freezer
and when you need another bit, there it is.
Adaptations:
If you are in a hurry you can shave off 20
minutes or so by skipping the meatball technicalities. Follow recipe through step 3 above and then
just add the turkey mixture (omit the egg) to your stockpot and sauté until meat is cooked
through.
Want a vegetarian soup? Omit the turkey and egg and steps 3
& 4. Add parsley and basil with the kale and season with salt and pepper
per your tastes. Use parmesan called for in meatballs as a topping, if you
wish.
Two Steps Back
This is my little way of combining my love of growing some
of my own food (two steps back) and preserving it (one step back) for use
during the rest of the year. Now, you
could apply these same techniques to produce that you pick up at the Farmer’s
Market or your grocery store, but I encourage you to start pondering what you
could grow on your patio or in your yard.
Two Steps Back ingredients: parsley, basil, onion, celery,
carrots, kale, & tomatoes for paste if you are really ambitious.
Plant these lovelies in pots on your patio or
in your garden.
One Step Back:
When herbs are prolific or if you buy a big bunch at the
market, wash, dry and trim what you need and then pull off the rest of the
leaves (and sometimes their stems) and give them a quick whiz in your food
processor with a couple tablespoons of water or chop them finely with a knife.
Put a spoonful of chopped herbs in each cell of an ice cube tray (about 2/3 of
the way up) and then top each off with water. Freeze until firm in your freezer
and then pop them out and store them in a zip to freezer bag. This will provide
fabulous flavor in tablespoon servings throughout the winter months and no
wasting of all those herbs.
Onion and celery can be washed diced and frozen in zip top
bags. Many onions will store quite well in a cool dry space or they can be
sliced and dehydrated. Carrots are so
amazing and sweet fresh from the garden and they will grow in almost any climate. When you have some extra carrots from the
garden or market, wash them, chop them into ½ inch pieces and drop them in a
pot of boiling water for about 1 minute (blanching). This helps lock in nutrients and preserve
nice, bright color. Scoop the carrots out of the boiling water and immediately
dunk them in an ice bath to stop the cooking. As soon as they are cold, pat
them dry with a clean towel and pack them in zip top freezer bags and
freeze. You can use this same process
for kale, just shorten the blanching time to about 30 seconds.
