I have been experimenting and developing recipes for the Plant Based Whole Food diet lately. Two friends of mine brought the diet to my attention due to their family’s health needs. Both benefit from the diet’s lack of added oil and salt. I’ll be honest, hearing this made me break out it a sweat! How could I cook without salt and oil? You need to add some salt for flavor, right? Doesn’t everything stick to the pan? I almost never use a non-stick pan (and only own one), so what would I be able to make that would taste good? After some research and deep thought, I dug in and got to work testing out cooking methods and flavor combinations. It was a lot of fun! And although there were some experiments I didn’t love, there were definitely some delicious wins. This Mediterranean Style Quinoa is one of my successes that I just have to share! Nutty and toothsome quinoa paired with caramelized sweet onions, sun dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives and toasted pine nuts. The flavors are enhanced with fresh basil and garlic. Loads of baby spinach packs a nutritional punch too.
Layers of Flavor
I need a lot of flavor in my food. I don’t do bland. So when I embark on developing a recipe with diet restrictions, I put a lot of effort into how I will add flavor. With this recipe, I start with caramelizing the onions and garlic to bring out their sweetness. Adding kalamata olives provides just enough saltiness to balance the dish and support the other ingredients. Toasting the pine nuts brings out the natural oils and enhances their taste and texture. I chose to use sun dried tomatoes instead of fresh because their flavor is more concentrated and intense. The fresh basil brings it all together and adds a ton of over all flavor to the dish. I also used a mixture of red and white quinoa for added nuttiness, texture and bite. The red quinoa has a more distinct earthiness that I like, but can be over-powering on its own, so I used the white quinoa for balance.
Caramelized Onions without Oil & Salt?
Say what? I know. This goes against every grain of cooking sensibility I have. What I found though, is that by combining a little unsalted vegetable stock to the pan with the onions and garlic and keeping the heat lower will keep it from sticking. By all means, feel free to use a non-stick pan for this recipe. For my testing purposes, (and my lack of non-stick pans) I used an All Clad stainless sauce pan while making the Mediterranean Style Quinoa. I can report that I didn’t have any issue with sticking at all. Yay! As the onions heated and sweat out their natural juices, it added enough moisture to prevent sticking. I stirred from time to time, allowing the onions and garlic to gradually brown and caramelize. The total cooking time was about 15-20 minutes.
Easy Peasy
Once the onions and garlic are caramelized, the rest of the cooking process is easy peasy. The remainder of the broth and the quinoa go into the pan. After the quinoa is cooked, add the remaining ingredients, stir well and let it heat through. Then you are ready to serve!
Need More?
This is a one pot wonder of protein and nutrients, but feel free to add to it if you’d like. If you are not on a vegan diet, Perfect Thyme Chicken or Broiled Salmon would be fantastic with this. Chickpea Fritters would be a great vegan option (but isn’t a PBWF recipe). For another Plant Based Whole Food option, check out my Fiesta Salad with Creamy Vegan Cilantro Lime Dressing.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups quinoa, any variety
- 3 ½ cups unsalted vegetable broth - (divided)
- 1 large sweet onion - diced
- 3 large cloves fresh garlic - finely chopped
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves - chopped
- 1 cup sun dried tomatoes - re-hydrated in warm water, drained & chopped
- ½ cup kalamata olives - sliced
- ½ cup pine nuts - lightly toasted in a dry pan
- ½ cup packed fresh basil leaves - rinsed & chopped
Instructions
- In a large dry sauce pan, toast pine nuts over medium heat until golden brown. Stir or shake the pan frequently so they don’t stick or burn. Remove pine nuts from pan and set aside.
- Over medium low heat, combine ½ cup vegetable broth with onion and garlic. Stir frequently and continue to cook until onions are softened, browned and broth is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes.
- Add remaining 3 cups of broth and quinoa to the pot. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Cover and turn the heat to low. Let simmer for 15 minutes, until the quinoa opens up and most, if not all, of the liquid is absorbed.
- Add the remaining ingredients, stirring to combine well. Cover with the heat off and let sit for about 5 minutes to heat through before serving.
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