Monday, January 16, 2012

Toasted Pecan and Parmesan Quinoa plus a Giveaway!

As part of the Bob's Red Mill and California Olive Ranch Healthy 2012 Challenge with the Virtual Potluck team, one of our missions was to create a side item using a whole grain and a olive oil.  I decided to further the challenge by only using ingredients that I already at home instead of going out shopping for more.  The quinoa seemed like a great choice for a side item, so I started there.  After getting two cups of water boiling I poured in one cup of quinoa along with a little salt.  That needed about 12 minutes to cook, so I then turned my attention to what else would go with the quinoa, which by itself is rather bland like most grains.  Fortunately I found some pecan halves and thought that the nutty flavor might go well with the quinoa.  I grabbed the olive oil and some smoked sea salt from the Red Stick Spice Company as well.  


I mixed about a cup of the shelled pecans with two teaspoons of olive oil and one teaspoon of smoked sea salt.  After the pecans were well coated, I spread them out of a baking sheet and toasted them in the oven at around 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.  


After a little more seasoning to finish up the quinoa, I threw the dish together.  I placed the toasted pecans atop the quinoa and then grated some fresh Parmesan cheese over the top.  The result ended up being quite satisfying, especially for my first attempt at quinoa!



Want some Bob's Red Mill grains and olive oil from the California Olive Ranch?  Read blow for the details about how you could win some!
  • Visit either Bob's Red Mill or California Olive Ranch's Facebook pages and retrieve this week's Virtual Potluck code word. Then use that code word in a sentence, when commenting on this blog post. 
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  • For an extra entry: Follow BRMCOR and VirtualPotluck's Twitter profiles and tweet about the contest linking to this blog post and using the #virtualpotluck hashtag. Then comment again, letting me know you've done so, by providing the link to your tweet.
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14 comments:

  1. I am really liking quinoa,I've tried it a couple of times and my kids love it too. I will have to try this I love toasted nuts and grains together.

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  2. I just tried Miller's Blend olive oil and love it!

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  3. I just started cooking with quinoa (the grain and the flour), mostly for the protein and health benefits. I am not a vegetarian, but I don't eat much meat. Quinoa is very versatile, I use it with my oatmeal, quick breads and for dinner. I like how you decided to use ingredients on hand along with the Miller's blend olive oil and the quinoa. Pecans are one of my favorite nuts, one of the staples of my kitchen. You have made a very simple, yet elegant side dish from your pantry. Hats off to you. jlammers002@woh.rr.com

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  4. Looking forward to using Millers Blend olive oil when making my next batch of "yalancı dolma"-grape leaves stuffed with rice, currants, and pine nuts...<3

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  5. I've yet to try quinoa, and I really have no excuse other than reaching for the brown rice is just more routine in our house. :-)

    The Millers Blend olive oil sounds like it has some interesting notes to it. I definitely could find a use for that in our house.

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  6. I am sure that arbosana oil would be great with garlic to dip bread in.

    cjsorel at hotmail dot com

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  7. follow them all and you on twitter tweeeted https://twitter.com/#!/cjsorel/status/159721329774432256

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  8. Great use of the quinoa and Arbosana olive oil
    cereza25 at yahoo dot com

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  9. Tweeted: https://twitter.com/#!/GoddessFoodie/status/159729083444502528

    cereza25 at yahoo dot com

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  10. This looks delicious, I can't wait to get some arbosana oil and try it.
    ufg8trj@yahoo.com

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  11. Just tried quinoa on Sunday so was happy to see that this weeks Virtual Potluck recipes included quinoa and Arbosana oil.
    racblom@juno.com

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  12. Quinoa sounds good by itself, but toasted with Arbosana olive oil? Even better!

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  13. I must try this one at home and print this page out.I really love toasted nuts in my whole life and i must taste it.And i know this dish will satisfy me.

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