Quinoa Mango Salad

This was one of the best meals from last week. Mark raved about it while praising me for my diverse cooking abilities. What a good man!

The Quinoa Mango Salad was inspired by Curried Quinoa Salad with Mango from The Tropical Vegan Kitchen. Once again I tweaked it to fit what I had on hand.

Quinoa Mango Salad

1 cup quinoa

In a large saucepan bring salted water o a boil over high heat. Add the quinoa and turn the heat down to medium. Cook for about 12 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Drain and let cool.

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fruit juice (I used Knudsen's Morning Blend)
1/2 teaspoon agave
1/2 teaspoon stone ground mustard
1/16 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper (white pepper would be even better)

Whisk the above ingredients in a medium to large bowl and set aside.

1 mango, peeled and diced
1 medium cucumber, pealed and diced
3 scallions, thinly sliced

Once the quinoa is cool, add it, the mango, cucumber and scallions to the dressing. Toss well to blend.

I loved this salad and I have to admit, I bought more mango and cucumber to make another batch sometime this week. I might add some chopped mint this time just to try something a little different.

Vegetables in Coconut Milk

This dish was inspired by a recipe from The Tropical Vegan Kitchen, a cookbook that has so many recipes in it that make me hungry, I will eventually have to get my own copy and give up the one from the library.
I was looking for a quick and simple recipe that used several ingredients I had in the house, including coconut milk and vegetables. The Thai-Style Spicy Mixed Vegetables in Coconut Milk over Rice on page 104 came close enough to give me a starting point for what turned out to be a very tasty dinner.

Here's how I made it:

1 1/2 cups coconut milk
3 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
2 inch chunk lemongrass, chopped roughly
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons shoyu soysauce
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
pinch of salt

Place all of the above ingredients into a large pan and simmer gently for several minutes.

Add the following (or whatever combination of vegetables you have on hand):

1 1/2 cups frozen green bean pieces
3 cups of savoy cabbage, shredded
1 large carrot, shredded

Stir the vegetables into the coconut milk mixture, cover and let cook until the vegetables are done to your liking.

Serve over jasmine rice.

One thing that I would do in the future, that the recipe does not call for, is to pick out the shredded kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass chunks after they simmer in the coconut milk and before adding the vegetables. This would make the overall texture of the dish more pleasant.