Quinoa with Apples, Peas, Coconut & Ginger Miso Sauce — The Dirt on Vegetables

Hello, everyone! I apologize for my little hiatus from posting recipes, but I can assure you it was for good reason. I have been very busy recipe testing so that I could provide all of you with a bunch of lovely meals to prepare. To make up for my absence, I want to tell you what I have been obsessing over lately, because it will benefit you as well. Are you ready???CREATING OUTSTANDING

SAUCES

TO TIE IN ALL OF THE HEALTHY FOOD WE ARE GOING TO BE EATING!

Okay… that sounded more exciting in my head than it did once I typed it out, but let me tell you, these new sauces have been rocking my world.I was hired to co-chef an event for 100 people for a pop-up lunch featuring the concept of "vegan bowl food." It was sort of like a Chipotle restaurant-style set-up with an assembly line where you pick one grain, then one bean, and your toppings until your bowl was full.

The food was healthy and tasty, but in the end, it was the sauces that brought all of the flavors together. Five sauces were offered at the pop-up lunch, which my co-chef Ali and I spent a lot of time and effort creating and tweaking before the big event. All of that time making sauces inspired me to start a series with healthy recipes featuring irresistible sauces that are as easy as they are delicious.

This ginger miso sauce will be the first installment of this "Sauce Series." I actually made this sauce with a new recipe for the first time on Sunday night and I liked it so much that I decided to make it for the second night of Passover Seder.Quinoa tastes divine with this ginger miso sauce. I also experimented with hemp tofu in this meal, which I thought was

really

yummy. In order to avoid eating too much soy, I am trying to get into hemp tofu as an alternative and it is sold at health food stores. Heck, just writing about this recipe is making me crave it.

You guys keep on reading to the recipe below while I go grab a bowl. ENJOY!

Quinoa with Apples, Peas, Coconut & Ginger Miso Sauce

Author: Michele Wolfson

Quinoa Salad with Apples, Peas, and Coconut in the Ginger Miso Sauce

Ingredients

For Quinoa:
[br]1 cup quinoa
⅓ cup sliced almonds
2 tsp. olive oil
½ cup onions or 3 shallots, diced
1 Tbs. fresh ginger, minced
1 cup frozen peas
1 medium apple, diced
⅓ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
4 ounces hemp tofu (optional)[br]
[br]Ginger Miso Sauce:
[br]2 tablespoons yellow miso
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoons agave
1/4 cup brown rice vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon ginger, minced

Instructions

Cook quinoa according to package directions.
Toast almonds in a saucepan over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes, or until fragrant and beginning to brown, stirring often. Cool.
Wipeout saucepan; add oil and onion. Sauté onion 2 to 3 minutes, or until translucent, stirring occasionally. Stir in ginger.
Once quinoa is cooked, add onions and ginger.
Remove from heat, and stir peas into cooked quinoa. Let stand 10 minutes until peas are thawed.
Stir apple, coconut, hemp tofu, and almonds into quinoa mixture. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Mix all the ingredients together for the Ginger Miso Sauce in a medium bowl. Pour over the quinoa and stir together.