Quinoa Salad with Roasted Eggplant and Chickpeas

A hearty and wholesome savory salad to enjoy for lunch or dinner. This is a meal in itself, or it pairs really well with grilled meats, sausages, and other barbecue foods.

For 4 servings, you will need:

• 150 grams of quinoa
• 1 eggplant
• 1 can (400 grams) of chickpeas, drained
• 1 medium-size red onion or 2 small-size red onions
• A handful of fresh cilantro
• Some olive oil to roast the eggplant and chickpeas

For the dressing, refer to our sweet and spicy dressing recipe.


Preparation Time: 40 minutes
Resting Time: At least 1 hour if you'd like your salad cold


Start by pre-heating your oven at 220 C ( 430 F).

Drain the liquid out of the can of chickpeas, then rinse and drain them.

Rinse the eggplant, then shop it into small cubes.

Place the chickpeas and eggplant pieces in a large bowl. Add some olive oil and toss the chickpeas and eggplant pieces to have the olive oil coat your veggies.

Cover an oven rack with foil or parchment paper, and drizzle a little bit of olive oil.

Spread the chickpeas and the eggplant pieces on the foil, and place the oven rack in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, keep your eyes on it.

While the chickpeas and eggplant are roasting, prepare the quinoa per the packet's instructions - mine says one part quinoa for two parts water, and heat it up for about 15 minutes.

While everything is roasting and boiling, finely chop the red onion and roughly chop the coriander.

Once the chickpeas and eggplant are roasted and the quinoa is cooked, let them cool down for about 20 minutes.

Combine all the ingredients together.

Prepare the dressing by referring to our sweet and spicy dressing recipe.

Now, you have another decision to make!
If you would like to eat the salad warm, serve it right away after adding the dressing.
If you would like to eat the salad cold, which is my preference, cover the salad and place it in the fridge for at least one hour. Before serving, add the dressing, or simply let everyone help themselves to however much dressing they want to add.

Enjoy!

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Charline Leblond

Pineapple and Shrimp Verrines

These verrines are easy to make and, aside from the fact you have to do it in two steps (the marinade taking the longest time), quite fast. They are refreshing and will be ideal either for a light starter or an appetizer.

For 4 verrines, you will need the following ingredients:

• About 20 shrimp
• One tablespoon of curry powder
• A good-size handful of coriander leaves
• A can of 550 grams of cut or sliced pineapple
• The pineapple juice of the same 550 grams of cut or sliced pineapple

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Marinating time: 4 to 8 hours


Start by your marinade, as it will have to rest for a few hours.

Cut the head of your shrimp and peel them.

Roughly chop the coriander.

In a container, pour the pineapple juice, then add the curry powder. Add the chopped coriander, and mix a bit.

Add your peeled shrimp.

Cover with a plastic film, and place in the fridge for 4 to 8 hours to let the marinade infuse the shrimp.

Place your pineapple pieces in a blender and mash them into a puree. It is your choice whether or not to leave pieces, my preference being having a few half-mashed pieces here and there.

Cover with a plastic film, and place in the fridge.

Hours after the marinade has been in the fridge, and just before your dinner starts, cut the marinated shrimp into pieces, but don't forget to keep 4 whole shrimp for the decoration.

It is now time to assemble your verrines.

To do so, it will take you only four simple steps.

The first step is to pour the mashed/pineapple purée as the bottom layer.

The second step is to add the marinated cut shrimp pieces as the second layer.

The third step is to place a shrimp on the side of your verrine. You can cut a little notch into your shrimp to help it hold on to the edge of the verrine.

The four step is to add few pieces of chopped coriander on top of the marinated cut shrimp pieces.

The final step is to serve and enjoy!

*Tip: Don't throw away your leftover pineapple pieces, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use them.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Charline Leblond

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

*Yawn*

Sunday morning, stretching. As strange dreams involving a predicament of sanity fade into the safe recesses of my mind, the distant rumbling of a waking insolent stomach interrupts the introspective stare at the inner walls of my eyelids. Eventually, the escapades of the previous night fade away with a whimper. But after such a deep slumber, there is only one who can reach a long skinny hand into the depth of my mind and yank open the shades, forcing my eyes to adjust to the rare English sun streaming in through my windows.

I was hoping to sleep just for one more hour, but alas they have forced my hand, prodding me with an awake stick. I know I must wake, I must appease them, I must give myself to their biddings.

The Pancake Gods.

Now surrendered to consciousness, all I can do is offer up a sacrifice consisting of one cup of flour, one tablespoon of baking powder, one tablespoon of sugar, one tablespoon of vanilla sugar (optional), half a teaspoon of salt, one egg, one cup of milk, and some chocolate chips. Perhaps I can appease the Pancake Gods after all, for I happen to know that all these things lie about in various shapes in my kitchen.

I start by ceremonially breaking the egg into a bowl.

The Pancake Gods like their pancakes to be as fluffy as the fur on the lower back of the great Garslfaard, and the only way to achieve this is by giving the egg a good beating. Michael Jackson told you to beat it, beat it. No one wants to be defeated, showin' how funky and strong is your fight. It doesn't matter who's wrong or right. Just beat it, beat it. Beat it until it foams up, then it has learnt its lesson and will diligently fluff up the pancakes.

Now carefully pour in the cup of milk, and the mixture should remain frothy.

Now, in a separate bowl - not the one with the eggs and milk - add your flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and the vanilla sugar (if you want).

And mix them all up until you get a proper homogeneous mixture.

We're almost ready to make pancakes! Carefully pour the milk/eggs mixture into the bowl with the dry, powdery stuff, while mixing it in. Keep mixing them together until the batter is smooth. If you like, you can add some vanilla essence at this stage. You should still see bubbles in the mixture. If you don't, then keep beating the batter ... the more you beat, the fluffier your pancakes will be.

Some people like to add chocolate chips; I just break milk chocolate into bits. Do whatever you want, its a free country. But the Pancake Gods will judge you.

Finally, ready for the pan. Ready a flat pan on medium-low heat and lightly grease it with oil. Pour a small amount of batter into the pan. While there is no rule on how large or small your pancake should be; remember that it is easier to flip small pancakes.

How do you know when to flip the pancake? Check the edges. You will notice the edges change colour (or change color if you're in America) when they are ready to be flipped.

Notice all those bubbles? We're going to be offering up some very fluffy pancakes to the Pancake Gods; yes, we might appease them after all. So when the edges start to change, flip the pancake!

This side should take no more than a minute. By now, the batter is solid, so you can check to make sure it is nicely browned.

I keep my pancakes in an oven on very low heat while I make all of them, so that when served they are still warm.

Also, to appease the Pancake Gods, I served my pancakes with bacon. And then offered up some jam, maple syrup or Nutella.

Now that the Pancake Gods have been appeased, we can go back to bed.

*Yawn*

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki