This quick weeknight meal comes together in a flash. You get a great depth of flavor from the hit of miso and preserved lemon and a light, perfect-for-spring healthy meal.
Pea and Pepper Quinoa with Lemon and Miso
1 cup quinoa
2 c. vegetable stock
1 tsp. preserved lemon, diced
2 c. snap peas, tipped and chopped
1 tsp. white miso
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
S+P to taste
In a medium pot over high heat, bring the quinoa and stock up to a boil. Knock the heat back to a simmer, cover, and cook 20-25 minutes or until the quinoa curlicues open and the grain softens.
Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat in a large-ish pan. Add the pepper and sautee, stirring frequently, until the edges start to brown.
Add the peas and continue cooking until they are crisp-tender.
Add the miso and stir until combined.
Add the cooked quinoa and preserved lemons. Toss. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
This past week, my DH and I took a much-needed vacation to the Seattle area. We ate tons of local seafood, took lots of pictures, hiked, dreamed, and bitched about the hills. A (mostly) good time was had by all.
These are shots from “Vacation Day 1” – Pike’s Place Market (I loved it every bit as much as I thought I would, even if the 1980s-era Frugal Gourmet wasn’t around for a tour) & Pioneer Square. I could visit ‘The Market’ on the regular with no problem (other than having to find parking and shove myself through throngs of lollygaggers during peak hours).
According to the Pike Place Market website, the market was brought about by public outcry due to price-gouging by produce middlemen in the early 1900s. Consumers were fed up, so City Councilman Thomas Revelle championed creation of a public street market that would give consumers a place to connect directly with farmers. Pike Place Market opened on August 17, 1907 with a total of eight farmers – who were met by 10,000 eager shoppers. Over a century later, Pike Place Market is America’s premier farmers’ market, with over 200 year-round permanent businesses, 190 craftspeople, 100 farmers who rent space by the day, 240 street performers, and more than 300 low-income apartments for the elderly.
Pioneer Square was also neat – lots of cool old architecture and little shops. According to the Pioneer Square website, it is the ‘birthplace of Seattle’ and the ‘city’s first neighborhood’.
Pike Place Market
Market Sign 1Market sign #2 (taken by my DH)Yes, there are two of these shots. I loved them both. This one is mine, and even though the edge is clipped, I love the colors (especially on the background signs).My DH’s version of the meat sign. Taken with a wide-angle lens.First dinner in Seattle – table pub chips at Lowell’s in Pike PlaceCopper! River! Salmon! at Lowell’sLomo version of the Seattle Aquarium & waterfront ferris wheel (from Lowell’s)That’s some pig!Deco waterNarrow band focus of the famed Gum Wall (@ Pike Place Market)Wider angle of the famed Gum Wall (taken by my DH)
Pioneer Square
I just couldn’t resist 🙂I love this buildingThe colors were really vibrant, and you can’t beat the ornamentationSomething about this doorway I really likedOld advertisingI’m a sucker for old paint advertisingThe MissionLove the detail work on this old bankWhy yes, I would love to visit Alaska sometime (just not when it’s -20)
Still to come:
Discovery Park, Seattle skyline, Whidbey Island, Deception Pass, Anacortes & Ballard Locks
Barnacles clinging to a clam shell from our trip to Seattle. This was one of many ‘nature things’ I picked up along the beaches we wandered. I was fascinated by the rounded rocks we just don’t get on the East Coast, as well as the sheer amount of evidence that animals actually eat in the wild – we don’t get that either, really, (or at least not nearly as much) on the EC – the beaches are most likely too populated for all that. This particular day (and in fact most days), the beaches we visited were either deserted or nearly so. This shell is from Discovery Park.
I whipped this quick-and-easy lunch up from things I scrounged in the fridge. A half-used can of fire roasted tomatoes, some crazy good fire roasted red pepper spread from Trader Joes, some leftover lentils, citrus salt I made awhile back and some of the gremolata I served at Easter that has been chilling in the back of my fridge.
Fire Roasted Tomato & Pepper-y Lentils with Citrus Kick
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup black lentils, cooked
2 Tbsp. fire roasted tomatoes with green chills
2 Tbsp. fire roasted red pepper paste
2 big pinches citrus salt
handful hazelnut gremolata
In a medium pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the cooked lentils and cook, stirring frequently, until warmed through and starting to sizzle. Add the tomatoes and red pepper paste and stir (and stir, and stir) until thoroughly combined. Let sautee a few minutes until nice and hot. Toss in a big handful of the gremolata and sprinkle with a couple pinches citrus salt.
Gastography 