Chia Challenge: Day 2

I've been a bit remiss. Didn't manage to post a pic or recipe of what I made for the second day's dish containing chia seeds. I managed to make a basic mixed vegetable upma, using quinoa (and a bit of split moong for the grain), and some cauliflower florets, shred carrot, edamame, capsicum, and a little leftover zucchini for the veg.

Between the quinoa, moong, edamame and peanuts I added, I feel fairly certain it can stand alone as a perfect meal on its own. Plenty of fiber, low-glycemic type carbs, high protein, and full of flavor. I added the chia seeds at the last minute so they still had some crunch.

I doubt I'm going to reinvent the wheel by taking the time to peck out my recipe, as the internet is chock-a-block with others who post similar material. However, if you're interested in a great upma recipe, you cannot go wrong by checking out Indian Cuisine's recipe (which, for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to imbed the link. What the hell?):http://thecuisine.blogspot.com/2012/01/mixed-vegetable-broken-wheat-upma.html


The husband, of course, scoffs a bit when I make things like upma or kichadi, as traditionally they are food which is served to either folks who are sick, or the elderly. That, notwithstanding, upma can be a delicious, nutritious and quick item to be made for dinner itself or served as a side dish.

In my microwavable rice cooker (Progressive brand, seriously, well worth the $8 I spent for it), I put the quinoa, moong, cauliflower florets and turmeric, with enough salted water and nuked it for 12 minutes.

While the quinoa cooked, I prepped what I needed. I get a lot of my groceries from Trader Joes, and as of late, I've gotten a lot of veggies in ready to go form. My carrots were already shredded and I got a pack of onion/shallot/garlic already chopped. This just left me to dice up the capsicum and the zucchini, and take a handful of peas out of the freezer. And the only other thing I did in my recipe is "finish" the dish with a tablespoon of coconut oil, much in the way the French finish a dish with a pat of butter.

From beginning to end, it took me less than one half hour to get dinner on the table. I served the upma with some watermelon (gah, won't buy watermelon again until warmer months, no good can come from melons in the winter!) and a handful of Trader Joes curly chip things which are made of potato and lentil, and remind me, taste-wise, of papads.

I'm now wondering if the leftover upma could be incorporated into a vada batter or even make very flavorful koftas in a subdued gravy. That's me, always thinking of ways to use up leftovers. Not sure if it's a carry over from my Scottish lineage, as the Scots are known for their thrift. But why waste money? I'll just transform this stuff into something else, equally delicious.

Stay tuned.