Sequestration Meal #435

 

I bet you were wondering if I was ever going to just post an ordinary meal again! (I wondered when that was going to happen myself, for a while, honestly!) But here we are with a colorful bowl of deliciousness that surprised me with how good it was, since I mostly just made it because I had the stuff around. That's actually one of my favorite things about trying to discipline myself to cook from what I have periodically, rather than choosing a recipe and buying ingredients: I get to make all sorts of discoveries when I work backwards from my own stocks!

My main dish was some cheesy quinoa with broccoli and chickpeas from the recipe at Zen and Zaatar. It probably relies on the heavenly qualities of cashew cream for most of its "stop and pay attention to me" factor, but I also loved how the quinoa was transformed into this creamy, savory porridge without me having to do much to it. This is a seriously easy recipe that could stand as a meal on its own and I'd be fine making it on a weeknight after work; this one is staying firmly in my back pocket for future rotations. It's all the more beautiful because I used tri-color quinoa, so it looks a lot more complicated than it is.

With that, I had some sauteed radishes using a recipe I veganized from Land o' Lakes of all places. I am trying to teach myself to eat radishes and I had heard that they're quite different cooked, but on a day as hot as the day I made this I wasn't about to turn on the oven to roast them. These were cooked on the stovetop. They stayed crisp but tender and although you wouldn't mistake them for anything but radishes, somehow they were less harsh, and I really enjoyed them. A definite one to add to my win column! Not only are radishes pretty, but they're also very cheap. 

Finally, I had some plain steamed carrots that I tossed in a little melted vegan butter to round out the meal. They added color, of course, but also, if I was setting out to make two new-to-me recipes I felt a bit unsure of, I wanted to have something I knew would be good. Carrots never fail me. Especially with butter.

Although this meal does contain cashews and therefore I didn't tag it as nut free, it is gluten free and soy free (assuming you use a soy free vegan butter; check the ingredients in yours to be sure).