In the gastronomic world dominated by upstarts and gorgeous vegetables like the zucchini, purple corn and red cabbage, the humble pumpkin hardly finds any takers. But if you have been following my blog for sometime now, my fascination with the rather out of shape member of the squash family won't come as a shocker to you. I love the vegetable to an extent that one would always find some stocked in my fridge. While it is a rather common ingredient in most of the curries/dal in Odisha, I love to cook the vegetable just by itself. A simple pumpkin fry would do on most days, the spicy Sri Lankan Pumpkin curry is a must-have when I am in a mood to indulge myself.
With kiddo following in my footsteps, our family's love for this vegetable is now widely recognized. Just to ensure that he does not get teased about it, I now have a mission to give this down-market vegetable a sexy new makeover. And this vegan salad recipe, a complete meal in itself, is the first thing that came to my mind. Filling to the core and bursting with fiber, this is something that one must give a try.
Read on for the recipe -
Preparation Time - 20 mins
Ingredients -
Preparation - Take the vinegar, olive oil, sugar, chili flakes/pepper and salt in a bowl to prepare the dressing.
Chop the onion into thin slices and add to the dressing. Keep aside for 20 mins.
Cooking - Wash and cook the quinoa with 1 cup water and a tiny pinch of salt in a saucepan. Once the water is absorbed, fluff it up .
Sprinkle a few drops of oil on an iron skillet. Once it starts to smoke, throw in the pumpkin slices . Sprinkle a tiny amount of salt and cook them on high till brown spots begin to appear. Flip them over and cook on the other side as well. Once they are done ( not mushy ), remove and keep aside.
Add the boiled kidney beans, the pan-seared pumpkin and the dressing to the quinoa. Toss gently.
Garnish with a sprig of cilantro. Serve at room temperature.
With kiddo following in my footsteps, our family's love for this vegetable is now widely recognized. Just to ensure that he does not get teased about it, I now have a mission to give this down-market vegetable a sexy new makeover. And this vegan salad recipe, a complete meal in itself, is the first thing that came to my mind. Filling to the core and bursting with fiber, this is something that one must give a try.
Read on for the recipe -
Preparation Time - 20 mins
Ingredients -
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1/2 cup boiled kidney beans ( or use canned ones )
- 1 cup pumpkin slices
- 1 small onion
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes or crushed pepper
- salt to taste
- a sprig of cilantro
Preparation - Take the vinegar, olive oil, sugar, chili flakes/pepper and salt in a bowl to prepare the dressing.
Chop the onion into thin slices and add to the dressing. Keep aside for 20 mins.
Cooking - Wash and cook the quinoa with 1 cup water and a tiny pinch of salt in a saucepan. Once the water is absorbed, fluff it up .
Sprinkle a few drops of oil on an iron skillet. Once it starts to smoke, throw in the pumpkin slices . Sprinkle a tiny amount of salt and cook them on high till brown spots begin to appear. Flip them over and cook on the other side as well. Once they are done ( not mushy ), remove and keep aside.
Add the boiled kidney beans, the pan-seared pumpkin and the dressing to the quinoa. Toss gently.
Garnish with a sprig of cilantro. Serve at room temperature.
Its early morning now and i have gone through your post, so have enough time to arrange ingredients to prepare this salad.
ReplyDeletethats great !! do let me know ur take on it :)
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