Gluten-free quinoa wraps – our recipe

We hope you made it to the Simply For Life (SFL) seminar last night at the Trade and Convention Centre. If you did, you may have seen us. We were one of the many Saint John vendors taking part. Events like this are always full of information and for us it was a nudge to get on something we have in the works: identifying the SFL approved items on our menu.

On the subject of foods, last year when we were at the Fundy Food Festival we served up quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) wraps and they really went over well with everyone. Quinoa is a gluten-free food and we’re posting our recipe (see below).

 

What’s quinoa?

Quinoa is a grain-like crop grown for its seeds, which are edible. It has a long history as a food source. More significantly, it’s known for a number of valuable properties. Wikipedia tells us quinoa is,

“… Highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), and like oats, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source among plant foods. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest.”

Now, here’s our quinoa wraps recipe, via our long time friend Lianne of Exhale Coaching in British Columbia. Thanks Lianne!

Quiona Wraps Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 cups quinoa (keen-wa)
  • 2 cups water
  • Lettuce (iceberg, butterhead or romaine)

Method

Combine water and quinoa. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered and cook for 15 minutes.

Marinade

  • 3 tbs ginger, fresh and grated
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • 1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 tbs cilantro
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 2 tbs honey
  • 3 tbs lemon juice
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1-2 scallions (optional)

Method

Combine ginger, scallions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and cilantro. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, honey and salt. Combine these together and then add the quinoa.

Note: can be served warm or cooled. Next day, it’s even better. Can be served on its own or with a dollop of peanut butter / peanut sauce on each with the lettuce.

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Recipe for Italian Wedding Soup

Italian wedding: scene from The Godfather (1972).

You don’t have to be Italian to enjoy Italian Wedding Soup and, with our current weather forecast, you may find it a very tasty way to ward off the chill of the next day or two.

Janet, one of our Urban Deli customers, came by one day and shared a recipe for Italian Wedding Soup with us. Not only that, she also brought in the finished dish and it was wonderful!

It’s great with something as simple as bread sticks, Italian bread or baguette. Of course, a nice wine would be nice too. 🙂

Thank you to Janet for both the recipe and the sample.

Ingredients:

– 6 cups chicken broth
– 1 package mild sausage
– 3 tbsp garlic
– 2 cups celery (chopped)
– 1 large red onion (chopped)
– 1 – 16 oz (300g) frozen spinach (chopped)
– 1/2 – 3/4 cup pearl barley

Preparation:

1 – Remove sausage meat from sleeve and make into meatballs. Sauté with garlic in a frying pan until cooked.

2 – In a large pot, sauté chopped celery, onions and garlic until soft.

3 – Add chicken broth, spinach and barley, sausage meatballs to cooked veggies.

4 – Simmer for 2 hours

Serve with freshly ground parmesan cheese and enjoy!

(Aside: according to Wikipedia, the phrase wedding soup, “… is a mistranslation of the Italian language, minestra maritata (“married soup”), which is a reference to the fact that green vegetables and meat go well together.”)

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Mulled wine Urban Deli style – our recipe

We’ve had mulled wine available throughout December and many of our customers have commented on how wonderful it is. We’ve provided the recipe to a few customers that have asked about. Then we thought, let’s put it in our newsletter so those who want to try it at home can do just that over the holidays.

So, here it is … Enjoy!

Urban Deli mulled wine

Yield: 4
Ingredients

  • 1 750ml bottle red wine (we use the Italian Mezzomondo Negroamaro Salento)
  • 1 cup mulled apple cider
  • 4 tablespoons honey
  • 2 fresh rosemary sprigs
  • 3 cinnamon sticks
  • 3 whole star anise
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 3 whole peppercorns
  • 1 orange, sliced
  • 2 ounces brandy

Directions

  1. Put everything in a pot over the stove.
  2. Slowly bring all ingredients to a low simmer for 20 minutes.
  3. Transfer to a crock pot and serve.

It’s actually pretty simple. Pulling all the ingredients together really what it all about. If you do that, the rest is easy. 🙂

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