Organic Tricolor Quinoa with Fingerling Potatoes and Kale, Uttapam

We usually have uttapam, a South Indian pancake, batter made in our VitaMix blender and ready to use - it's really quite easy and created by just blending together rice and lentils, and letting the white batter ferment a day or so. It's probably my daughter's favorite food.

Today, my wife ate Senagalese food when she went to a parents' night out. I had the pleasure of my parents' coming over to eat. My Mom doesn't eat onions or garlic, and I wanted to make something that we could all enjoy.

I made a nice quinoa dish. In the past month or so, I've found a new kind of quinoa, an organic tricolor one. I took about a half dozen or so small fingerling potatoes, cut them in half and, in a stock pot with a little olive oil, gently cooked the potatoes over medium heat for 6 or 7 minutes till the potatoes were showing just a little bit of hint of brown. I then added a small zucchini, cut into maybe 3/8" thick discs that were then quartered. A minute or so later, I added a quarter teaspoonful or so of cumin seeds, stirred for less than a half minute, then added the tricolor quinoa (maybe 2/3 cup) and twice as much water, as well as some hand-torn kale leaves, a touch of salt, and a few small pieces of ginger. I brought to a boil, then simmered, covered for a few minutes. I turned the heat off and left the pan covered for about 7-10 minutes till the characteristic spiral was evident in the quinoa.

I served the quinoa with some tasty uttapam; for mine, I included bell pepper, green onion, ginger, and Daiya vegan cheddar-style "cheese". My daughter and parents ate well, and we all seemed to enjoy!