Tomato Quinoa With Roasted Vegetables

Happy Friday and first day of autumn!!

 

What if you forgot to take out your contact lenses one evening, but still put on your glasses?

What if you then couldn't figure out why everything looked a bit funny?

What if while watching t.v. with your husband, you took off your glasses and realized you could see the t.v. perfectly?

What if you momentarily - before realizing you'd simply forgotten to take out your contact lenses - thought there had been a miracle and your nearsightedness had suddenly been cured?

This is all hypothetical of course, it didn't really happen to me last night...really, I'm not that big a dufus...he he...

 

 

Anyhoo, on to food.

 

As I've complained mentioned many times before, Adam generally prefers meat and flour-based carbs (bread, pasta, etc.) to beans and whole grains, however, he is particularly averse to quinoa (which, I know, is technically a seed).  He claims it has nothing to do with not actually liking the taste, but everything to do with feeling overfed with quinoa at Passover every spring, which makes him sick of it for the rest of the year. 

So when I offered to make a quinoa dish for our Rosh Hashana dinner at my in-laws' this week (since my mother and sister-in-law love it as much as I do), I decided to make it in a way that I thought Adam would really enjoy. 

You see, Adam loves anything in a tomato sauce.  In fact, I think he would eat a tennis shoe, if I served it in a nice marinara.  I like tomato-based sauces too, however, I also like variety.  I do love, I mean absolutely love, sundried tomatoes, so I combined regular, and sundried in this dish to appeal to us both.

My husband grudgingly admitted that this is one good dish!  I made a large quantity to feed a crowd (although Adam says I made enough to feed a small country), so feel free to cut the recipe in half, or make the whole thing and freeze the leftovers.

Serve as as side dish, or add in a can of chickpeas, some cooked lentils or romano beans for a complete one-pot meal.

Tomato Quinoa With Roasted Vegetables

1.5 cups quinoa
2.5 cups water
2 cups sundried tomatoes (dry - not the ones in oil), chopped
28oz can diced tomatoes, with juice
2 tsp Costco Rustic Tuscan seasoning (or 1 tsp Italian seasoning + 1/4 tsp sea salt)
2-4 tbls red wine vinegar, to taste

4 small zucchini, cut into 6 pieces, lengthwise, then cut into 2 inch pieces
2 yellow bell peppers, cut into 6 pieces and then each piece halved
Red onion, cut into chunks
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp Costco Rustic Tuscan seasoning (or 1 tsp Italian seasoning + 1/4 tsp sea salt)
Season with salt and pepper, to taste

Place quinoa, water, tomatoes and seasoning in a large pot over medium heat.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low.  Simmer until quinoa is tender and liquid is absorbed. Stir in red wine vinegar.

For the veggies.  Toss with balsamic and seasonings and then spread on foil-lined baking sheet and roast at 350F for about 40 minutes.  Mix into quinoa.

This recipe has been added to this week's Gluten-Free Fridays on Vegetarian Mamma, and Diet, Dessert, & Dogs' Wellness Weekend.