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Monday, August 11, 2014

A miso quinoa bowl for Graham Norton

One of my favourite all-time moments on The Graham Norton Show involved Graham teasing Gwyneth Paltrow about her love of quinoa. I know it's all scripted and much of that spontaneity has been manufactured by a team of writers, but watching GP squirm as Graham mocked her for including recipes for leftover quinoa ("who doesn't finish their quinoa? There's nothing left over, surely!') was a moment of TV brilliance.

Easy-Miso-Quinoa-Salad-Bowl

In some ways, I'm with Graham - there's not much call for recipes that use up leftover quinoa in our house either. When I cook it, I have a definite purpose in mind - either this superfood salad, which I used to eat so often that I could recreate it purely from taste memory, or this fast miso quinoa bowl, which I occasionally make myself for lunch as a treat.

Miso Quinoa Bowl
This makes a substantial lunch for one quinoa lover. If you have leftover quinoa, by all means use it!

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbsp white miso paste
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
a large handful of shredded spinach
1 egg

Rinse the quinoa well in running water then put in a small saucepan with the water. Bring to the boil, then let simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes. Let stand for five minutes. In the meantime, stir the miso, oil and vinegar or lemon juice together until well mixed. Stir this through the quinoa, along with the spinach. Remove to a bowl and keep warm while you poach the egg. Serve the egg on top of the quinoa-greens mixture, letting the yolk trickle through the grains. A squirt of sriracha sauce is not a bad idea, either. Serves one.

Are you a quinoa fan or do you agree with Graham's description of it as cross between couscous and cat litter?
Easy-Miso-Quinoa-Salad-Bowl-Recipe


12 comments:

  1. gorgeous recipe! I'm having this for supper tonight! we are quinoa junkies too:)
    Mary

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  2. oh my goodness... that egg, over quinoa... i'm in heaven. I'm not a huge quinoa fan either so this is a big deal for me that I love the look of this... as for GP, does the woman actually eat anything anyway?

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    1. My favourite Instagram hashtag is #putaneggonit - I am the world's worst poacher of eggs but very occasionally I get it right and this was one of those times. There's a lot to be said for fried eggs though (and probably fried quinoa, come to that). As for GP, well, someone has to be eating all those kale chips!

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  3. Oh that Graham Norton - haven't seen that show but I can imagine it. I do have leftover quinoa sometimes - I only know because I sometimes put it in potato scones - never have problems putting it to good use (potato scones will welcome it in them). This looks like a great lunch - makes me want to put some quinoa on the stove right now so I have some at lunch.

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    1. Potato scones? I'm sure Graham Norton would like them. Is the recipe on your blog?

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    3. I have potato scones on my blog and a note about adding quinoa - I don't think I ever do proper measured quantities which is very much in the spirit of leftovers! Here is recipe

      http://gggiraffe.blogspot.com.au/2008/02/potato-scones-for-brunch.html

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  4. I also love the Graham Norton show too Lucy and I would also love for you make this for me, any day of the week! Karen

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  5. Fab photo Lucy - that egg looks amazing. We are big quinoa fans in this household, but mostly use it as a rice substitute. I can't ever imagine a situation where we wouldn't know what to do with any leftovers though.

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  6. i've been on a brown rice kick lately - time for quinoa again!

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  7. What a sucker I am, is Graham Norton's show scripted :o( Quinoa is an occasional visitor to my kitchen but this recipe means it might come a little more often.

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