Food Day 2011

I was introduced to Food Day about one week ago from a blog posted by Marni Sumbal. I wasn't quite sure what it was all about but knowing Marni, I knew it had to be something promoting good health so I decided to check it out. I wish I would have found out about this sooner because I could have made a fabulous awareness event on our campus to benefit my college students. There is always next year!

From the FoodDay.org Website, here are the 6 pillars of the campaign:

 

Since I was short on time and there were only 3 community events in my area, I decided to celebrate Food Day at home with the husband. The only catch is... I was going to cook dinner. I think this whole idea really confused Kenny because he could not figure out for the life of him why I was so excited about cooking dinner over one week away. But excited I was and ready to plan.

Yeah... that planning bit... ummmm ... not so much. I knew I had one solid recipe that I was going to make because no matter how many different things I looked at, I kept coming back to this one recipe. Sadly it was only a side dish so I was still left with a main course to figure out. And in me fashion, I waited until Sunday morning to figure it out. (We "celebrated" Food Day on Sunday instead of Monday due to scheduling conflicts)

I started the day off great with an awesome breakfast
Omelet made with local eggs from a friends farm (1 whole egg, 2 egg whites) with onion and red bell pepper
1 piece of Whole Wheat Toast, half a banana and a teaspoon of local honey

(Lunch wasn't as exciting, open face PB&J and some fresh green beans with a tomato sauce)

After breakfast, I scurried around like a mouse trying to figure out my dinner so that I could go grocery shopping. I remembered a cookbook I picked up a while back, so I pulled it out for some inspiration. I am so thankful I picked this one up. (Thanks for the recommendation Runners World)

This is a cookbook of Training and Recovery Recipes from Chefs who also happen to be athletes. I didn't take any pictures of the preparation of the main dish, but if you happen to have this cookbook, I would highly recommend the Orange-Cumin Glazed Pork Tenderloin (Recipe included at the end for reference). It is definitely a keeper in this house! You can see it in a picture at the end! The pork comes out nice and tender and the flavoring is amazing and somewhat spicy but in a good way. I loved the side garnish of orange, onion and cilantro which really balanced out the spice. Kenny decided to skip that part since he does not like cilantro.


However the thing I was most excited about making was Baked Quinoa Patties, a recipe I found on the blog 101cookbooks.com . Like I said earlier, no matter how many things I looked at making, I kept coming back to this one recipe and knew that I was going to have to make it.

Here are the details (slightly altered from the original)

Baked Quinoa Patties

Ingredients (Altered to match what I used)

• 2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, at room temperature
• 5 large eggs, lightly beaten (I used 2 whole eggs, 3 egg whites)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh chives (From my garden)
• 1/6 cup  finely chopped fresh dill
• 1/2 yellow or white onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon (toasted) cumin
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup whole grain bread crumbs (See our "recipe below")
• water or a bit of flour, if needed

Cooking Instructions (from the site)
Preheat oven to 400F / 200C.
Combine the quinoa, eggs, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the chives, dill, onion, garlic, and cumin. Stir well.
Add the baking powder and bread crumbs, stir, and let sit for a few minutes so the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture.

The mixture pre-cooking

At this point, you should have a mixture you can easily form into twelve 1-inch / 2.5cm thick patties. I err on the very moist side because it makes for a not-overly-dry patty, but you can add more bread crumbs, a bit at a time, to firm up the mixture, if need be. Conversely, a bit more beaten egg or water can be used to moisten the mixture. If you're still having trouble getting the mixture to hold - mix in flour, a couple tablespoons at a time.
Oil a baking sheet, and arrange the patties with a bit of space between each. Bake for ~20 minutes, or until the bottoms are brown. Flip and bake for another 5 minutes.
Enjoy hot, or allow to cool to room temperature on a cooling rack.
Makes about a dozen patties.

The Finished Product

I did end up adding just a tad bit of water to mine in order to have a moist mixture that I felt would form into patties. I ended up with 15 quinoa patties. On the site there is also instruction on how to pan fry them but I wasn't interested. :)

OMG Were these little suckers amazing and delicious. I am so proud of myself for finding this recipe. I seriously might add them as a new household favorite. They have the best flavor and are great both cold and hot. To me it is amazing how good they can taste using such simple ingredients. These will definitely be incorporated to friend and family gatherings.


The Secret Bread Crumb Recipe
We make our own "bread crumbs" by crushing wasa crackers and adding a bit of any spicy pepper cheese. Kenny did this a while back for the top of a casserole and we have used the same idea a couple of times since. The original quinoa patty recipe called for bread crumbs and feta, so we took out the feta and substituted out bread crumb mixture instead.

The uber complicated bread crumb recipe is this:
6-8 wasa crackers (we use the whole wheat ones)
1 small package of shreeded cheese of your choice

Blend in a food processor until you have the consistence of bread crumbs. Viola... this finished product!

And here was our finished product for dinner

Orange-Cumin Glazed Pork Tenderloin (Front and Center)
Baked Quinoa Patties (Top Left)
Grilled Asparagus and Local Baby Eggplant from a friends garden (Top Right)

I am very pleased with the way things turned out. I found two amazing recipes to add to our collection and we had a great night eating in. I am so thankful that I am starting to gain some confidence in the kitchen and that I am venturing out to try new things.

My creativity got the best of me and I used some of our left over ingredients to make a fun little dessert but I will blog about that tomorrow!

Happy Food Day!!!

I hope that you take the opportunity to eat some "real" food!

Orange-Cumin Glazed Pork Tenderloin
From Ivy Stark, Executive Chef of New York's Dos Caminos Restaurant and former State Figure Skating Champion in Colorado

• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1-2 canned chilis in adobo
• Peel from one orange
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, lightly toasted
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 pork tenderloins (1.5 pounds)
• 2 oranges, segmented (about 2 cups)
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped (about 1/2-3/4 cup)
• Salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine orange juice, chipotles, orange peel, cumin seeds, and salt in a blender.  Puree until smooth.
Place the pork tenderloins in a shallow dish and pour the orange mixture over them.  Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge at least one hour or up to overnight.  Take the tenderloins out of the marinade, and reserve the remaining marinade.
Put the reserved marinade in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until reduced by half, about 10-12 minutes.  Keep warm.
Place the meat in a shallow baking dish.  Brush with a little of the reserved marinade after 15 minutes.  Bake for a total of 20-25 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 160 degrees in the center of the meat.  Remove the meat from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Toss the orange segments, red onion, and cilantro in a small bowl with a little salt.
Slice the pork and drizzle with reduced marinade.  Serve with orange-onion mixture.