Happy Remembrance Day :)
I attended a beautiful ceremony this morning and it was such a great reminder to be thankful for everything and everyone in my life and also those who serve our country. Remembrance Day never fails to bring tears to my eyes.
I must tell you, there is a reason for all of my pumpkin recipe madness as of late.
I have been testing out ideas for Project Food Blog Challenge #8 in case I advance to the next round. The challenge is to feature a sweet or savoury baked good with pumpkin.
Hence, the slew of pumpkin recipes on my blog lately!
The good news is, I have now decided on my pumpkin idea for challenge #8 so I am going to do a bit of a ‘pumpkin detox’ . Don’t expect to see much pumpkin around this neck of the woods for a while.
But, just in case you are desperate for some pumpkin recipes, I thought I would round them up for you…
Some of my Pumpkin Recipes:
Pumpkin Butter Swirl Pecan Butternut Bread
Itty Bitty Garlic Pumpkin Knots
Pumpkin Pie Banana Chunk Cookies
Pumpkin Butter Oat Squares w/ candied Pecans
Pumpkin Gingerbread with Spiced Buttercream
Pumpkin Pecan Pie with a Spelt Crust
Savoury Pumpkin Scones in Pumpkin Spiced Glaze
Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins
Maple Glaze Pumpkin Spice Baked glonuts
Vegan Spiced Pumpkin Pie Glo Bites
Pumpkin Pie Vegan Overnight Oats
Gingerbread Pumpkin Vegan Overnight Oat Parfait
Comforting Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
Spiced Up & Stacked Pumpkin Butter Pancakes
Pumpkin Pie Baked Breakfast Cake
I think there are support groups for people like me.
In other news, I threw together some fun ingredients for lunch today and I had a lovely dish in under 30 minutes. Of course, that was after a huge flop (from a cookbook!), but I won’t get into that. This post is all about the love, sweet, love.
Mandarin & Maple Spiced Quinoa with Cranberries, Apricots, and Almonds
Chewy, crunchy, and subtly sweet, this dish captures Autumn all in one delicious spot.
Adapted from ED&BV.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup quinoa, uncooked
- 1 & 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup toasted almonds
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp mandarin juice
- 1/2 cup mandarin slices, from can or fresh
- 1-2 tbsp pecans, chopped & toasted
- 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4-1/2 tsp sea salt, to taste
- Cinnamon + maple syrup + sea salt, to garnish before serving
Directions: Add your quinoa, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, sea salt, and mandarin juice. Bring this mixture to a boil and then reduce to low and simmer for about 12-13 minutes. Now stir in your chopped dried apricots and cranberries. Cook on low, covered, for another 5 minutes. Stir in your oil, almonds, and maple syrup. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Stir in the mandarin oranges very gently. Pour into a bowl and garnish with chopped pecans, a drizzle of maple syrup, cinnamon, and sea salt. Makes about 2.5-3 cups.
Don’t be alarmed at the brown dried apricots. They are organic and are naturally this shade.
Dried apricots that are orange in colour have been treated with sulphites.
First, add your quinoa, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, sea salt, and mandarin juice. Bring this mixture to a boil and then reduce to low and simmer for about 12-13 minutes.
Now stir in your chopped dried apricots and cranberries.Cook on low, covered, for another 5 minutes.
Stir in your oil, almonds, and maple syrup. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
Stir in the mandarin oranges very gently.
Pour into a bowl and garnish with chopped pecans, a drizzle of maple syrup, cinnamon, and sea salt.
Voila! A fun and unique Fall inspired dish.
Not only is it quick and easy, but it tastes fresh and light, with a hint of sweetness from the fruit and maple. It also has a wonderful crunchy and chewy texture thanks to the almonds, pecans, and dried fruit. I give it two thumbs up.
I would guess that it can be adapted quite easily too with whatever ingredients you have on hand. You can experiment with different types of dried fruit and nuts and even different grains. I also think it would be delicious with toasted quinoa or millet and it could even be served as a breakfast dish in addition to a lunch or dinner dish! In fact, I think I might heat some up for breakfast tomorrow. Mmmmm. Fall breakfasts are fun.
wow that is a lot of pumpkin recipes. i thought i was special because i have 2 cans in my pantry!
this looks amazing angela! i bet the mandarin oranges are wonderful with quinoa~
I never knew that about the color of apricots- thanks for sharing! The salad looks great and I bet it would be great with some scallions or chives mixed in for even more flavor contrast. (I may be addicted to oniony goodness, though, so do with that what you will :) )
Love mandarin oranges!
Oh man that looks SO good! I’m not a big fan of mandarin oranges, though. Too squishy.
So…many…pumpkin…recipes! I LOVE IT! :)
Last night I made your maple baked beans AND the butternut squash/apple casserole.
Both were a hit! Thanks!
Hi Angela,
I have a question about your breakfast cakes. Are they meant to be eaten hot out of the oven, at room temperature, or chilled in the refrigerator? Thanks!
You can eat them any way you like! I think I prefered them cold if I remember correctly, but they are also good hot! generally I prefer cold oats over hot ones though…I’m weird like that!
Thanks for this! It looks awesome. I think it would make a wonderful side dish for Christmas, actally. I also think I might try this with diced apple in lieu of the mandarin slices… hmm. Yummy either way!
You always have such creative recipes!! can’t wait to try this one, as well as some of your pumpkins recipes…first step buying some canned pumpkin, I’ve never actualy tried it since my Grandma makes pumpkin for pumpkin pies etc. from scratch.
We served your quinoa salad for Thanksgiving brunch. I have one daughter that’s vegetarian and my son’s girlfriend is lactose and gluten intolerant. This was the perfect dish for them. Wonderful!
I made this for dinner – yum! (although, given the sweetness, I think I would have preferred it for breakfast/brunch). I had leftovers, but not enough for a full meal, so this morning I mixed the remains with some greek yogurt and ate it cold. It was fantastic! It reminded me of overnight oats, but even better – crunchy, flavorful, creamy, perfect! Highly recommended for any non-vegans with leftovers.
Incredibly Delicious, thank you.
Hi, I just came across your website and I’m loving it! I’ve already bookmarked a lot of recipes for using over the next couple of weeks. I’ve been making a similar version of this recipe for some time now…with the exception of adding an avocado to the above. It definitely adds a nice touch!