Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

 Just wash the asparagus and cut off the hardest bit at the end. Heat a couple of tbsp of olive oil in a pan, add a garlic clove, peeled and cut into two, and then the asparagus. Sizzle for a minute or two, stirring, then cover with a lid and turn the heat off. The asparagus will cook in their own steam. Uncover, add a tbsp of crushed pistachio nuts and cubed feta. If using halloumi, cube it first then sizzle with the garlic and olive oil, remove, add the asparagus and cook as before. Add the halloumi back at the end with the pistachio. Serve on a plate of quinoa. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

In Lima I heard a lot about quinotto, quinoa cooked like risotto. Many of my Italian blogger friends also  make it, and I though of trying, starting with a classic saffron style 'quinotto'. I chopped one onion and cooked it with a little olive oil (I wanted to make a vegan dish, but remember that butter is traditionally used for saffron risotto), then I added 450 g of quinoa. Once the quinoa was 'toasted' and 'greasy' with oil, I added one glass of white wine, and then, ladle by ladle, slowly slowly, and stirring often, one litre of vegetable stock. I added the saffron just at the end, when the quinotto was cooked. How was it? Well, I liked it very much, my son liked it too, but my husband and daughter weren't so sure... they ate it, but are they are not going to beg me to make it again, they prefer risotto with rice :-). And did you ever try to make quinotto? Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

I got the idea from  this Italian blog  and although I changed almost everything in it, I kept the main ingredients: cauliflower and quinoa. I liked this idea because A: I really wanted to do something else with quinoa that didn't involve a salad or a risotto-type-of-dish, and B: I had cauliflower. Ingredients 1 cup quinoa 1 small cauliflower 200 g feta cheese 2 free range eggs Half tsp cumin seeds salt and pepper to taste olive oil Wash the quinoa, then place in a good pot with 2 cups of water. I also decided to cook the cauliflower at the same time (save gas, flavour and nutrients). Cut and wash the cauliflower florets and place over the quinoa. Simmer for 20 minutes. turn the heat of and let it rest for 15. Cube the feta and add to the quinoa and cauliflower, mixing very well. Add the eggs and mix well. With a mortar and pestle lightly crush the cumin seeds and add to the mixture. Adjust with salt and pepper. Brush a terracotta or other ...

Quinoa with flowers Ingredients 1 cup quinoa 2 cups water 1 small carrot 1 small cucumber 1 bunch onion weed (or spring onions) 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil juice from half a lemon salt and pepper to taste edible flowers Cook one cup of quinoa with two cups of water for 20 minutes. In the meantime chop very finely a small carrot, a small cucumber and a bunch of onion weeds (or spring onions). Put the still hot quinoa into a serving bowl, add two tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, the chopped vegetables, the juice of half a lemon and salt and pepper to taste. This dish can be served warm or cold (yes, even if it has cucumber it can be served warm!). Just before serving add edible flowers: I used onion weed flowers, marigold, violets and bok choy flowers. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©