Gluten free lunch: Friands & Quinoa Salad

I have a very good friend who is gluten free and she was popping out for lunch today. Now, I knew Dorie Greenspan's chocolate chunkers were probably a no-go for a gluten-free lunch ;-) so I decided to check out a few blogs for some inspiration. Since we are heading into spring, I wanted something light and fresh.... maybe with a hint of herbs and crisp spring flavours.

Heidi at 101 cookbooks always has yummy, and very healthy recipes so I headed there. Found 2 great recipes...Lemon-scented quinoa salad recipe and Delicious big bowl - quinoa recipe. Hmm, which one to choose as they both sounded yummy, so I did a quick ingredients check.....Ok didn't have the entire ingredients for either of them, so amalgamated both the recipes. I added in asparagus (my first asparagus of the season, I have been waiting for this), cherry tomatoes, red onion and toasted pinenuts to the cooked quinoa and finished it with a lemon and garlic dressing and lashings of coriander. By now, you must know I love this herb, much to the disgust of the kids who always mutter, Oh no, not that smelly green grass again Mum!!!!


Quinoa is a fascinating grain. I love the way it goes from a hard, little ball and metamorphoses (is that a word, even?) into an alien looking worm thing. It is an ancient grain with a high nutritional value. It is light and fluffy when cooked, not unlike couscous, and has a slight nutty flavour. It is a versatile grain and can be used in loads of different ways. I prefer it as a salad and the beauty is that you can add whatever you like to it to have as a side dish or as a complete meal.

To finish we had Lemon and Blueberry Friands with coffee. A friand is a small French cake made with almond meal, egg whites, sugar and butter. Often fruit, such as berries, peaches or apples are added as well. They are crunchy on the outside, but light and sweet and melt in your mouth on the inside. These got another "Wow" from the Quality Control Inspector, as he tried to sneak a couple more from the plate when I wasn't looking.

The recipe I used for these was one by Allyson Gofton called Lemon Poppy Seed Friands. I didn't have any poppy seeds so omitted them. And to jazz them up a bit I pushed in 3 blueberries to the top of each friand before they went into the oven. Once they were cooked, I poured a lemon syrup over them. Mmmmm.

Moroccan Bean Soup

I absolutely love the Watties Moroccan Bean Soup that you can buy from the supermarket so thought I would have a go at making my own. It's perfect for taking for lunch and dinner with a big hunk of home made bread when I am on a 12 hour shift.

It's not authentic Moroccan fare by any means, but I love the blend of flavours in this soup. In fact it is even unusual that I have made two Moroccan meals in such a short space of time. I am more likely to whip up Indian or Asian meals than Moroccan.

So I used the No Knead Spelt Bread recipe that is fast becoming a favourite in this house. It was such a glorious sunny day yesterday that it took no time at all for it to rise and I got 2 big loaves out of it. While that was rising I cooked the beans and prepared the rest of the ingredients. The beauty of this soup is that you can add whatever beans or vegetables you like. I would have liked to added red pepper too, but given the cost of them at the moment, that was not an option! I probably would have put some ground cardomom in too, if I had had any. I like my soups thick and chunky too, so you can add or decrease the water to suit your own taste. It was very yummy, and I will definitely be making this again. It does make a large amount, but knowing this household, it will be gone in a couple of days!!

Moroccan Bean Soup
1 cup dried baby green lima beans
1 cup dried pink beans
2 cups red lentils
2 cans Watties Moroccan tomatoes
1 can plain tomatoes
1 can whole kernel corn
2 onions
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
2-4 garlic cloves
1 tsp crushed ginger
2 tsps sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups water

Cook the beans according to the type of bean. I soaked mine overnight and then cooked them for a couple of hours. The baby green beans cooked more quickly than the pink beans.

Cook the diced onions in a little oil until they are soft. Add the celery and cook a little longer.

Add the crushed garlic, ginger and spices and cook until fragrant.

Add the tomatoes, corn, washed lentils, sugar, salt and extra water and cook until lentils are soft and soup has thickened.

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander (cilantro).

Serve with crusty home made bread.