Quinoa, Baba Ganoush and Lemon Roasted Asparagus

It’s still asparagus season, which means I’m still finding ways to incorporate it into my diet. One of the best tips for eating healthy, local, and organic is to eat seasonal foods. If you are a co-op or CSA member, you will get seasonal vegetables and fruit from your local farmer. This means weeks of asparagus and peaches for me right now, yay!

You will notice in my blog that I’m a huge quinoa fan, and I LOVE quinoa bowls! Mostly because they are so easy to prepare, and they taste so good! You can make a large batch of each ingredient for the week, and then pack up a bowl for your lunch. Simple, easy and delicious!

I’ve been wanting to try making my own baba ganoush for awhile now, and since this dish could use a sauce type ingredient since I don’t have my trusty sauteed mushrooms and onions in this bowl, I thought baba ganoush would be a perfect addition. So, I tried it, and–as with all my hummus recipes—made it without tahini. And I think it came out great, and it makes a great sauce/side for the quinoa.

So without further ado…let us begin!

For the quinoa and vegetables you will need:

1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 tbsp avocado oil
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb carrots
1 lb asparagus
1 lemon
1 tomato

For the baba ganoush you will need:

1 large eggplant
1 garlic clove
juice of 1/2 a lemon (you will use a half of the lemon above)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
optional: tahini and parsley

Step 1:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Put your quinoa on the stove to cook. You cook quinoa the same as rice, 1 part quinoa to two parts water. In a medium sized pot, add 1 cup quinoa and two cups water. Start cooking on high, and once the water comes to a boil, bring down the temperature to medium heat until the quinoa is cooked. You will know the quinoa is done when all the water is gone.

The quinoa should look like this when finished cooking

Step 2:

First you want to get your eggplant in the oven for roasting, for the baba ganoush. Spray a pan with olive oil, and slice the eggplant lengthwise. Put face down in the pan and into the oven to roast. Roast 10 minutes face down, and 10 minutes face up.

Step 3:

As the quinoa and eggplant is cooking, prepare your carrots and asparagus. Start with the carrots first, as they will need more cooking time. Peel the carrots and chop them. Mix with 1 tablespoon avocado oil, some salt, pepper and parsley flakes. Put on a tray and into the oven to roast, about 10 minutes by themselves.

While the carrots roast, prepare the asparagus. Wash the asparagus, then snap off the ends. Asparagus is easy, as it naturally breaks off where the hard, fibrous, chewy part is. This leaves the rest of the asparagus ready for cooking! Add them all to a bowl, and mix with the juice of half of your lemon, 1 tablespoon of avocado oil, salt and pepper.

Add the asparagus to your carrot tray after 10 minutes of roasting alone for the carrots. Cook together for another 10 to 20 minutes.

Step 4:

By this time the eggplant will be done roasting. Take out of the oven and let cool for a bit. Then, take spoon and scoop out the insides and put into your blender or food processor. Add the rest of the baba ganous ingredients: olive oil, juice of half a lemon, garlic clove, salt and pepper. If you are using tahini and parsley, add this in as well. Pulse and blend until you have a smooth, creamy mixture

Step 5: Plating!

By this time, your carrots and lemon asparagus will have roasted, your quinoa and baba ganoush done, so it’s time for plating! Take a generous portion of each dish, and load onto a plate. Slice a fresh tomato for extra color and freshness ,and top your baba ganoush with olive oil and parsley. Voila! You are done with the quinoa bowl!