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Monday, May 10, 2010

Martha Mondays - Quinoa Apricot and Nut Clusters

It was my turn to choose our project for Martha Mondays and I thought I'd choose a healthy one. I use quinoa quite often, but usually use it like couscous as a side dish or use it in my quinoa salad. I thought of trying these Quinoa Apricot Nut Clusters or the Greek Style Quinoa Burgers, so we just went with the first one. If you want to see the recipe check here.
I just wanted to say that this recipe was a typical "Martha" recipe with ways too many steps than are needed. She calls for raw pistachio! Where do you even get raw pistachios? and why do you need them raw? It called for raw sunflower seeds which is fine I use raw sunflower seeds in my granola recipe. Okay, but Martha makes a separate step to roast them. Cooking the quinoa was fine I do it for my salads all the time, but then toast it? Then toast the oats separate? why? then the seeds? Whew! After the quinoa was toasted you do the others as it cools.

Maybe it was necessary to do this with the quinoa because it was still moist form cooking, but I wonder what would happen if you just used it like it was.

The oats are ready to toast....okay I threw the seeds in with them., and didn't do them very long, again...why is this necessary?
Then mix, sugar, chopped apricots, (she wanted them sliced, but I chopped them) I added some dried cherries that my sister gave me. Add the beaten egg, oil, honey and vanilla. Place 1/4 cup scoop and flatten them.
Oops, quick pic before the oven. Oh, she also wanted you to use parchment paper, and you were suppose to lightly oil it...again, why? I used my stoneware bar pan/cookie sheet that I always use and nothing sticks to it. I never grease the pan even when it calls for it and everything comes out fine.
If I tried to move them too soon they fell apart, but they were iffy about sticking together from the start. I tasted one and it didn't have much flavor. The apricot didn't really add much to it. I couldn't taste the pistachios at all. So I decided to do the rest more like a bar and added some nutmeg, cinnamon, and flake sea salt over the top. I liked the cherries in it, and wish I added more.
All in all it was okay. It smelled good when it was baking. It would of been soooo much easier to just do my grandma's granola recipe. Not much need to improve on that, it has a great flavor, easy to make and my family requests that I make it often! Maybe I'll try the quinoa burgers next time.
I thought I would share some flowering trees we saw on our walk.

I took some clicks of the Jacaranda tree in bloom.

The orchid tree is on the tail end of it's blossoms!
Check out the others Martha Monday results. Maybe they had better luck than I did! Thanks for checking mine! Happy Monday!


Edited to add: I had a request for my quinoa salad, I just wanted to show the link for it here .

25 comments:

  1. I'm making mine tonight and am glad I read other posts first :) We had a family full of colds this weekend so I left it until today. I'm gonna use your tip on the nutmeg & cinnamon. Thanks for the great pick :)

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  2. Lovely filling clusters. They look awesome and healthy!

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  3. I think all the separate roasting was b/c they all had different roasting times. Which is totally annoying. And I have NO idea where you are supposed to find raw pistachios. I've never seen them. I've never seen pistachios w/o shells either, so I ended up shelling mine. Ugh.

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  4. I'm with you, I'm not big on taking 37 steps to make something. I often cut out what I think are useless steps in my recipes. I'm all for throwing it all in a pan and see what comes out! Thanks!

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  5. I just made two batches of my homemade granola bars/protein bars this evening after work. These that you made look great but I have to agree with you on all the "whys" I bet it would be the same either way!

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  6. Very interesting use of quinoa....I've never seen an orchid tree...It's very pretty.

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  7. That jacaranda tree reminded the ones we had in our neighborhood in beirut; I can't believe Martha is wanting the pistachios "sliced"!!!!! Never heard nor seen pistachios sliced. Well, whatever, you made it and it looks great and I am sure did not disappoint taste-wise.

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  8. These quinoa cookies look so scrumptious! This is a terrific idea!

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  9. Oh wow, quinoa cookies! Have never seen quinoa cookies before. They look so crunchy! And those orchids look really beautiful. Hope you have a great time!
    Cheers, Kristy

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  10. I love you jacaranda and orchid tree.......they meand spring and good weather (not like here it's raining and rainig....)

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  11. Sarah, I'll be looking for yours. Hope everyone's feeling better.

    Cool, thank you

    Marthaandme, I had to shell my pistachios too, I used to be able to find them in bulk. I did add the sunflower seeds later with the oats.

    Debbi, you sound like my kind of cook!

    Martha, I'll have to check out your protein bars. Sounds good.

    Bo, I thought in was interesting cooking the quinoa then toasting it before using in the recipe. The Ochid tree might have another name, that what we call it.

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  12. tasteofbeirut, Thanks for the compliment. She didn't have us slice the pistachios, it was the apricots she was slicing. :) She called for "raw" pistachios, which I've never seen anywhere.

    5 Star, thank you.

    Kristy, I thought the cookies were different, and they are crunchy.

    Zia, yes I love our weather and all the blossoms it brings! Sorry about the rain!

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  13. This makes for a fabulous and healthy snack.
    That orchid tree is simply beautiful.
    *kisses* HH

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  14. These Quinoa cookies looks so healthy and awesome :)

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  15. These look so delicious and healthy!!!What a great snack!

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  16. Never tried quinoa cookies before. Maybe can get it in the market place ;)

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  17. These are interesting little clusters! Nice combo of flavors!
    Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting on my tea sandwiches! What's up with hubbies not liking cucumbers???? Weirdos!

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  18. I'm excited to see the use of quinoa in a cookie... but judging from your review they're not quite what you wanted them to be. Still, it gives me a new idea in that using quinoa in cookies is possible.

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  19. This sounds really great! I love the quinoa!

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  20. All of this toasting sounds slightly ridiculous...but the finished product looks good!

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  21. Healthy and yumm clusters...the orchid looks beautiful :-)

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  22. I thought the quinoa does not need to be cooked and can be toasted just like the other ingredients. Ok....it still needs another step to cook the quinoa.

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  23. Thanks everyone for your comments!

    Tigerfish,
    I was wondering the same thing about cooking the quinoa first. Maybe you need to for the texture....I don't know! I do know they use quinoa for flour to make gluten-free pastas.

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  24. Hi, Lyndsey! Next time you make quinoa with feta and olives why don't you post the recipe so that I know how to make it too. I always have feta and olives on hand, and I have some quinoa left over. I tasted it after I boiled it and I thought it would make a good side dish.

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  25. Ana,
    It does make a good side dish and you can use it pretty much like couscous. For a cold salad I prefer quinoa over couscous. I added the link to my salad to my post.

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