Second Time’s A Charm: Granissimo Andean Mix Salad

While shopping at Winner’s Home Sense, during the period between Christmas and New Years, I discovered this Go Go Quinoa product:

http://www.gogoquinoa.com/products/granissimo/andean-mix-pumpkin-seeds/

I figured I’d give it a try considering how I LOVE their Granissimo mix which I use regularly to make Go Go Quinoa Salad. Like with the Granissimo mix, I decided to go with the recipe on the back of the package.

I unfortunately didn’t have carrots in my fridge at the time or celery, although I did have some celery salt so I decided to go ahead with what I had.

Although it looked like it was going to taste great, the result was just ‘meh’. I thought that “salt and pepper to taste” was a bit of an understatement, but to their credit my attempt at the recipe was lacking the carrot and the celery. Perhaps these two components would round out the recipe by adding a sweet and savoury note.

I had kinda given up on the mix and it laid dormant in my pantry until I discovered their Granissimo Andean Mix Salad recipe while searching for recipes on their website to use with their Anelli Vegetable Pasta (which I later used to make Gluten-Free Spaghettios).

Granissimo Andean Mix Salad

by Go Go Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 cup of Granissimo Andean Mix with pumpkin seeds

1 cup of corn

2 mangos diced

2 cups of chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

1 cup of dried cranberries

½ red onion thinly sliced

3 tablespoons of olive oil (or more to taste)

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (or more to taste)

1 red pepper diced

Salt to taste

Preparation:

In a medium pot, cook 1 cup of Granissimo in 2 cups of water until almost all the liquid is absorbed. Set aside, add the olive oil and let cool until room temperature. Add all the rest of the ingredients and mix. Refrigerate until time to serve.

I didn’t wait for the salad to cool in the refrigerator. I ate it while it was still warm and it was delicious. I placed the remainder in the fridge so that I could bring it to work the next day, and about an hour later friends showed up with my guy and they asked what smelled so delicious. I grabbed a bowl and took out a small serving from the fridge for him to try. He had a funny look on his face and said “This would probably taste a lot better if it were warm”. I had said that I had only made the recipe that night for the first time and had tried it warm, but I had assumed that it was fine to serve it chilled as the Go Go Quinoa Salad is great either warm or chilled.

I tried the chilled version of the salad the next day, and I have to agree with my friend that it is, in fact, best if served warm.

Have you tried this Andean & Pumpkin Mix? If so, What’s your favourite recipe?

Uh-Oh! (Gluten Free) Spaghettios!

Remember Spaghettios?? They were a staple for me when I was a kid.

That is, until I developed an food allergy (or intolerance) to tomatoes. At the time I was suffering from severe gastro pain and would be up sick several nights throughout the week for hours on end until the pain went away. On a few occasions the pain was so bad that I thought I would pass out. It was a little scary for my parents because there’s a long line of bowel cancer in my family due to a condition that we have called F.A.P (Familial Adenomatous Polyposis) and it wasn’t anticipated that it would affect me until I was much older (I was about 10 at the time). But all of the tests came back clear for any signs of cancer but I was still having issues. I remember going back and forth to the hospital on numerous occasions, when finally a new doctor recommended that it could be a food allergy. Months later I had the allergy test and it concluded that I had an allergy to tomato and egg yolk (in addition to several non-food allergies).

In hindsight, it made perfect sense. On average I consumed 3 or 4 cans of Spaghettios a week. I stopped the Spaghettios and other tomato based foods and I got better. It was hard to give them up cold turkey. I went tomato free for many years and eventually I was able to wean my way back to tomato based foods.

But then I grew up …. and grew out of Spaghettios.

Now, I am severally gluten intolerant (if not Celiac … which I’m in the process of trying to determine). I’m usually pretty good with not pouting over the foods that I can no longer enjoy. But the other day I passed the canned section and a can of Spaghettios caught my eye. And it was discouraging that I was able to “grow out of” my tomato allergy … only to be affected by a severe gluten intolerance as an adult. For a minute, I just wished that I could have a can so that I could feel like a kid again. Sadly I dropped my head and carried on.

On my most recent trip to Toronto, I picked up a pack of GoGo Quinoa Anelli vegetable pasta, while at a natural food store, because it looked interesting and I wondered what it was like. It’s completely organic and consists of Organic white rice flour, organic quinoa flour, organic beets, organic spinach and organic tumeric. It’s wheat-free/gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan. The pasta was in my pantry for over a month while I wondered what I would do with it. … Then it hit me! SPAGHETTIOS!! Yes, his was a most excellent idea!

So I woke this morning, excited because I was going to attempt gluten free Spaghettios!

I decided to google “Spaghettios Recipe” and found several hits. One of which, seemed straight forward so I decided to try it out. Get the recipe here: http://www.examiner.com/article/make-your-own-homemade-spaghetti-o-recipe-frugal-recipes-for-picky-eaters

Ingredients:

• 3 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) tomato soup
• 1 soup can water
• 1 soup can milk
• 1 pound small pasta rings, alphabets, or stars
• 6 ounces Velveeta cheese (processed cheese), cut into very small cubes
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• Pinch of sea salt, optional

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions, minus 3 minutes. This will ensure that the pasta, once added to the tomato soup, does not become mushy. Drain pasta.
2. In large pot, add tomato soup, milk, water, butter, cubed cheese, and salt. Bring to simmer over low heat until cheese is melted. Stir in cooked pasta. Bring back to a simmer over low heat, stirring often, until heated through and thickened.
3. Yield: approximately 6 to 8 one-cup servings

I had used ingredients that I readily had available in the house such as: PC Brand Blue Menu Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper soup, almond milk, Havarti cheese, and the Anelli pasta. The can of soup that I had was 591mL so I had to scale the above recipe back somewhat. I also skipped the additional water.

The result was tasty but there was an obvious lack of sweetness to make it just like the Franco-American version that I grew up on as a kid. I decided to add a little bit of Ketchup to sweeten the taste. I think this is a trial and error basis, so I’d start out with a 1/4 cup of Ketchup and add more to suite your taste.

I also recommend waiting for the dish to cool a little before you dig in. The cheese will solidify slightly and the texture will seem that much more familiar if you just wait a few minutes for it to cool down. Trust me, your tongue will thank you! 😉

The Anelli was fantastic and the sauce worked out well. It really did look and taste like Spaghettios and I really did feel like a kid again while eating it…. minus the severe gastro distress! 🙂

Let me know if you try out something similar!

Cheers!

Krista.