Quinoa Dressing garnished with Giant Italian Parsley
Bulgur Wheat or Quinoa
Thanksgiving Dressing (Serves 4 to 5 as a side dish)
Part
1
Cook over medium heat:
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery with some leaves, in
2 to 4 Tablespoons oil and/or unsalted butter until onions are translucent.
Cook over medium heat:
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery with some leaves, in
2 to 4 Tablespoons oil and/or unsalted butter until onions are translucent.
Add 1 cup medium to coarse bulgur wheat OR 1 cup (washed or prewashed) quinoa and 1 ¾ to 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth, cover
tightly, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Let sit off
heat for 5 minutes. Taste and carefully adjust salt if necessary. It probably
will not need any additional salt if you used salted broth.
Part 2
Microwave 1/3 cup packed sweetened dried cranberries in 2 Tablespoons orange or apple juice or water, until water simmers. Stir, cover and allow to stand until liquid is absorbed.
Shortly before serving, fluff warm quinoa with a fork and add softened cranberries, 2 Tablespoons chopped Italian parsley and 4 finely minced young scallions with some of the tender green parts, or some minced chives. Serve.
Seasoning Tips:
Bulgur Wheat version: The original recipe called for 1/4 teaspoon of poultry seasoning, but I leave it out because I want this dressing to taste different from the more traditional dressing on the table. You can add some black pepper with the onions and celery if using bulgur wheat.
Quinoa version: Try doubling the amount of softened cranberries.
On a day other than Thanksgiving, you can substitute a minced garlic clove or one or two shallots (added with the onion and celery) for the scallions or chives added at the end.
If there is a no-sugar purist coming to dinner, you can leave out the cranberries and garnish the finished dressing with pomegranate arils.
Quantity Cooking:
If you will be eating with a crowd where the kitchen will be busy, a quadruple batch of the bulgur wheat version (Part 1) holds nicely for a few hours in a 6 or 7 quart slow cooker or big covered electric skillet set to “warm”. I don’t know how well the quinoa version holds. Add cranberries, parsley and green onion shortly before serving.
Even after adding Part 2, this dressing re-heats nicely in a microwave. Great for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving.
Alternate Grains and Allergy information:
The quinoa recipe is gluten-free. I think a wheat and milk-free alternative with brown rice and maybe a little wild rice, cooked until done but still chewy, would also be excellent. For a different flavor, try adding some minced green tops from a bulb of fennel and chopping some of the bulb into the dressing, or some fresh tarragon. Consider pressure-cooking brown rice at high altitudes. Or try other grains. Cook enough rice (and/or other grain) in broth to make about 3 1/2 to 4 cups of cooked grain. Add to cooked onions and celery, add additional liquid if necessary for a moister dressing and proceed as above.
You're on your own figuring out equivalent amounts of cooked wild rice, millet, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat or pearled barley (people who react to wheat gluten may not get along with barley, either). Check basic cooking techniques for these grains online to determine cooking times and the proportions of liquid which will be needed.
This dish could easily be made VEGETARIAN. Just use vegetable broth or water instead of chicken broth and use oil rather than butter.
This recipe can be made free of corn products - check chicken broth and cranberry ingredients.
Stocking Up, Preparing Bulgur Wheat without Electricity:
The classic salad made with bulgur wheat, Tabouleh (AKA Tabouli) generally uses bulgur wheat soaked in hot or cold water, then drained before adding other ingredients.
In an emergency, even if you had no way to heat food and no fresh veggies, you could serve a salad using similar ingredients by soaking medium bulgur in cold water for one hour (or until hydrated), adding dried celery, parsley and onion (not as much as in this recipe) plus dried cranberries or other dried fruit, desired seasonings, a little oil and lemon juice or vinegar. Allow to sit until vegetables re-hydrate and flavors blend, stirring occasionally. Stir in a can of tuna or diced chicken (with the liquid in the can) if you like and serve.
Part 2
Microwave 1/3 cup packed sweetened dried cranberries in 2 Tablespoons orange or apple juice or water, until water simmers. Stir, cover and allow to stand until liquid is absorbed.
Shortly before serving, fluff warm quinoa with a fork and add softened cranberries, 2 Tablespoons chopped Italian parsley and 4 finely minced young scallions with some of the tender green parts, or some minced chives. Serve.
Seasoning Tips:
Bulgur Wheat version: The original recipe called for 1/4 teaspoon of poultry seasoning, but I leave it out because I want this dressing to taste different from the more traditional dressing on the table. You can add some black pepper with the onions and celery if using bulgur wheat.
Quinoa version: Try doubling the amount of softened cranberries.
On a day other than Thanksgiving, you can substitute a minced garlic clove or one or two shallots (added with the onion and celery) for the scallions or chives added at the end.
If there is a no-sugar purist coming to dinner, you can leave out the cranberries and garnish the finished dressing with pomegranate arils.
Quantity Cooking:
If you will be eating with a crowd where the kitchen will be busy, a quadruple batch of the bulgur wheat version (Part 1) holds nicely for a few hours in a 6 or 7 quart slow cooker or big covered electric skillet set to “warm”. I don’t know how well the quinoa version holds. Add cranberries, parsley and green onion shortly before serving.
Even after adding Part 2, this dressing re-heats nicely in a microwave. Great for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving.
Alternate Grains and Allergy information:
The quinoa recipe is gluten-free. I think a wheat and milk-free alternative with brown rice and maybe a little wild rice, cooked until done but still chewy, would also be excellent. For a different flavor, try adding some minced green tops from a bulb of fennel and chopping some of the bulb into the dressing, or some fresh tarragon. Consider pressure-cooking brown rice at high altitudes. Or try other grains. Cook enough rice (and/or other grain) in broth to make about 3 1/2 to 4 cups of cooked grain. Add to cooked onions and celery, add additional liquid if necessary for a moister dressing and proceed as above.
You're on your own figuring out equivalent amounts of cooked wild rice, millet, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat or pearled barley (people who react to wheat gluten may not get along with barley, either). Check basic cooking techniques for these grains online to determine cooking times and the proportions of liquid which will be needed.
This dish could easily be made VEGETARIAN. Just use vegetable broth or water instead of chicken broth and use oil rather than butter.
This recipe can be made free of corn products - check chicken broth and cranberry ingredients.
Stocking Up, Preparing Bulgur Wheat without Electricity:
The classic salad made with bulgur wheat, Tabouleh (AKA Tabouli) generally uses bulgur wheat soaked in hot or cold water, then drained before adding other ingredients.
In an emergency, even if you had no way to heat food and no fresh veggies, you could serve a salad using similar ingredients by soaking medium bulgur in cold water for one hour (or until hydrated), adding dried celery, parsley and onion (not as much as in this recipe) plus dried cranberries or other dried fruit, desired seasonings, a little oil and lemon juice or vinegar. Allow to sit until vegetables re-hydrate and flavors blend, stirring occasionally. Stir in a can of tuna or diced chicken (with the liquid in the can) if you like and serve.
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