Sultana Rice With Quinoa

This is a nice sneaky way of getting quinoa into the kids without them really noticing due to the sultanas and nigella seeds!

It would take a great deal of patience for a fussy child to pick the quinoa out and my boys loved the sweetness of the sultanas so never really noticed anything else!

Serves 4.

Ingredients

50g butter or oil

1 large onion, peeled and sliced

1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced

A pinch of chilli flakes

100g basmati rice, washed and drained

70g white quinoa, washed and drained

25g red quinoa, washed and drained

75g sultanas

400mls water

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons nigella seeds

Method

In a lidded pan, heat the butter over high heat and then add the onion, cook until beginning to colour.

Reduce the heat and add the chilli and garlic, cook for one minute.

Now add the rice, both quinoa and sultanas, stir to coat.

Pour in the water and season.

Cover. Bring the pan up to the boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 20 minutes, do not remove the lid!

Turn the heat off, leave the lid on and let sit for ten minutes.

Remove the lid and stir in half of the nigella seeds and the parsley.

Spoon into a warmed serving plate and sprinkle over the remaining seeds.

Dukkah

Dukkah, what can I say, one of my favourite ingredients for so many things!

On its own with bread and olive oil, as a crust for chicken and fish, spooned over salads, sprinkled over rice, popped into soups, sprinkled over a mashed avocado, added to an egg for breakfast and even sprinkled over the top of barbecued meat.

This is a totally non traditional recipe, no hazelnuts and no roasting of spices but it works for us and keeps in a jar for a couple of weeks so this is the minimum quantity that I make.

Ingredients

60g macadamia nuts

50g pistachio nuts

4 teaspoons sesame seeds

3 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

a pinch of ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons nigella seeds

a really good grinding of fresh ly ground pepper

salt to taste

Method

In a frying pan, toast the nuts until just beginning to colour. Tip onto a plate to cool.

In a large mortar and pestle, crush the nuts so that it’s mostly powdery with a few bigger pieces, don’t over do it or it will be oily and stick.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Taste and add a little more salt if needed.

Store in an airtight container.