Would you like chips or fries with that?

How about both??  Well you can definitely have both if it’s kale chips and sweet potato fries.    Those were the sides to last night’s vegetarian dinner that all began with my trip to Whole Foods yesterday.  I always grab “The Whole Deal” newsletter when I walk into the store because it is full of coupons and recipes.  I started flipping through it right away and only got to page 3 before I came across a recipe I knew I wanted to make!  I tweaked it a bit based on ingredients/flavor preferences.

Quinoa Loaf

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease an 8″ loaf pan and set aside (I used a mist of olive oil).

• 8 oz sliced button mushrooms (equivalent to 1 cup)
• 1 15 can garbanzo beans/chickpeas (no salt added, rinsed and drained)
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 2 cups cooked organic quinoa
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1/8 cup chopped roasted red pepper
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 cup chopped red onion

*Quinoa cooking note* – Do NOT cook 2 cups of dried quinoa because you’ll end up with 10 cooked (learned that the hard way).  To get 2 cups, add 1/2 cup of rinsed quinoa to a pot with 1 cup of water; bring to a boil and then let simmer covered for about 20 minutes until all water is absorbed.

Add the sliced mushrooms to a pan misted with olive oil and sautee on medium-high heat until cooked (about 5-6 minutes).  While the mushrooms are cooking, put the garbanzo beans, oats, 1/2 cup water and garlic in a food processor and pulse until almost smooth (should have the texture of a chunky hummus).

In a large bowl, mix together the cooked mushrooms, bean puree, quinoa, peas, parsley, peppers, onion and salt & pepper to taste; then turn out the mixture into your loaf pan.  How awesome are all of those bright colors from the vegetables!

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Bake your loaf for an hour and 15 minutes and let it cool forabout 10 minutes before slicing into 8 servings.

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This would be great eaten solo like a slice of  meat loaf, but I decided to turn it into veggie burger!  I warmed my quinoa loaf slice in the toaster oven and placed it on top of a toasted piece of sprouted wheat bread. 

Since I was eating a “burger”, chips, fries and a pickle were appropriate sides of course. 

The sweet potato fries were made with half of a yam sliced into 1/2 strips and placed on a baking sheet  misted with olive oil.  I season my fries with a sprinkle of chili powder, cinnamon and salt and then give them another mist of olive oil…into a 425 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, turning them halfway through cooking time. 

 And the chips were kale chips!  I was so excited to try these since I’ve heard so many bloggers talking about how delicious they are – I took inspiration from this easy recipe, except I used my olive oil mister instead of an entire tablespoon and sprinkled onion powder on the greens before baking.

I really didn’t know what to expect when tasting the kale chips (confession: I’ve never eaten kale EVER).  These were so cripsy and crunchy – I will definitely be making them again.  The onion flavor didn’t really come through but they were delicious anyway.  The whole meal was awesome – I couldn’t decide what to take a bite of next! 

The other half of the sweet potato and another slice of quinoa loaf are in my lunchbox today.  Trying to think if there are any other creative ways I can eat up the other 6 slices of my loaf – any ideas?