Quinoa Smorgasbord

Quinoa Smorgasbord

This recipe is a perfect example about why it’s OK not to have a plan for dinner (as long as you have a well stocked larder). The past month has been jam-packed with foodie activities, whether it’s been cooking for a birthday party, camp cooking, or entertaining and cooking for family and friends from the east coast who dropped by for a visit. Our refrigerator has gotten such a workout that I’m surprised it hasn’t started spitting things back out at me.

The rainy, gray, Seattle weather had me down yesterday (its been a long 3 weeks of straight gloomy weather here) and I told David that I would come up with something to do with the items in our fridge for dinner. It may be hard to replicate the recipe exactly, but the good thing about cooking as opposed to baking is that a recipe is just a guideline, not an exact formula. What I thought was going to be a mediocre leftover dinner, turned into a delectable surprise for David and I. Use this recipe as a base for your own quinoa smorgasbord and experiment with what’s in your own refrigerator. Here’s what was in mine….

Lemon Drizzly Cake

Lemons

When the lemons were 10 for £1 at the market, I couldn’t resist. Without my baking equipment, my recipes gear more towards simplicity nowadays. Don’t let this recipe fool you, it may be easy, but the cake is very moist and lemony. The cake also serves as an air freshener because your kitchen will smell like fresh lemons for the rest of the day. I used grams when measuring out my ingredients and I would recommend doing the same if you can.

Makes 1 pound cake

• 225 g Butter, (8 ounces or 15 3/4 tbsp) softened
• 225 g Sugar, (8 ounces or 1 1/8 cup)
• 4 Eggs, room temperature
• 2 Lemons, zested
• 1 Vanilla Bean, seeded
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 225 g Flour, (8 ounces or 1 1/8 cup)

For the drizzley topping:

• Juice from 2 lemons
• 60 g (5 tbsp) Sugar

Heat the oven to 350F/180C. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and butter the spots where the parchment paper doesn’t reach. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until the mixture is creamy and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time until incorporated. Mix in the lemon zest, vanilla seeds, vanilla extract and salt. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the loaf pan. Knock the bottom of the loaf pan against the counter 3 times to get out any air bubbles. Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean in the center.

While the cake is baking, heat up the lemon juice and sugar in a sauce pan or in the microwave until the sugar is dissolved. Let the topping cool until it becomes syrupy. When the cake comes out of the oven and is cooling in its pan, prick it all over with a toothpick or skewer and pour the lemon syrup over the cake. Let the cake cool completely in a pan before taking it out and slicing it.

This cake can be kept for a few days if it is in an airtight container.

Lemon Drizzly Cake