Recipe: Quinoa, Apricot, and Nut Clusters

QUINOA, APRICOT, AND NUT CLUSTERS
From Martha Stewart Living, October 2004


3/4 cup white quinoa (I used whole grain)
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup shelled raw sunflower seeds (mine were already roasted)
1/2 cup shelled raw pistachios, chopped (mine were already roasted)
1 cup dried apricots, thinly sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
Vegetable-oil cooking spray (I skipped this)
1 teaspoon cardamom (I added this to the recipe)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse quinoa thoroughly in a fine sieve; drain. Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add quinoa; return to a boil. Stir quinoa; cover, and reduce heat. Simmer until most liquid is absorbed and quinoa is slightly undercooked, about 12 minutes; transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, fluffing with a fork occasionally, until pale golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in a large bowl.

Spread oats on baking sheet; bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Add oats to quinoa. Spread seeds on baking sheet; bake until lightly toasted, about 7 minutes (I skipped this step). Add to quinoa mixture; let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Toss nuts, apricots, sugar, and salt with quinoa mixture. Beat honey, oil, and vanilla into eggs; stir into quinoa mixture.

Line a 12-by-17-inch baking sheet with parchment; lightly coat with cooking spray. Spoon 1/4 cup batter onto sheet for each cluster; space 3 inches apart. Flatten to 1/4 inch thick. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until crisp, about 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Store, loosely covered with foil, up to 2 days.

Makes 20

Printable Copy

Enjoy!



from "The Cratchits Christmas Dinner"
by Charles Dickens
Illustrated by Matilda Breuer
1953, Spenser Press