Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger: Sea of Book of Yum {Plus Bonus Lunchbox}

Back in May I made the resolution to participate every month in Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger – it is one of the best ways for me to get myself organized and try several recipes I have bookmarked from the blogs of so many talented gluten-free bloggers.  This month, I had quinoa in mind, so of course, it made complete sense to me to adopt Sea of Book of Yum (who incidentally is also the creator and this month’s host of the event).  Sea has been applying to quinoa her talent of infusing Japanese and Indian flavors into her dishes, something I have enjoyed about her blog since starting to read it about 18 months ago.  Sea has eliminated many foods from her diet to help with Baby Yum’s food allergies – most notably she has eliminated the 8 top allergens as well as a few others, including rice.  Since then, Sea has been experimenting with quinoa, as she explains here.

And Sea’s recipes for quinoa are wonderful. I have made three Book of Yum quinoa recipes and loved them all . Working with quinoa this past month has really made me appreciate this grain in a new light.  Aside from eating it plain as a side, I have used quinoa mainly in tabouli-like salads before, or as a vehicle for vegan pesto (you might remember my phase of steamy warm quinoa with cool pesto earlier this year).  Sea’s various approaches to quinoa, however, has made me realize that I can do much more with it.  And, as a complete bonus, Sea’s approach to toasting quinoa totally made my husband go from a “quinoa is ok” attitude to “quinoa is delicious” attitude.  

First, I made Sea’s Gluten-Free Quinoa Vegetarian Sushi, except that husband and I were starving, so we went with the chirashi “zushi” variation first:

Then, I actually did make the sushi rolls:

They were so delicious and since I had more sushi-rice-flavored quinoa left over that the next day I made some quinoa sushi to-go as a lunchbox (speaking of, have you see my lunchbox series) for an errand-packed Saturday:

With a little bottle where I decanted a bit of Coconut Aminos (Sea’s alternative to tamari which, in my opinion, works better with quinoa sushi than tamari), these rolls made a perfect lunchbox and held up better than regular sushi would have:

Then, a couple of weeks later, I was craving a remake, but decided instead to make Sea’s Gluten-Free Soy-Free Vegan Japanese Quinoa Salad Recipe (I reduced the oil and vinegar, and used grapeseed instead of canola oil), which was also spectacular:

And finally, husband and I also made Gluten Free Vegan Indian Vegetable Pulao:

Truth be told, husband made most of this dish tonight but I did make the quinoa first! It was infused with cumin and warm spices and just perfect for the rainy evening we are having here in Washington, DC tonight.  We did make a few substitutions based on my tummy (broccoli instead of cauliflower) and what looked good at the market this morning (parsley instead of cilantro and red peppers instead of tomato for the garnish.  There are many more recipes of Sea’s I want to try, including her Gluten-Free Indian Quinoa Masala recipe as well as her Indian-inspired lunchbox.  Outside the quinoa realm, Sea’s recipes are so inviting, and many are on my list to try next.  Finally, even if you do not need to eat gluten-free, I recommend you look at Sea’s recipes – they are based on healthy whole grains, vegetables and spices – and are tremendously satisfying. 

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