Quinoa Crunch With Broccoli and Tuna in Coarse Tomato Sauce.

1 tin of Tuna Fish
100 grams of raw broccoli florets
1 cup of water (1 cup = 6 fluid oz)
1 heaped tablespoon of porridge oats
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
1 teaspoon of Fajita seasoning

Thickening agents come in many forms; the quickest one I know of is porridge oats.  It's healthy and unadulterated too.  (I mean it's a whole food. - so I don‘t know why I didn‘t just say that, because I don‘t know what unadulterated means anyway.)

I don't know of anyone else that uses porridge oats in this way, but I'd be surprised if it's unique to me. 

This recipe is a winner in this house.  I don't know why cooks think that sauces have to be smooth anyway.  Smooth sauces are for sissies.  A substantial texture with plenty of flavour is much more appetising:

I was in a hurry this morning anyway, so I had no time to mess about with a proper roux, or cornflour, and I never bother with shop bought thickeners like granules etc, so here's what I did. 

I'll call it Quinoa Crunch With Broccoli and Tuna in Coarse Tomato Sauce. 

Ingredients for filling:

1 tin of Tuna Fish
100 grams of raw broccoli florets
1 cup of water (1 cup = 6 fluid oz)
1 heaped tablespoon of porridge oats
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
1 teaspoon of Fajita seasoning

Method for filling:

Microwave the oats and water in an oven proof dish for 5 minutes.  (Use a medium to large casserole dish to prevent it from boiling over the sides.)  Let it cool a little, then stir in the rest of the ingredients, leaving the Tuna and broccoli to last. 

Ingredients for quinoa topping:

½ cup of uncooked quinoa
1 knob of coconut oil or a dessertspoon of olive oil
1½ cups of water
Seasoning

Method for crunchy topping

Cooked quinoa coated in coconut oil,turmeric and Fajita seasoning

1½ cups of water to every ½ cup of quinoa.  Put the quinoa in the cold water and bring it to the boil, then simmer for 10-15 minutes.
When it’s cooked, (it’ll have absorbed all the water) add the oil and seasoning, and coat the quinoa with it.  You can stir in a little spices or flavouring too.  Turmeric will give it a yellow colouring - you can use some Fajita seasoning for this too - sprinkle it over the rest of the dish. 

If you like your broccoli cooked, give the whole dish a further 10-15 minutes in the microwave. 

To make the topping crunchy, brown the top layer under the grill/salamander.

That’s it!  I find this recipe quick and easy - more to the point, it goes down well, and that keeps me out of the doghouse.

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