Beautiful food presentation is something that I hold in high regard. I feel that if you are going to put the time and effort into making something delicious, the final product should look just as good as it tastes. In my opinion, presentation is such a huge part of the overall dining experience because people initially eat food with their eyes, and we want what we see to be appealing. You could prepare the most incredible dish in the world, but if it looks unappealing, your efforts may go unnoticed. Of course there are times where hunger get’s the best of me, and I couldn’t care less about how the food on my plate looks, but more often then not, I do my best to make each meal I cook look as good as I possibly can, even if it is just for myself.
A wonderful example of beautiful food presentation are these Quinoa, Avocado and Sweet Potato Timbale stacks. I absolutely love this meal and can assure you that they only look difficult to assemble, as they are actually quite easy. The basis for this recipe comes from clinical nutritionist Kimberly Snyder’s The Beauty Detox Foods, which I highly recommend to anyone looking to expand their knowledge on food, digestion and nutrition in general. This dish makes a great, quick lunch if you have prepared quinoa and baked sweet potatoes in advance, or an amazing dinner to try out when you have a little extra time. I often try to prepare both baked sweet potatoes and quinoa on Sunday’s as it saves me tremendous amounts of time. Both sweet potatoes and quinoa save really well in the refrigerator for at least 5 days, so if you do have the time to pre-prep these, I would recommend doing so. The recipe below includes full cook times for sweet potatoes and quinoa, so if you do have these items already prepared, just disregard that portion and carry on with the instructions.
- 2 cups baked sweet potatoes; rinsed and dried
- 2 tsp. coconut oil
- 1/2 Tbsp. dried Italian herbs
- Kosher sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup quinoa (I used multicolor quinoa, but any will work); soaked and rinsed.
- 2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 Tbsp. Lime juice
- 1 tsp. fresh basil; minced
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
- 1 large ripe avocado; cubed
- 1 large handful of organic sprouts
- 3 (8oz) ramekin dishes
- Heat oven to 400F.
- Scrub and rinse sweet potatoes until clean. Dry potatoes.
- With a fork, pierce skin of sweet potatoes several times.
- Place sweet potatoes in a baking dish and cook for 50-60 minutes.
- In a medium size pot, bring 2 cups vegetable broth to a boil and add in quinoa. Return quinoa to a boil then cover and reduce heat to medium/low for 15 minutes.
- When quinoa is finished, most of the broth should be absorbed. Remove from heat and remove lid, then stir and let quinoa cool.
- Add cooled quinoa to a large mixing bowl and stir in lime juice, red onion and basil. Season with a little bit of sea salt and pepper and set aside.
- When baked sweet potatoes are done, remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Place finished sweet potatoes on a cutting board and cut the finished sweet potatoes into cubes.
- Place cubed sweet potatoes in a separate mixing bowl and add in melted coconut oil, dried Italian herbs, sea salt and black pepper. Carefully mix to evenly coat, but be careful not to totally mash sweet potatoes.
- Prepare your ramekins by lightly greasing the insides with coconut oil.
- Take 1/3 of your sweet potatoes and gently pack into the bottom of the ramekin.
- Next, take 1/3 of your diced avocado and gently pack it on top of sweet potatoes, then take 1/3 of your quinoa and gently press it down into the others. Do this for all 3 ramekins.
- Gently flip ramekins upside down onto individual serving plates. The stacks should come loose on their own, but if they don’t, carefully insert a butter knife and slide it all the way around the edges.
- Top each stack with sprouts and enjoy!
barbour uk
December 7, 2013 at 3:58 pm (10 years ago)I couldn’t resist commenting. Well written!
Danielle
December 7, 2013 at 4:31 pm (10 years ago)Thank you, Barbour!
Lora O'Brien
June 5, 2018 at 4:46 am (6 years ago)Hi, Danielle
I hope you’re well! Just to let you know that we featured your recipe for Quinoa, Avocado and Sweet Potato Timbale in our recent ‘Gourmet Vegan Recipes for Fine Dining’ article. It’s a gorgeous recipe that our audience will love, and just goes to show how stunning vegan food can be.
I’ve linked the article below – please feel free to take a look and share.
– Lora
https://eluxemagazine.com/magazine/30-gourmet-vegan-recipes/
Danielle
June 5, 2018 at 8:07 pm (6 years ago)Thank you so much for including me, Lora! I really appreciate it, and will be sure to share the link with my followers!