From: Healing With Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford
p. 471 (recipe included below)

I've been curious about quinoa. I'm a busy, stressed-out vegetarian, so quinoa's warming, nutrient-dense, strengthening nature is just what I should be eating. I didn't really know what it tasted like (despite having tried it a few times), but I had a feeling I didn't like it very much. Of course it made perfect sense to try it in "loaf" form, perhaps the yuckiest presentation imaginable.

Paul Pitchford in HWWF leans toward very low-fat foods. He has a lot to say about the Standard American Diet (which - sure - is awful), so the intention seems to be to heal readers from the damage through very simple, ascetic foods. This is a monk's recipe, not a cook's - it's extremely easy. It would be ideal for throwing together after work with leftover cooked grains from the refrigerator.

Quinoa is unstoppably fluffy, so the texture came out more like a sticky pilaf than a loaf. The flour wasn't enough to hold it together firmly, and it added an unharmonious flavor (not bad, just too sweet), so it would probably be better as a pilaf. Quinoa is very umami, it tastes quite a bit like asparagus. Except a more funky earthy taste. I confirmed that I am not terribly fond of quinoa's flavor, but I found the dish weirdly good anyway, which is what made me think to taste for umami, that tricky magic flavor.
The carrots really make the dish, they infuse the whole loaf with that aerial bright carrot smell that elevates the flavors out of the heavy and earthy. If possible, you'll want to use a fragrant carrot rather than a purely sweet one. I recommend you dice or even grate them, to spread the flavor out more.

The measurements suggested that Pitchford intended dried basil and thyme, so that's what I used, despite thinking that dried basil tastes like dust. I'd skip the basil next time or perhaps use herbes de provence in its place. Also, I'd add the herbs to the liquid when dissolving the lecithin so they have time to reconstitute and get friendly with the other flavors.

"This would be better with butter," was the first thing I thought when I tasted the loaf. If I made it again, I'd go ahead and saute the carrots and onions in butter instead of steam them. The day after I made it, I decided to fry it up as croquettes, thinking a toasty-rich buttery flavor would be a nice addition. But it didn't do much for it - the quinoa's already very rich and earthy, so the toasted flavor got lost. What it really needed was something slightly bitter or sour or bright like the carrots to balance all the comforting, warm, homey-ness. An arugula and romaine salad would have been perfect.

Baked Quinoa Vegetable Loaf

1 cup quinoa
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup warm water
1 Tbsp miso
1 Tbsp lecithin granules
1 tsp each basil & thyme
1 onion, chopped
2 cups carrots, sliced
2 cups broccoli, 1-inch pieces
1 Tbsp sunflower seeds

-- Soak quinoa in water for 8-12 hours. Discard soaking liquid and cook in 2c water with a pinch of salt for 20 minutes or until it's done. You can do this ahead of time, and you can forego the soaking and just cook it longer and with more water if you're pressed for time.
-- Combine quinoa and flour in bowl.
-- Dissolve miso and lecithin in warm water and mix with grains and herbs.
-- Optional: let dough rest 4 hours to blend flavors and naturally ferment. (I didn't do this, but if I make it again I will)
-- Place onions, carrots, and broccoli in steamer, cook 7 minutes.
-- Gently mix dough with vegetables and place in lightly oiled baking pan.
-- Dry-toast sunflower seeds until golden brown and sprinkle on top of loaf.
-- Bake 30-40 minutes at 350.

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