Quinoa is a nice nutritious, protein-rich seed from Peru that is super popular recently. My dad was obsessed with finding it for a while (before it became the new popular super-grain), because he had it in Peru years ago and wanted to try it again. I am always trying to expand my horizons, trying new foods, so when quinoa became easier to find in regular grocery stores, I wanted to experiment with it. It is mostly bland, except for a bitter substance coating the outside, so it needs to be rinsed really well (until the rinse water is clear) and cooked with lots of other tasty things to be very delicious. You can find both red and white quinoa, there isn't really any flavor difference, so here I used red just for looks. This recipe is the only way so far that I can get Lovemuffin to eat quinoa.
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| quinoa pilaf with celery, red bell peppers and carrots |
Quinoa Pilaf
Saute 1-2 cups of the vegetables of your choice, such as onions, celery, carrots, peppers, mushrooms and squash in a large skillet with plenty of oil, until they are becoming tender. Add a lot of minced garlic and any other spices that will go with the vegetables you chose, let them fry in the oil until they become aromatic.
Add about 1 cup of well-rinsed quinoa, stir it up and let it get coated with oil and spices and the vegetables are distributed throughout, then add 2 cups of water or vegetable stock. Cover, bring to a boil, turn heat down and let it simmer until the water is all gone, and the quinoa seeds are soft. Add salt and pepper and maybe more olive oil to taste, then serve.
Hmm, I'll have to try it. I bought quinoa once and, after rinsing it well, I cooked it in plain old water. It kind of reminded me of of Cream of Wheat, and I was the only one who would try it. It was okay, if not somewhat bland. I'll have to get some more and try your recipe. Maybe my Lovemuffin will try it. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis actually looks like something I could do...I think I might try this. I have been wanting to try quinoa for quite some time now but haven't known how. Do you know if it can be ground like wheat and used in bread?
ReplyDeleteJosie, I know that you can buy quinoa flour, but it is gluten free, so if you were going to try to make regular yeast bread with it, it wouldn't hold together very well unless you use part wheat flour and part quinoa flour. There are probably some recipes out there, but it's not something I myself have tried yet.
ReplyDeleteEllen and Josie, if either of you make anything awesome with quinoa, you should tell me about it!
Ok, I tried this recipe and a quinoa bread recipe. I really liked both of them. You can read more about it on mine and my mom's cooking blog if you want.
ReplyDelete