Quinoa, my new found love, a great alternative to carb-loaded rice. I've been cooking a lot with quinoa lately (also, remember my Kale and Quinoa salad?), I even eat Indian food with quinoa. It is a good source of protein for vegetarians and it is loaded with fiber, which is always good. Quinoa picks up the flavor of whatever you add to it so you can be creative with the spices and herbs you use.
This dish is adapted for Giada De Laurentis' Everyday Italian show on the Food Network. The modifications I made to the original recipe: I subbed spinach for arugula, added edamame for more protein, and ended up adding 1/2 cup more vegetable broth.
Ingredients
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 small shallots - chopped (or use 1/4 cup chopped red onions if you don't have shallots)
1 small red pepper - chopped
1 cup chopped spinach
1/4 cup edamame (or peas if you don't have or like edamame)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cup quinoa
1 1/2-2 cups vegetable broth
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/2 cup slivered almonds - toasted
Steps
- In a large saucepan, heat the oil on medium heat.
- Add shallots and saute for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the chopped red pepper, salt and pepper and cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until they're soft.
- Add spinach and edamame, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- And quinoa and stir for 1-2 minutes, until coated with oil.
- Add vegetable broth, cover the saucepan and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked. The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cup of broth but I ended up added 1/2 cup more because the quinoa was not fully cooked.
- Using a fork, fluff the quinoa once its cooked.
- Add lemon zest and additional salt and pepper if needed.
- erve with toasted almonds.
Prep time: 15-20 minutes | Cooking time: 30-35 minutes | Serves 4 people
