Quinoa Experiment!
First of all, congratulations to Carrie @ Moves n Munchies!
She is the winner of My PB2 Giveaway! I fought with the random number generator to try to get the results embedded in here… but I’m apparently inept, so I apologize, and you’ll just have to trust me on this. Carrie, e-mail me your address, and I shall ship your PB2 as soon as possible! Thank you for all your comments/entries. I’m glad I can share the magic of PB2 with at least one of you 😉
The weather here yesterday was unbelievable! It was 69 degrees and sunny! I was able to squeeze in a quick run at work yesterday. Although everything is still brown, it was nice to get some fresh air and sunshine.
While I ran, I let my mind drift into recipe mode. I was in a cooking mood, but I didn’t have anything specific in mind. I had some zucchini in the fridge that needed to be used up, and I was craving quinoa. So that’s where I began… I also wanted to use up the last apple and the few carrots I had left. (This was totally a “I need to use up what’s in the fridge before I go out of town” creation.) In the end, here’s what I used:
Quinoa- The Remix
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
- 1 small zucchini chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped carrots (I used like 8 baby carrots)
- 1/4 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- pinch of cinnamon
- 2 cups not-chicken broth (I use the veg-friendly chicken flavor, but I’m pretty sure any flavor would work)
- splash of vanilla
- 1 apple, chopped
- 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
I started by cooking my zucchini, onion and garlic in about a tablespoon of olive oil until the onion was translucent. Note, if you’re using carrots, add these in. I forgot them at first, and had to cook them in later, oops 😉 Once that’s nice and cooked, throw it into a pot, add the 2 cups of broth, and 1 cup of dry, rinsed quinoa. Make sure you rinse it, or it can have kind of a bitter taste. Add the salt + cinnamon. Bring it to a boil, then let simmer for ~20min. While that’s cooking, I toasted my walnuts in the oven, but they’re probably fine just thrown in as is. It’s up to you. Next, I cooked the chopped apple in a tiny bit of olive oil, and added a splash of vanilla. I cooked it until it was soft, but not mushy. Then I just let it hang out until the quinoa was cooked. Once the quinoa had absorbed most of the broth, I stirred in the apple, walnuts and cranberries.
Viola!
I think what I like best about this recipe, is I’m pretty sure you could substitute a TON of different veggies, making it a great recipe to get rid of near-expiring ingredients. You can also eat it hot or cold. (We ate it hot.)
I LOVE quinoa, but for some reason, it’s not my go-to grain. I usually go for rice or couscous first. (Actually, I really don’t eat that many grains in general. I usually just pile up veggies & beans.) I think I’m going to try to eat more of it because it was delicious AND it’s a nutritional powerhouse. I’m thinking next time I’ll try some sort of quinoa + nooch combo.
What is your favorite grain? Quinoa? Couscous? Bulgar? Pasta? Rice?
Anyone have a quinoa recipe out there that you want to share?
<3 Liz
My favorite grain would definitely have to be pasta. Hands down love it. 😀
I love quinoa! I also really love bulgur and wheatberries – they’re so chewy!
I’ve never tried wheatberries! I’d love to though. They look yummy!
mmm i love this recipe! my favorite is couscous!
I love your running trail! I used to run when I lived in a smaller city surrounded by nature paths. It’s much less fun to run on concrete sidewalks. Enjoy your Friday!
AHH YAYAYAYAY i just emailed you!!!
this quinoa dish looks amazing! i havent experimented enough with it!
my fav grain is DEFinitely oats.. if that counts!?
Yum – looks delish! I fought with the Random results too, trying to get the little image on my site, but like you, I just gave up after not being able to get it to work.
I’m a lot like you, I like a pile of veggies and beans and grains are usually an afterthought! I love the idea of apples and cranberries! a co-worked gave me a sweet breakfast quinoa recipe that is to die for.. I think it had apples cranberries and nuts too — i’m going to dig it up and make it soon! =)
bookmarking this one too <3
xoXOxo
Jenn @ Peas & Crayons
I love, love, love pasta. I’d eat it every day if I could. 😉
AND… I just bought quinoa, but haven’t gotten around to making it yet! I’m excited to experiment.
P.S. did you know you pronounce it “keen-wa?!” the package told me so.
this whole time, I’ve been saying “kin-oh-uh.” oops.
I hope I never said it out loud.
hahahaha it’s funny because I pronounce it keen-wa when I say it (I read the package too, hehe) but every time I spell it in my head, I say “kin-oh-uh”… otherwise I’ll spell it phonetically 😉
So glad it worked out for you!! 🙂 I love quinoa. I like adding it to oats and making granola with it. I also love adding it to granola bars or eating it as cereal!!
Ohhh I love the idea of making granola with it! Seriously, it’s so yummy!
NOM! that looks awesome!
xo.