Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Tasty Tuesday - Vegetable Quinoa

Today I would like to share a recipe that I came across recently from the Company's Coming "Whole Grains" cook book.

We really like to incorporate whole grains into our diet as much as possible, so when I spotted this recipe, I figured I'd give it a try... We *loved* it! And sometimes, good whole grain recipes are hard to come by. The only downside is that quinoa can sometimes be expensive. I might try another grain at some point and see how it turns out! Either way, it makes a really great side dish to round out a meal (gotta have your fibre!) And it is also great if you are hosting a vegetarian guest!

Vegetable Quinoa

Ingredients:
1 tsp Canola Oil
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup finely chopped carrot

1 1/4 cups Vegetable cocktail juice (V8 for example)
3/4 cups Water
1/4 tsp Salt
1 cup Quinoa, rinsed and drained
(Note: Quinoa is a South American Grain that can usually be found in your local bulk foods store or sometimes in the grains department of your grocery store. To rinse it, I usually just place the grains in a fine sieve and rinse thoroughly.)

Method:
Heat canola oil in medium saucepan on medium heat. Add next 4 ingredients.
Cook, uncovered, for about 5 min., stirring often, until onion is softened.

Add next 3 ingredients. Stir. Bring to a boil. Add quinoa. Stir. Reduce heat to medium-low.
Simmer, covered, for about 25 minutes, without stirring, until quinoa is tender and liquid is absorbed.

Fluff with fork and serve!

Makes about 4 cups.
Nutritional Info (1cup): 202 Calories; 3.8 g fat (1.2g mono, 1.4g poly, 0.4g sat.); 0 mg cholesterol; 37 g carb; 4 g fibre; 7 g protein; 378 g sodium

Variations: If you don't have time to do the chopping of the vegetables, I have substituted with about 2 cups of a frozen vegetable mix (beans, carrots, peas, corn). It was still good! Although I do like the original suggestion for vegetables.

3 comments:

Mrs. Stam said...

I love Quinoa :-) You could probably use brown rice or millet for substitution!

judy said...

This sounds good niki. Will get Shandel to make it. Xoxo

Unknown said...

this sounds yummy! some day i will be organized enough to find recipes that sound yummy and cook them :) have a great day!!