Red Quinoa and Red Beet Delight

I guess you could say I’m on a quinoa kick. It might be due to the fact that I found out that certain really healthy foods had waaaay to much fiber for my body to handle. Quinoa seems to work really well for me and I’ve been sort of using it as a replacement for some foods I’m not eating as much these days. So much for being told to eat lots of fresh fruits, veggies and whole grains – I guess you can get too much of a good thing! The other reason I’m on a quinoa kick is that my favorite guy has celiac disease, which means that he can’t have anything that contains gluten. But mostly, I think that Quinoa is a fabulously delicious and a wonderful grain-like food that is fun to cook because of its versatility. Here’s a quick and yummy way to prepare, serve and eat red quinoa. Oh, by the way, I need to give Asunta credit for giving me the idea to add beets. She recently shared a recipe with me that she called “Red Velvet Rice” and it was quite inspiring! I love what happens to the color of this dish, especially how the orange carrots take on a beautiful rose color. I think you’ll enjoy this one!

Serves 2-3

-1 c red quinoa

-1 medium fresh beet, steamed or roasted and cut in small squares. Quick tip: you can also chop and put in a baggie with a little water and cook in the microwave for a few minutes.

– 1 tbls, minced or crushed fresh garlic

– about 1/2 frozen peas

– about 2 tbls chopped shallots (you can also use green, yellow or white onion)

– kosher salt to taste

– about 2 c water

– 1/2 c chopped fresh white mushrooms

– 1/2 c chopped carrots

– about 2 tbls olive oil
– 2 bay leaves

Preparation

– In a medium sauce pan, saute shallots and carrots in a couple splashes of olive oil (and a pinch of salt) for about five minutes

– Add the mushrooms and toss for another minute or so.

– After you’ve rinsed the quinoa really well (if you don’t, it’ll have a bitter taste) add to the same pan, followed by the peas. Toss for a couple minutes.

– Time to add the water and the bay leaves and turn up the heat to high because you’re going to bring everything to a slight boil. But before you do this, dip your finger in the water and see if you need more salt. If so, now’s the time to add it. Once the water has reached a boil, turn the heat to low and cover for about 40 minutes, or until the quinoa is fluffy and tender and the water has absorbed.

– When it’s done, add the beets and gently toss everything together. The dish should pick up a really nice red appearance at this point.

Serving suggestion:
Well, we had this as as side with a savory salmon with brocollini. I also have served this on its own for lunch. In other words, it really works a lot of different ways!

Enjoy!