Quinoa and Pomegranate Salad

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 & 1/2 cups leaves watercress, stems removed and leaves chopped
• 2 ripe pears, diced into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 tbsp pomegranate juice
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Directions

• Rinse quinoa under cold water and drain
• Combine water and quinoa in a medium sized saucepan and bring to boil.  Reduce to heat and simmer, covered and cook until quinoa is tender and all the water is absorbed – About 15 min
• Once quinoa has cooled, combine with all ingredients above
• Stir well and serve

Cook time and Prep time: 25 min

Serves: 4

recipe courtesy of wholefoods.com

Asian Quinoa

Ingredients

• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 cup edamame
• 2 cups steamed or raw broccoli
• 1/4 cup cilantro chopped finely
• 2 scallions chopped finely
• 1/2 cup quinoa cooked as directed on package
• optional 1/2 cup cabbage shredded
• 1/4 cup mama tangs salad dressing

Directions

• Combine all ingredients, except quinoa together in a large bowl
• Once quinoa has come to room temperature, add to bowl and mix well

Prep time and cook time: 30 min

Serves: 4

 

Quinoa with Grilled Eggplant

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 3 or 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 1⁄2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 baby eggplants, cut lengthwise into quarters
• 1 red pepper, seeded and cut into chunks
• 1 red onion, cut into chunks
• 2 tsp (10 mL) grape seed oil
• 1 cup (250 mL) cherry tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 1⁄4 cups tomato juice
• sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C)
• Put the quinoa in a sieve and rinse thoroughly under cold running water
• Place in a saucepan with the thyme sprigs and broth, and bring to a boil
• Cover and simmer gently until all the broth has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a ridged grill pan
• Brush the eggplant, red pepper and onion with the grape seed oil, then cook them on the grill pan until softened and lightly charred, about 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
• Put the whole tomatoes on the grill pan and cook until they are just beginning to burst their skins, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• When the quinoa is cooked, place it in an ovenproof dish
• Add the grilled vegetables, garlic and tomato juice, and season lightly with salt and pepper
• Mix together gently.
• Cover with foil and bake until the vegetables are tender, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.

Prep time and Cook Time: 60 min

Serves: 4

recipe courtesy of besthealthmag.ca

Colorful Quinoa

Ingredients

• 4 cups quinoa cooked
• 1/4 cup grated raw beets
• 1/4 cup grated raw carrots
• 1/4 cup tightly packed finely chopped cilantro or parsley
• 1/3 cup finely chopped green scallion
• 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• sea salt to taste

Directions

• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix well and serve

Mexican Quinoa

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon grape seed oil
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4  teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup diced tomato
• 1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning (we use blenditup brand)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 handful cilantro, chopped
• juice of fresh lemon or lime

Directions

• Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat
• Add the onions and saute until tender and translucent
• Add the garlic, cumin and chili powder and saute for one minute
• Add the quinoa, broth, tomato, taco seasoning, salt and pepper and bring to a boil
• Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the the quinoa is tender and liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes
• Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes
• Serve and garnish with cilantro and a squeeze of lemon or lime to taste

Prep Time and Cook Time: 35 min

Serves: 4 as a side dish

recipe courtesy of: www.closetcooking.com with adjustments made by me!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients

• 4 large green, red, yellow or orange bell peppers
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1/4 tsp red chili powder
• 1/2 green chili minced
• 3 cloves garlic pressed
• 1 medium red onion diced
• 1 red pepper diced finely
• 2 carrots chopped finely
• 5 mushrooms diced finely
• 2 tablespoons cilantro chopped
• sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tsp coconut oil
• 1/2 lemon freshly juiced
• extra virgin olive oil

Directions

• Cook quinoa as directed on package and set aside
• In a medium sized skillet, heat coconut oil and add onion.  Cook onion until translucent
• Add garlic, red chili powder and tumeric
• Add carrot and saute for 3 min
• Add red pepper saute for 2 min, add mushroom, saute for another 2 min
• Add green chili
• Add quinoa and stir well
• Add sea salt, ground black pepper and lemon juice, mix well and set aside
• Cut tops off bell peppers and remove seeds
• Stuff peppers with quinoa mixture
• Bake peppers in oven at 350 F for 25 min
• Once cooked, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and top with freshly chopped cilantro

Tabouli Salad – Gluten Free!

Ingredients

• 3 cups parsley chopped
• 1  cup cooked quinoa
• 1/4 red or white onion diced finely
• 1 large tomato diced
• 1/2 cucumber diced
• 2 tbsp mint leaves finely chopped
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 fresh lemon squeezed
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• sea salt and black pepper to taste
• Optional: black kalamata olives

Directions

• Mix lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, sea salt and black pepper in a bowl
• Add the above dressing to the parsley
• Once quinoa has cooled, add to the rest of the ingredients

Prep time and Cook Time: 20 min

Serves: 4

Spicy Quinoa Salad

Leftover quinoa is great to turn into a salad.  Use the leftovers from our Spicy Quinoa recipe for this salad. This can be eaten cold and it tastes great!

Ingredients

• 2 cups spicy quinoa
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tomato diced or 10 cherry tomatoes halved
• 1/2 green pepper finely diced
• 1/2 orange or yellow pepper finely diced
• 1 tbsp cilantro chopped

Directions

• Toss all ingredients together and serve cold!

Spicy Quinoa

Quinoa is a great source of protein for vegetarians.  Its fluffy, light and has a slight crunchy texture. It has a slight nutty flavor.  Its also gluten free! It is a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorous.  It is high in the amino acid lysine which is great for tissue repair. Grains such as quinoa help prevent gall stones, they protect against childhood asthma and they help to prevent against heart disease.

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 and 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 1/4 tsp red chili powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 inch ginger
• 1/4 green chili (can put more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
• sea salt to taste
• you can also sprinkle some lemon juice on this and garnish with cilantro

Directions

• Rinse quinoa under cold water several times in a fine meshed strainer (to remove bitter taste)
• Boil water and then add quinoa, reduce heat to low (simmer) and then simmer with lid on for 12-15 min
• Set aside once cooked
• Heat coconut oil in medium sized skillet
• Add tumeric, red chili powder, ground cumin, garlic, ginger and green chili
• Saute for 3 min
• Stir quinoa into all the spices, mix well and saute for a few minutes