Moot Thoughts & Musings

It's vegetarian/seafood week at our house. I'm really liking it. Tonight I made quinoa for the first time following this recipe. I served it as a side to salmon. It was very tasty.

Zesty Quinoa with Broccoli & Cashews (except i used asparagus and roasted pine nuts, because that's what i had; i also added more broth in order to get the asparagus to cook) This is a great recipe to have on hand for vegetarian/vegan cooking.

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is a high-protein, gluten-free ancient grain that cooks much like rice and has a texture similar to couscous.

Serves 4-5

* 1 TB extra virgin olive oil
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
* 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienned or chopped
* 1/2 cup vegetable broth
* 1/2 cup dry white wine
* 2 TB lemon juice
* 1/2 cup quinoa
* 1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste
* 1 cup broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces Fresh ground black pepper to taste
* 1/2 cup roasted cashew pieces
* 2 scallions, thinly sliced

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, vegetable stock, wine and lemon juice and bring to a boil.

Stir in the quinoa and salt. Reduce heat, and simmer covered about 20 minutes. Add the broccoli on top and simmer an additional 5 to 6 minutes.

Remove from heat, toss gently until combined. Add ground pepper and additional salt, if desired, to taste.

Garnish with cashews and scallions before serving.