Quinoa With Latin Flavors
"This is a fabulous quinoa pilaf that pairs well with grilled or broiled meats, or could even be a main vegetarian course. I like to have leftovers for breakfast with a fried egg on top. From the Eating Well magazine. Super healthy and yummy. If you use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth it is a vegan recipe."
photo by noriminicilli
- Ready In:
- 35mins
- Ingredients:
- 11
- Yields:
-
2/3 cup
- Serves:
- 6
ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 teaspoons canola oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (14 ounce) can reduced-sodium chicken broth or (14 ounce) can vegetable broth
- 1⁄4 cup pepitas, toasted (see Note)
- 3⁄4 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
- 1⁄2 cup scallion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
directions
- Heat a large dry skillet over medium heat and add quinoa, stirring to toast, until it crackles and becomes a bit brownish and aromatic. Transfer to a fine sieve and rinse under cold running water. Drain.
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, stirring often, about 2 or 3 minutes. Add chiles and garlic. Cook stirring for 30 seconds.
- Add the quinoa and broth to the onion mixture. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer, cover and cook until the quinoa is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Add toasted pepitas, cilantro, scallions, lime juice and salt to the quinoa. Fluff with a fork and stir gently to mix.
- NOTE: Pepitas are hulled pumpkin seeds. They are somewhat green and may be found in health-food stores or Latin markets. If you can't find pepitas, I suppose shelled raw sunflower kernels would be a good substitute in this recipe.
- NOTE: To toast nuts, heat a small skillet over medium heat. Put nuts in the dry pan and stir or toss/flip constantly, until nuts just begin to darken a bit and become aromatic. It's easy to go from brown to burnt really quickly, so keep an eye on them. When done, remove from the heat quickly and put into a different dish that is cool.
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
I also did not have all ingredients but it was still pretty good. It isn't easy to make quinoa taste good, in my opinion. -
First time making quinoa. Will make it again. I didn't have the pepitas or fresh cilantro. Or green chilies. (Don't you hate it when people review recipes but don't have key ingredients!). Will make it again. Our quinoa package said it was pre-washed, so I just toasted it. Fun to try something new! -
I loved it, DH loved it. I did have to sub seedless jalapenos for the chili's (had none in the house) Will make this again! -
Really good! Simple to make and flavorful. -
Delicious!! This was my very first quinoa dish, and wow, am I impressed! (and my roommate, too!) I added mushrooms and substituted jalapenos for the chilies. I am officially sold on quinoa now!
see 7 more reviews
Tweaks
-
Delicious!! This was my very first quinoa dish, and wow, am I impressed! (and my roommate, too!) I added mushrooms and substituted jalapenos for the chilies. I am officially sold on quinoa now!
-
This was my first time trying out quinoa - followed your instructions - and it turned out delicious!! Will be making again for sure!! Used sunflower seeds instead of pepitas.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I live in Los Angeles County. Married 25 years. 3 kids ages 24, 21 and 12. I'm a math professor and a computer tech. The picture above is me running in the Los Angeles Marathon (the first time I did it) on March 4, 2007. I'm smiling because the picture was taken at mile 3. I wasn't smiling by the end. LOL. I've since done the Long Beach Marathon in Oct. 2007 and I did L.A. again in March 2008. The third time was the trick. I finally had a good race and I qualified to run the Boston Marathon which I did in April 2009. Now I'm into triathlon, since summer 2009.
Besides cooking/baking I've recently started knitting again (Jan. 2008) and can be found at Ravelry.com most days.
<img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/projects/200_PACpic.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/projects/pacbanner.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket">
<img src="http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e347/Saturn6666/KiwiDutch/3chefstag1.jpg">
.jpg)