For the Love of Quinoa - Quinoa and Steam Veggies

For the Love of Quinoa

You will not see brown rice in my recipes, though we used to eat a lot of it. Our go to for dinner psuedo-grains these days is quinoa. Quinoa is not really a grain it is actually an edible seed, but is prepared in much the same way as rice but in a lot less time. Quinoa is a power house food - providing all 9 essential vitamins, making it a complete protein. It is cholesterol-free and gluten free and as of yet can almost only be found organic. The good news is you can get a big bag at Costco for a very reasonable price. There are so many possibilities with quinoa, I also use ground quinoa in cookie and muffin recipes, it is a great substitute for usual flours. 

I like to get creative with our quinoa dishes and came up with a delicious combination tonight. Usually we have some leftovers - I have yet to adjust to the fact that we are a family of 4 now and no longer 6 - but tonight, we practically licked the platter! 

 

Quinoa and Steamed Veggies

1 c quinoa
12 oz green beans ( snipped)
8 thinly sliced small sweet peppers
1 T red palm oil ( found at Whole Foods or online at Nutiva, it is worth every penny, absolutely delicious with huge health benefits)
2 T olive oil
1 T raw apple cider vinegar
1 T oregano
1 t pink himilayan salt or more to taste
2 t minced garlic

- Cook quinoa according to directions. 

• Steam fresh not frozen green beans for about 5 minutes. (It’s actually up to you how you prefer them, we like them crunchy. )
• Slice peppers set aside
• Whisk olive oil, apple cider vinegar, oregano, salt, and garlic in small bowl set aside
• Add red palm oil to quinoa once throughly cooked- stir and removed from burner
• Dump steamed green beans, raw peppers  and whisked oil in large bowl, mix well
• Spoon quinoa into large platter, pour the green bean mixture over quinoa. 

                       Goes great with steamed sweet potatoes!  ENJOY!!