Quinoa Recipe

I do not know what to call this, I have made it many times. My family loves it and always begs me to make it as if it is so difficult that they could not. I suspect that they just don’t want to cook, so they put me to work.

It is very quick and easy to make.

It is also high carbs, but it is complex carbs that do not break down into simple sugars like simple carbs. Complex carbs are healthy and important. If you are on a fad diet that requires low-carbs this will blow it up.

Quinoa is extremely healthy food. It is also quite flexible, it can be used as a good rice or pasta replacement. It is great in Mexican, Italian and Asian inspired dishes. I haven’t found any type of dish that it is not good in. It is a seed, not a grain but is cooked the same way rice is. As a flour, it adds a lot to a recipe but can change the texture. It is also good sprouted.

It contains many essential nutrients such as copper and manganese that are difficult to get outside of meats. It is also a complete protein with all 9 amino acids and is an okay source of Omega-3’s. It also contains antioxidants, high fiber and for those few people that truly can not eat gluten, it is gluten-free.

It is relatively inexpensive, especially when you consider how much nutrition it provides and how filling it is. There are no GMO varieties of it. It is easy to store and cook making it a perfect food. This is a great option, regardless of your food budget. I used to have a $50 a week food budget for 3 people and buying foods like this in bulk got us through it without resorting to unhealthy garbage like ramen noodles or tuna helper.

It is also very comforting, when I am very anxious this helps to calm me down and keeps me away from foods that will make me fat(ter).

This recipe is great served hot, but it is also wonderful served cold over a salad, especially one with Arugula and Bok Choy in it.

I can’t think of a name for it, so we’ll just cleverly call it:

Quinoa Recipe

2 cups Quinoa
4 cups of water
1 tbsp vegetable base
1 lb. ground chicken or turkey

16 oz can black beans
16 oz can chickpeas
16 oz can great northern beans

1 cup olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar - optional
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp basil

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1. At least or few hours before or better yet the night before mix everything in the 1 cup of water, olive oil, vinegar garlic, and basil and cover and refrigerate.
2. Cook the ground meat in a 4-quart pan on the stovetop. Drain the fat.
3. Add water, vegetable base, and quinoa. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
4. Add the basil mixture and beans and heat on medium for a few minutes until the beans are hot.

Notes

Any type of quinoa, I like the tricolor for better presentation, but it all tastes the same.

If you are a vegetarian or want this as a side-dish, it is super great without the meat.

All of my recipes are in my head and the amounts can be adjusted however you wish. You may want to use fewer beans or different varieties, but chickpeas mix well with quinoa. Any non-baking recipe I post is more of a starting point to encourage experimentation than it is a final product but as-is, it is quite good.

A good substitute is an oil-garlic-basil commercial dressing.

Alternatively, you can add or replace any of the spices as you like. Replacing the basil with cayenne pepper, cumin and cilantro are pretty good if you want a more Mexican-ish flavor.

Super late edit(3/21/2021) - I made this today and used black truffle oil instead of plain olive oil, and it really knocked it up a notch. This type of oil is olive oil that is infused with black truffles.