A grain with a delicate flavor, quinoa is indigenous to South America. The majority of health food stores carry it. Replace the water in the pilaf with veggie stock for an additional boost in flavor.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 50 mins |
| Servings: | 3 |
| Yield: | 3 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 2 carrots, diced
- ½ cup quinoa
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup frozen green peas, thawed
- salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pour oil into a medium saucepan, and place over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots; cook and stir for 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
- Using a strainer, rinse quinoa under cold water. Drain well. Stir into the vegetables; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add water, bay leaf and lemon rind and juice; bring to boil. Cover, and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is tender.
- Discard bay leaf. Stir in peas, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve.
Reviews
I made this recipe, as is. It was absolutely scrmptious. Had some leftover quinoa grain in my fridge freezer so was able to use it ip eith this recipe. Had no idea quinoa could be this versatile. Will definitely be msking this again as is a grest brown rice substitute. Family loved it too! Thanks!
It was really easy to make and didn’t take long. I had to add extra hot water since the original water evaporated very quickly, even on the lowest burner and flame. I added some dried parsley and basil, as I do with just about everything. I also used a garlic clove. I want to try this recipe with millet and see how it comes out!
Delicious! I added a little jalapeño to the veggies and used avocado oil instead of olive oil
This was our first taste of quinoa and we liked it. It is zero points on WW purple plan. My husband thought it was rice until I told him what it was.
Excellent! I used chicken broth instead of water and didn’t add any salt. Delicious!
This quinoa is delicious! It is such a wonderful side dish. I followed the recipe “as is” and it turned out great. I hope more people try it!
This is a good base with which to start playing. I followed the recipe this first time around but I think that next time I will add some green to it…maybe some spinach. And I will probably decrease the lemon zest a tad. I served it along side fish cakes. It was a great combo. Thanks for posting the recipe!
Friends made this for dinner tonight with Cashew Crusted Chicken. Both lovely and now its my turn to cook it. yummmm! I think I might use frozen peas and carrots for ease and homemade chic stock from the chickens I raise.
This recipe was tasty, however, I did make some changes to the recipe. I used chicken broth instead of water, and I also added corn and did not use a bay leaf. I chopped fresh dill and mixed it in at the end. A good starting recipe that can easily be adapted to whatever you have on hand.
Loved this when I used zucchini instead of peas, cilantro instead of a bay leaf, and cooked the quinoa in 1/2 spicy V8 and 1/2 chicken broth! Definitely large chop veggies and I cooked them in coconut oil.
Made this recipe scaled to 4 servings. Used other reviewer’s tip and added a chicken bouillon cube with the water. Also, only used lemon juice because I couldn’t find my citrus zester and I was in a rush to get dinner made. I had cooked the quinoa for 17 min., but it was still undercooked, so I added about 2/3 c. water and cooked it for another 8 min. until done. The flavor was very good, and the only reason I’m not giving it 5 stars was over the water issue. This would make a good “1st-Timer” dish for anyone new to quinoa.
My first experience cooking quinoa. I rinsed well and dry-toasted it. Threw in whatever veggies I had around, sauteed, and used chicken broth for the liquid. Next time I will use slightly less cooking liquid, as it was a bit wet for my taste. Very delicious; will be making quinoa regularly from now on.
I was cooking pork in the crockpot, so I used the pork dripping in place of the water. I omitted the peas ecause we don’t care for them. It was out of this world!
I love this recipe but I like to add a couple teaspoons of indian spices such as curry and cumin. It really adds a lot of flavor. I find the recipe a bit bland without spices. You can also add basil and savory spices like sage and a bit of rosemary if you don’t care for indian spices. With spices, I give this a 4
I liked this sooooooo much. I want to make it every day. Go!
Excellent recipe that also tastes good the next day! Like another reviewer, I used g. pepper since I was out of celery. I also threw a handful of toasted sunflower seeds on top before serving. This is really a wonderful recipe as-is, but is also great for adding your own unique twists. Next time, I might add a handful of chopped walnuts and/or some dried fruit — cranberries, currents or diced apricots. I agree that the lemon juice and zest add a subtle something that is just-right. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Fantastic! Left out the onion and used chicken broth.
This was pretty good. I need to remember next time to chop the vegetables up finer. Did not add the lemon, but will next time.
used chicken stock in place of water and it was wonerful. very refreshing!!! the hubby thought it was too lemony.
For the quinoa, I did change it a bit. I used chicken broth instead of water. I added a pinch of minced garlic to the boiling process along with the bay leaves. I didn’t have frozen peas so I used frozen peas and carrots, omitting the fresh carrot. I did not add the onion and celery while it boiled. Instead in a separate skillet, I sauted them till softened and mixed them in toward the end of the cooking process. Very good!
Too much lemon.