Last post I shared the main dish recipe for my most recent cooking class: Make Your Own Packet Meal. It was well received, although it definitely needed some salt!
Here are a few photos of us getting our packets ready. We had a lot of fun making our packets the way we wanted. Some with onion, some without, and using whatever veggies come in our box.
I mentioned before that the participants are getting CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) veggie boxes from a local farmer.
Here’s the other recipe that we made to go with the packet meal:
Veggie Inspired Quinoa
I adapted this recipe from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quinoa-with-veggies
NOTE:
If you don’t have Quinoa, this recipe could be used with any cooked
grain (rice, barley, pasta, etc). Instead of step one, simply cook the
grain as instructed on the package, then add it in step 3!
Veggie Inspired Quinoa
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Side
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 red bell pepper (chopped)
- 1/2 cup corn kernels
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 green onions (chopped)
Instructions
- Bring the quinoa, water, and 1 pinch of salt to a boil in a saucepan.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, about minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, and cook until the garlic softens and the aroma mellows, about 2 minutes.
- Add the red pepper, and corn; continue cooking until the pepper softens, about 5 minutes.
- Season with cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper, and cook for 1 minute more.
- Stir in the cooked quinoa and green onions. Serve hot or cold.
Something I did at home to add a lot of flavor to the quinoa salad is add some pesto. Here’s a great recipe for another quinoa pesto salad, from Eighty Twenty (I really like how her blog focuses on 80% of recipes being healthy and 20% not. It’s a great balance!). The recipe says to chill the quinoa, but I put the pesto in on top of the recipe above and ate it warm the first night and cool as leftovers.
Want to know why Quinoa is healthy for you? Check out my past articles
here: http://cancerdietitian.com/2009/09/quinoa-facts-and-recipes-part-i.html and
here: http://cancerdietitian.com/2009/09/quinoa-part-ii.html
Yum!
– Julie
