Everything turned out so delicious, for our Dad's Day celebration. My amusing less-is-more garden is producing herbs like crazy, and they are enhancing many a recipe. I made a wicked penne-pasta salad with a healthy fistful of chopped chives, basil and parsley that I left in the strainer, after rinsing. The greens were blanched when I drained the hot pasta over them. Afterwards, I added veggies and dressed the whole shebang with a delicious mustard vinaigrette... even Chloe loved that one. I digress... back to quinoa...
I rinsed 2 cups of this fab Trader's product and sautéed in my rice cooker in 1/4 cup EVOO, till it smelled nutty. Then, I added 2 cups water/2 cups chicken broth and a short hit of salt, covered and simmered till liquid was absorbed. While hot, I stirred in my chopped herbs, as above, along with white balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, freshly ground pepper and frozen Trader's peas. More oil is unnecessary, as it has already flavored the quinoa, while cooking. That's it!
WOW! It was great warm... even better chilled... and the next day??? It was simply outrageous.
Photo promised, this coming weekend, when I'll be making this gluten-free goodie once again, for a little par-tay at Lake Minne...
And here we go, with an update on June 22nd. I made a huge batch for tomorrow, this time spreading on a cookie sheet to cool, thus avoiding overcooking that would turn the dish to mush.
Also added roasted red peppers...
Did you know that quinoa is not a grain but actually a seed that can be sprouted? I noticed little sprouts, last weekend, a fact that led me to research this ancient food. Check out my photo... what do you see? Please left double-click to enlarge, if you need a closer look.
Buon Appetito...Dine Al Fresco
