This easy organic quinoa vegetable dish is filling, nutritious, and best of all…thrifty! I use all my favorite seasonal veggies to pack this dish with iron, vitamins, minerals, and protein.
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil (divided)
- 2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Broth Base
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- bell pepper, diced (1/3 orange, red, and yellow bell pepper)
- 2 cups kale, chopped
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Drain well.
- In pan, heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil over medium heat.
- Add quinoa and cook in coconut oil until all water from the rinse is evaporated.
- Add 2 cups water and bouillon base.
- Bring to a boil.
- Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.
- Boil covered for 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let sit covered an additional 5 minutes.
- While the quinoa finishes, saute the garlic and all the vegetables in 2 tablespoons coconut oil.
- After the 5 minute rest, fluff the quinoa and stir in the vegetable saute mixture.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Enjoy!
Nutritional Highlights
- This recipe is loaded with protein. On top of that, the amino acids in this recipe provide a full and complete spectrum for near-perfect protein quality.
- This dish is an excellent source of Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and Folic Acid.
- Minerals supplied by this recipe include copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, and zinc.
- Coconut oil is a delicious source of healthy, Omega fatty acids.
This dish is least expensive when we buy the organic quinoa in bulk and get the veggies when they are in season. We like to eat organic foods to reduce our exposure to the chemicals and additives that are used in much of conventional farming and manufacturing process.
Cooking Tips
Most of the instructions I’ve read for cooking quinoa call for soaking the seeds in advance (yes, they’re actually edible seeds and not grain). I’ve found that this is not necessary.
Rinsing the quinoa removes natural external features of the grain that hinder the cooking process and alter the taste. They gently rinse away.
I’ve tried to cook the veggies and quinoa together with little success. The vegetable saute adds so much moisture that I just end up with a lot of extra liquid and the quinoa comes out soggy. Cooking them separately prevents this and yields a light and fluffy side to serve with any entree.
Try these other recipes to boost your consumption of seasonal fruits and vegetables today:
Do you have a favorite way to prepare quinoa? Leave us all the details in the comments below.
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