So don’t get me wrong, I love quinoa. I make it a lot. The texture is killer and the nutritional benefits are through the roof! But…I mean…it can be kinda boring. Unless you add a ton of flavor to it, it’s kinda bland. So over the years, I’ve tried different things to spice it up a little! Usually, I’ll just mix 1/2 quinoa and 1/2 brown rice together and then cook it. That way, my husband doesn’t realize he’s eating quinoa lol But if I’m planning on having straight up quinoa as a side, this is one of my favorite ways to make it!
Essentially, I just use any veggies I have on hand and add it to the quinoa! Typically I always have peppers, onions, and mushrooms…so those are the usual suspects. But I’ve also added corn, peas, tomatoes…pretty much whatever is on hand! And when I tell you this comes together in less than 30 minutes, I mean it. I rarely ever make anything that takes longer than that! haha
So to start, rally all the veggies you have on hand! Anything you have leftover that you think would be good (onions, peppers, mushrooms, squash, eggplant, peas, corn, tomatoes…there are no rules haha). Once you have everything out, throw a pot on the stove and put it on medium heat. Another tip to make things go quicker! Now, while the pot heats up, chop all your veggies up! You’ll want to chop them so they’re a little smaller than bite-sized. Because I like this recipe to take very little time, I cut everything up small so it cooks through. It also helps it all blend in better!
If possible, I like to different colored veggies, so that it looks a little prettier 🙂
Once everything is chopped up, add in some olive oil to the pot. Then grab your chopped veggies and throw them in! You’ll want to stir them around for about 3-4 minutes and let them cook a little. In the last 30 seconds, add in 1 clove of chopped garlic. If you don’t have fresh garlic, you can add in 1/2 tsp of garlic powder!
At this point, add in 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of chicken stock. You can use water instead of chicken or veggie stock, but the stock really ups the flavor!! I highly recommend.
Add in some salt and then turn the heat up to high. Once it starts boiling, put the top on and turn the heat down to low! It usually takes about 15 minutes to cook. You’ll know it’s done once the water is absorbed and you can see these little curly tails coming out of the quinoa 🙂 If the quinoa looks the same as when you threw it in, it’s not done haha
After 15 minutes, take it off the heat, give it a nice stir, and taste it! At this point, I add in some more salt, pepper, and some Old Bay seasoning. But you could really add anything you want! I’ve done salt and Italian seasonings and that was good too!
Serve with any meat/veggie combo you want! I really like this side with salmon 🙂
Recipe
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups chicken or veggie stock (or water, if you don’t have stock)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
- Roughly 1 cup chopped veggies
- I recommend 1/2 an onion, 1/2 a red pepper, 1/2 an orange pepper, and 5 small button mushrooms.
Instructions
- Put a medium-sized pot on medium heat.
- Chop up your onions, peppers, and mushrooms (or veggies of your choice) into bite-sized pieces.
- Chop up garlic clove.
- Add olive oil to your pot.
- Dump in your chopped veggies and stir over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Add chopped garlic during last 30 seconds and stir until fragrant.
- Add in salt, quinoa, and broth and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Once mixture begins to boil, turn heat to low and set timer for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, check to see if stock/water is absorbed and if the quinoa has little curly tails coming out of it! If there’s stock/water left and no tails, let it cook for 5 more minutes. If there’s no stock/water left and no tails, add 1/4 cup more water or stock and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Take off heat and add in salt as needed and Old Bay seasoning.
- Stir it all together, fluff with a fork, and serve 🙂