This recipe is an ideal alternative to white rice and is delicious alongside all of your classic Mexican favorites.

Ingredients

1 cup rinsed, uncooked quinoa
¼ cup red onion, minced
1 large red tomato, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 cups water/chicken stock
1 Teaspoon Ancho Chili powder
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 Tablespoon crushed red pepper
½ cup canned green chilies
½ teaspoon coriander

Directions

Thoroughly rinse quinoa and place in large sauté pan over medium heat… stirring occasionally, toast the quinoa until all the liquid is gone, it begins to smell a bit like popcorn and the quinoa starts to ‘jump’ in the pan a little… once toasted, remove to another container to cool slightly while you sauté the veggies.

In the same pan, add oil, seasonings, including salt (3/4 teaspoon of kosher is good to start) and all the veggies except the green chilies. Cook until the veggies are thoroughly cooked down and caramelized, add green chilies, and cook one minute more.
Add toasted quinoa and water bring to a low boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer, keep covered and cook 15 minutes, stir, recover and continue to simmer 5 minutes at a time until nearly all the liquid is absorbed – roughly 10 to 15 more minutes. Then, leave covered, remove from heat, allow standing 10 minutes, fluffing with fork and serving.

Makes 8 servings

Breakdown

Calories             108.6

Fat                        3.3g

Cholesterol              0

Sodium             37.7mg

Carbs                  17.1g

Fiber                    1.9g

Protein                 3.3g