Quinoa Medley

After a glutinously delightful weekend filled with incredible midnight dinners and too many cocktails, I decided to get back on track today with a jog through central park and a dinner overloaded with vegetables. Yum. 


By nature a recipe like this is pretty flexible. But please don't try to make it without the toasted pine nuts! I know pine nuts can be pretty pricey, especially in Manhattan, but it's one item I like to stock up on at Costco. It's great to have them on hand to add to salads, use in pesto, and stir into recipes like this one. 


If you'd like you can grill a chicken breast to go with this (fresh herbs, garlic, lemon and you've got a great marinade). Quinoa is already a good source of protein. I bet this would be good if you threw a handful of spinach in it, too. So go buy some veggies and start your week off right! 


Quinoa Medley

• 1 Cup quinoa, uncooked
• 2 Cups water + 1/2 veggie bouillon cube (or just use 2 cups chicken stock)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 Red pepper
• 1 Zucchini 
• 3-4 Spring onions
• 2 Cobs of corn
• 2 Plum tomatoes
• 1/4 Cup pine nuts
• 1/4 Cup ricotta salata cheese
• 1/4 Cup chopped parsley
• 1 Lemon
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil, plus a little for sauteing 
• 1/2 Teaspoon each salt and fresh ground pepper, plus more to taste
• 1/4 Teaspoon dried oregano

Start by rinsing and prepping your veggies. Stand the red pepper up and slice the four sides off of the pepper; this gives you flat pieces of pepper that are easy to slice thinly, about 1/4 inch, and then dice. 

Dice the zucchini slightly larger than the pepper. Usually you want your vegetables about the same size but zucchini cooks faster than peppers. Cut the zucchini lengthwise into about 1/3 inch slices, make a quarter turn then cut the same way so that you have long strips that are easy to dice. Clean the corn and slice the kernels off of it. Chop the spring onions and mince the garlic. Slice the plum tomatoes. 

Heat a tiny bit of olive oil in a pot and cook one smashed clove of garlic until fragrant then add the 1/2 veggie bouillon cube. Add the 1 cup dry quinoa and stir for a few minutes to toast the couscous. Add 2 cups of water, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and put the top on the pot. Cook for 15 minutes.

Take out your largest sauté pan and heat it on medium with nothing in it, then add the 1/4 cup pine nuts to the dry pan and toast over medium heat stirring regularly. They'll start to sizzle and turn brown, this brings out an amazing nutty flavor and is definitely worth the short time and effort it takes to toast them! Take the nuts out of the pan and save them for later.

Pour about 1 teaspoon of olive oil (or less) into heated pan and add the red peppers for just about 1 minute.

Add the diced zucchini, spring onions, and garlic and stir. Add about 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper.

After a few minutes or so add the tomatoes and corn. I like to use plum tomatoes because they hold up well to a little heat. Once you add the corn and tomatoes you'll just want to heat the mix for another minute or two then turn the stove top off. You want the vegetables fresh and just cooked, don't kill them with heat!

While you're waiting for the quinoa to finish cooking, juice the lemon. It should be about 3 tablespoons of juice. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of honey, 1/4 teaspoon oregano and whisk until blended. 

By now your quinoa should already be done cooking. 

Add the vegetables to the quinoa and stir. Add the olive oil and lemon dressing. I used just about 4 tablespoons of the mix, but add according to your taste. 

Add the toasted pine nuts, 1/4 cup shredded ricotta salata and 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley. Stir and add more salt and/or pepper to taste. Top with a little shredded ricotta salata and enjoy. And don't feel bad about going back for seconds!