Vegetable Quinoa

Photo: flickr user net_efekt

Ingredients

1 cup Quinoa

3 tablespoons Olive oil

1 teaspoon Minced fresh ginger

1 small Carrot peeled, and

cut into 1/4" dice

Red bell pepper seeded, and

cut into 1/4" dice

Yellow bell pepper seeded, and

cut into 1/4" dice

cup Frozen petite peas thawed

cup Frozen corn kernels thawed

Salt to taste

Freshly-ground black pepper to taste

cup Finely-sliced scallions

2 tablespoons Chopped fresh mint

cup Very finely-chopped almonds

Preparation

Soak quinoa in a bowl of cold water and rub the quinoa between your hands. Drain and repeat the process a couple of times. Combine quinoa with 8 cups of cold water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer from 8 to 10 minutes or until just cooked and grains have turned translucent. Take care not to overcook; quinoa should have some crunch to it. Drain but do not rinse and transfer to a 13- by 9-inch pan to cool; fluff with fork and hold until ready to eat.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add ginger and carrot and saute for about a minute, stirring frequently. Add bell peppers and saute for 2 minutes to soften. Add peas and corn and saute a minute to heat through. Add quinoa and saute long enough, stirring, just to reheat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove the quinoa from heat and stir in scallions, mint and almonds; serve immediately.

This recipe yields 4 to 6 servings.