Monday, October 10, 2011

Sprouted Quinoa with Cannellini Beans and Fresh Veggies

Here's a super quick, easy, and delicious dinner recipe that is jam-packed with nutrition! You can tell I threw together a bunch of random ingredients I dug out of the fridge, but it just goes to show you that stocking a few basic pantry essentials (like canned beans) can make a dinner appear out of nowhere in under 30 minutes!
You can make this into a soup by adding carrots, celery, onions, & broth
Ingredients:
1 c sprouted quinoa (or regular quinoa or brown rice)
2 c low-sodium vegetable broth or water
3/4 c frozen peas
1 c tomato sauce
1 15 oz can cannellini beans, strained and rinsed
1 cup kale, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
dried oregano, salt, and pepper to taste
fresh parsley and/or basil, if you have it
The Line-Up
Cook quinoa per package instructions (typically 1 c quinoa to 2 c liquid). I usually use a rice cooker for grains, but opted for the stove on this one because quinoa cooks in 15 min on the stove and I wanted to keep it to one pot for easy clean-up, but wanted to heat the rest of the ingredients, too. While the quinoa cooks, gather the rest of the ingredients and chop your kale and zucchini.
Add the peas, please!
When the quinoa is almost done cooking, add the frozen peas, stir to combine, cover, and let simmer another couple minutes. Then add the tomato sauce, beans, kale, and zucchini. Stir to combine and add additional liquid if the contents of your pot seem dry (you don't want it to burn!). Continue to cook over low heat until everything is heated through.
Eat all the colors of the rainbow!
Turn off the heat and fold in chopped fresh parsley and/or basil. Spoon into a bowl. Garnish with a sprinkle of your favorite grated cheese and/or a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and dig in!
This protein and fiber packed dish should fill you up in no time!

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6 comments:

  1. Liz - I will admit - It wasn't as delicious as dinner Sun night at Red Lentil! Post coming soon on that!

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  2. Sounds tasty and healthy! I've never tried sprouted quinoa - does it have a different taste or texture than regular?

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  3. Not really, Ranjani. I did feel like a bit of a cheater using this bagged variety. I know sprouting is easy and nutritious, but rarely do it myself. I need to start planning ahead more, so I can sprout my own quinoa by soaking (even just a little pre-soaking helps us get more of the nutrients out of grains and seeds.

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  4. Thanks for linking your great post to FAT TUESDAY. Hope to see you next week! Be sure to visit RealFoodForager.com on Sunday for
    Sunday Snippets – your post from Fat Tuesday may be featured there!

    http://realfoodforager.com/2011/10/fat-tuesday-october-11-2011/

    If you have grain-free recipes please visit my Grain-Free Linky Carnival in support of my 28 day grain-free challenge! It will be open until November 2.

    http://realfoodforager.com/2011/10/grain-free-real-food-linky-carnival/

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  5. It's so great to have those pantry essentials! It's amazing what we can do with just a few things. It's a lovely creative dish.

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