Delicious quinoa

Quinoa is a magical little grain that is jam packed with protein and also tastes great.  I obsess over protein thanks to a long history of migraines and a link to how much protein I eat throughout the day, so naturally, I found myself in the quinoa aisle one day. 

Quinoa is easy to cook...some people say it is similar to cooking rice, but since I am notoriously bad at cooking rice and ridiculously good at cooking quinoa, that is not a fair assessment in my mind.  Anywhooo, cook it up like it says in the box.  I generally don't presoak because the texture with the "shell" doesn't bother me at all.

 

Anyway, I started using quinoa pretty much in place of rice in all dishes.  For example, be bad and order some Chinese food, and feel less bad by making some quinoa to have with it instead of rice.  Problem solved (kind of).  Anyway, the point is, quinoa has a very mild taste so you can sass it up with pretty much anything.  Throw in some black beans, chopped bell peppers, onions, and some vinegar for a fresh cold salad, for example. 

 

Here is one of my favorite recipes that I found on eatingwell.com:

Ingredients

• 12 ounces dry sea scallops, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, or dry bay scallops (see Note)
• 4 teaspoons reduced-sodium tamari, or soy sauce, divided
• 4 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed well (see Tip)
• 2 teaspoons grated or minced garlic
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup trimmed and diagonally sliced snow peas, (1/2 inch thick)
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 cup thinly sliced scallions
• 1/3 cup finely diced red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

Preparation

1. Toss scallops with 2 teaspoons tamari (or soy sauce) in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Place a large, high-sided skillet with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon canola oil and quinoa. Cook, stirring constantly, until the quinoa begins to color, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Add water and salt and bring to a boil. Stir once, cover and cook over medium heat until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. (Do not stir.) Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir in snow peas, cover and let stand for 5 minutes more.
3. Meanwhile, whisk 3 tablespoons canola oil, the remaining 2 teaspoons tamari (or soy sauce), vinegar and sesame oil in a large bowl. Add the quinoa and snow peas, scallions and bell pepper; toss to combine.
4. Remove the scallops from the marinade and pat dry. Heat a large skillet over medium-high until hot enough to evaporate a drop of water upon contact. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons canola oil and cook the scallops, turning once, until golden and just firm, about 2 minutes total. Gently stir the scallops into the quinoa salad. Serve garnished with cilantro, if desired.

Nutrition

Per serving: 326 calories; 15 g fat ( 1 g sat , 8 g mono ); 19 mg cholesterol; 32 g carbohydrates; 16 g protein; 4 g fiber; 713 mg sodium; 511 mg potassium.

Super fast to make, super easy to make, super filling, and super healthy woohoo!  A lot of the time when I don't feel like dealing with scallops (or cooking), I throw in some grilled chicken instead.

Quinoa with scallops

Also good to know:  quinoa will keep for about a week without anything mixed in, so it is great to just keep a stash of it in the fridge and mix things up as you go through the week.