Spanish Quinoa
Hi Everyone. It's time for this month's Secret Recipe Club, where each month, a group of bloggers are assigned a blog, and we get to choose a recipe from that blog to feature on our own blogs, then we all reveal our assigned blogs on the same day.
This month I was assigned the blog: 2CookinMamas by Linda and Christina, a mother daughter blogging team devoted to making nutritious family-friendly foods, including many gluten free recipes.
Linda and Christina have so many wonderful recipes on their blog, choosing just one to feature here was not an easy task. I was hoping to find a new quinoa recipe to try and I was delighted to find not one, but ten - Quinoa Spinach Cakes, Quinoa and Roasted Broccoli Salad, Quinoa Stuffing, and more. My selection: Spanish Quinoa, a healthy take on spanish rice. It was absolutely delicious and I will most definitely be making it again and again. Excellent recipe, ladies!
Drain the canned tomatoes and chiles, reserving the juice.
There's a lot of flavor in that juice.
To the reserved juice, add enough chicken stock to equal 2 cups of liquid.
Heat a little oil in a large skillet.
Saute the onions and peppers in the oil. Season with a pinch of salt.
Mmmm!
The peppers and onions are done. Look at all the wonderful fond in the bottom of the pan. Fond = flavor!
Next I added the tomatoes and green chiles.
Give everything a stir and make a little well in the center.
Add the chili powder.
Stir well, sauteing that chili powder to "bloom" the flavor.
Quinoa has a natural coating called saponin which can taste bitter or soapy. Rinsing easily removes the saponin. Even if your quinoa claims to be pre-rinsed, play it safe and rinse it anyway.
Back to the recipe, add the reserved canned tomatoes and green chile juice mixed with chicken stock.
Give everything a good stir.
Bring to a boil.
Cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Enjoy!
Items used to make this recipe:
(affiliate links)
braiser https://amzn.to/2SPd6lO
mesh sieves https://amzn.to/3fCDbP5
quinoa https://amzn.to/2SQXXjX
Spanish Quinoa
makes 4 servings
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
pinch of salt
10 ounce can diced tomatoes
4 ounce can green chiles
2 teaspoons ground chili powder
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups chicken broth (try my homemade)
Directions
Drain canned tomatoes and green chiles, reserving liquids in a 2-cup measure; add enough chicken stock to equal 2 cups.
In a large skillet, saute onions, peppers, and salt until onions are translucent and starting to caramelize, about 5 minutes.
Add canned tomatoes and green chiles; stir for a minute or two; add chili powder and saute for 30-60 seconds.
Add the quinoa and chicken stock mixture; stir well to combine.
Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and serve.