Quinoa is healthy, nutritious, gluten-free, and high in protein, antioxidants, and vitamins. This recipe is great if you are looking for a healthier (and tastier) alternative to rice.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of quinoa (not rinsed)
- 1 lb ground chicken (turkey or beef is fine, but chicken comes out better)
- 2 eggs
- half a large onion
- 2 large carrots
- olive oil
Spices
- salt
- pepper
- curry
- paprika
- basil
Start by preparing quinoa. Use 2 cups of water to 1 cup of quinoa. Bring water to boil in a 2-3 quart pot, then set burner to low, add lots of olive oil, salt (not too much), pepper, curry, basil, then add quinoa, simmer under closed lid for about 15 minutes. Mid-way through the process open the lid and stir everything well with a spatula. We don’t want all of the water absorbed while quinoa is cooking for this dish because we want the juices to be combined with the chicken juices and absorbed by quinoa once it is mixed with chicken.
In a large 12 inch pan (iron is fine) set the burner just above medium high, and heat the oil. Add very finely chopped onion, let it get golden brown, and then add chopped carrots. You want to chop carrots lengthwise (half-way) and across so that the carrots are thin and small (so basically you are quartering carrots). The technique is easy: hold the edge, and chop in half in the middle, then turn and chop once more.
Then cut across and you’ll get thin quarters.
Add carrots, then add some more salt, pepper, paprika, stir fry for maybe 5 minutes until things start getting brown. Then add the ground chicken. Cut it in multiple pieces with a wooden spatula, and mix well with onion and carrots. Keep chopping away at it until you get the desired consistency. Too small is not that great, so I like large pieces, but not too large. Stir fry that until you don’t see much raw chicken, probably no more than 5 minutes. This will be cooked through under the lid in the next step.
Once chicken is ready, set the burner to low (2nd setting from the lowest) and add quinoa (ideally with a bunch of unabsorbed liquid). Mix it thoroughly and place under a lid. At this step you can break two eggs and mix those into the mixture with a spatula. Everything will cook through under the lid for about 20 minutes. Mid-way through the process mix everything thoroughly under the lid, and you are good to go.
Experiment with salt/spices, this can be made more or less spicy and salty. Less salt goes a long way with this one. You can serve it with avocado pieces or any other veggies on the side (fresh/raw). This dish can be tried even by those who hate quinoa – it is more akin to a ‘fried rice’ than to quinoa.