Vegetable Fried Quinoa
I never really knew I liked fried rice. Since I’m not an egg fan, I rarely ordered it. When I did, I would pick out the eggs, and wasn’t able to fully focus on the yums.
I know, my food aversions are strange, but they’re REAL.
Fortunately, I found a way to make my own version at home, and now I want to eat it with all the things.
Last week I made a batch of my baked cream cheese jalapeño wontons, sweet and sour sauce for dipping, and a side of this vegetable fried quinoa. It turned out to be one of our favorite dinners of the summer.
I like substituting quinoa for rice in this dish because 1) whole grains! 2) SO quick to cook (1/3 the time of brown rice), 3) complete vegetarian protein.
So many good things wrapped up in one little seed with tons of texture.
Speaking of texture, for a little extra crunch I like sprinkling some crushed and roasted peanuts on top.
I love this quinoa as a side dish, but it could also be a full meal with a bit of this crispy sesame tofu. DO IT. do it.
Vegetable Fried Quinoa
Standard fried rice made healthier and higher protein with superfood quinoa.
Yield: 4-6 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 2 cloves chopped garlic
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup frozen green peas
- 3 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
- 3 tablespoons low sodium tamari
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
Directions:
- Heat the peanut oil in a medium-large skillet over medium heat. Add the green onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes, until the onion is softened.
- Pour in the red and green bell pepper, carrot, and frozen green peas. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes. The vegetables should soften in this time.
- Stir in the quinoa, and drizzle on the tamari, and sesame oil. Cook until heated through and incorporated.
- Serve hot, topped with additional green onions and crushed peanuts, if desired.
3 cups cooked quinoa is the amount that results from cooking one cup dry quinoa. If you cook the quinoa the same day, just make sure you let the quinoa cool before stirring it into the vegetables, as that will help the texture of the dish.
If you like eggs in your fried rice, you can scramble 2 when you add the bell pepper, carrots, and green peas.
All the things! Yum. I LOVE a fried quinoa. I developed one recently but it’s lingering in the depths of my Lightroom. Yours looks amazing! Great idea using tamari to make it all GF. But I can’t believe you don’t like egg.. you’re missing out on so many benedicts! At least the ultimate Benedict is egg-free, a one Mr. Cumberbatch.. Just saying.
My God, I love him. Totally irrelevant to your post. How did I get from fried quinoa to Benedict Cumberbatch? Your food aversions, my ADD… they’re real. Beautiful post as always :)
Oh yum! I’m not one for eggs either (people think I’m nuts, especially because I work the egg station at a restaurant during weekend brunch!). So this looks perfect for me! Thanks for sharing!
Love your logic, SO much quicker than rice… plus all the extra protein! Not an egg fan either :)
Love quinoa! Definitely inspired to make this recipe for dinner tonight.. thanks for the idea.