Quinoa Fennel Pilaf

by Nutritional Chef Patty James

Ingredients:

• 1 C. quinoa
• ½ small onion, finely chopped
• 1 rib celery, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored and diced
• 1 T. unsalted butter
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 ¾ C. vegetable stock
• sprinkle of rice wine vinegar

Directions:

• Rinse quinoa in a fine sieve.
• Sauté onion, celery, carrot and fennel in butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 7-8 minutes. Add quinoa and sauté over medium-high heat, stirring 2 to 3 minutes.  Add stock and salt and pepper to tease and cook over low heat covered until quinoa is tender and liquid is absorbed, just like you would do with white rice. (approx 12 to 15 minutes)
• Fluff with a fork and sprinkle with a splash of rice wine vinegar to taste.

Serves 6

Per Serving 195 Calorie

Other Options:

Keep Quinoa in mind as an add-on to just about any meal or have it as main course for lunch. Once you become familiar with Quinoa you can start to play around with all kinds of different vegetables to toss into it, include tempeh or tofu. This is such a complete meal as you will note in the Health Benefits section!

Health Benefits:

Quinoa contains an almost perfect balance of all eight essential amino acids needed for tissue development in humans. This attribute makes quinoa a perfect and excellent meat alternative.

A main food staple of the Inca civilization, quinoa has been cultivated for more than 5,000 years.

Quinoa’s relatives include spinach, beets and Swiss chard. It is used as a grain and substituted for grains because of its cooking characteristics.