Healthy South of the Border Green Quinoa



This light, healthy dish is great paired with fish or chicken, but also complements a bowl of soup beautifully.  Quinoa is a tasty change from the same old rice I’d usually make to accompany chicken dinners.  The addition of the jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice brightens the flavor and adds a bit of sizzle.

Diff:  Easy     Prep:  5 min

 Cook:  15 min     Serves:  4

Ingredients

  • 1 cup quinoa

  • 2 cups spinach

  • 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves

  • Juice of one lime

  • 1/2 small jalapeno, seeded

  • 1 T extra-virgin olive oil

  • 1 clove garlic

  • Kosher salt

  • 2 T Parmesan cheese

Directions

  • Bring a medium saucepan filled two-thirds with water to a boil.

  • Place quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and rinse several times.

  • Add quinoa to saucepan, lower heat and simmer until the grains are tender and the germ (which looks like a white tail) just shows; about 12 minutes.

  • Strain the quinoa and rinse under cold water.  Drain, then set aside to dry out.

  • While the quinoa is cooking, combine the spinach, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno, oil and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

  • Combine the dried quinoa, the spinach mixture, and 3/4 t. salt in the same saucepan the quinoa cooked in and set over medium-;low heat.

  • Cook, stirring, until warmed through, about 3 minutes.

  • Stir in 1T. of the Parmesan cheese.  Transfer to a serving dish, and sprinkle the other 1 T. of cheese on top.

  • Serve warm or at room temperature.  Enjoy!

I hope you will like this simple but brightly flavored dish.  Until next time, wishing you and your family all of God’s blessings, good health and happy eating!  

Smiles and Blessings,

Maria

Tags: Gluten-free, Healthy and Light, Quinoa, , Spinach

4 responses to “Healthy South of the Border Green Quinoa

  1. I’m adding some garlic salt instead of garlic cloves, hope it’s
    fine, as I don’t wanna use garlic here directly…

    LikeLike

    • Thanks Ema for the comment! It really is a nice, light dish, and the garlic salt would enhance the flavor! Enjoy! Maria

      LikeLiked by 1 person

      • Quinoa treats are always healthy and lite. I would love to stir-fry this and use this as filling in my corn tortilla for a yummy brunch :P

        LikeLike

  2. I never even thought of stir frying this! What a great idea! I’ll have to try this the next time I make quinoa. Thanks again for commenting! Have a great day~

    LikeLike

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