Karina's Quinoa Mushroom Pilaf

You can use either broth or water to cook this quinoa recipe. For a hearty, flavor-rich quinoa pilaf, use your favorite broth.

First:

Make your quinoa the easy way - using a rice cooker. You'll need roughly 2 1/2 - 3 cups cooked quinoa. As the quinoa cooks, gather and cut up your vegetables.

You'll need:

olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 small to medium yellow bell pepper, diced fine

1 small to medium green bell pepper, diced fine

2 c. sliced mushrooms

sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

1 tsp Greek seasoning (mint, lemon, basil, oregano mix)

2 scallions (spring onions) sliced - white and light green sections

squeeze of fresh lemon juice

extra virgin olive oil, to taste

When the quinoa is almost done, heat a splash of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, yellow and green pepper; and stir over medium heat until slightly softened. Add in the mushrooms. Season with sea salt, and ground pepper, to taste. Add the Greek seasoning. Stir and cook until the mushrooms are tender.

Scoop the cooked quinoa out of the rice cooker and add it to the mushroom-pepper mixture. Add in the sliced scallions. Stir to combine. Squeeze fresh lemon juice all over the quinoa and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Toss to coat the quinoa.

Taste test and add more salt or seasoning if it needs it.

Serve immediately; or allow it to cool, then cover and refrigerate it to eat as a salad.

Note on chilling this quinoa: Before serving this quinoa cold, taste test again and adjust seasonings; chilling often dulls the flavors in these kinds of salads. I usually allow quinoa salad a few minutes out of the fridge before serving; letting it come to room temperature helps the flavors. If making ahead as a salad, I'd use water instead of broth.

Serves 4.

This recipe has been taken from Karina Allrich's gluten free recipe blog. http://www.glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/