Coconut Quinoa

This is a great South Asian inspired way to make quinoa. I served it with fish and it was really tasty. Takes about half an hour and is a great side. It also made good leftovers for lunch prompting a few "that smells great"s at the office. The coconut makes it creamy and steeping it with lemongrass and habanero gives it extra flavor and a little heat. 

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1 cup coconut milk (I used light)

1 stalk lemon grass

1 habanero

A few strips of lime zest

2 crushed garlic cloves

1/2 tsp sugar

Big pinch salt

1 tsp fish sauce

1 cup quinoa

1 tbsp coconut oil

Handful of cilantro, chopped

2 small scallions, thinly sliced

Juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 tsp minced jalapeño or serano pepper

Quinoa-Crusted Pork Chops

After Peru, I was dying to crust something in quinoa and decided on pork chops. I used this basic recipe but subbed in quinoa for breadcrumbs. Yum! It's also sort of healthy, right? Feel free to marinate the chops first, or just season well with salt and pepper. Can't wait to try another quinoa-coated something.

Ingredients:

2 bone-in pork chops

salt and pepper

1 cup uncooked quinoa (cooked according to package directions, cooled)

1 egg

flour

1 tbps butter

1 tbsp olive oil

(I marinated ours with some mint and orange zest and garlic)

Fried Rice-Style Quinoa

I was marinating flank steak the other night and asked Jamie what he wanted as a side. He requested peas. The flank steak was marinating in soy sauce, ginger, garlic, etc (Asian-style), so I was trying to think of an Asiany way to make peas - fried rice! I had just bought a bag of quinoa, so I figured I'd make it as if it were fried rice. It was delicious (and cheap and easy). Jamie loved it, and it even tasted great the next day.