Delicious veggie recipes and stories of vegetable and marital bliss.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Moroccan-esque Quinoa with Chickpeas

This dish is adapted from a wonderful recipe that my sister-in-law made for Passover. She is a spectacular cook who posts detailed dinner menus each night on Facebook, which makes everyone wish that they were having dinner at her house. Especially my husband, who looks for any excuse to avoid doing the dishes. This is tasty and healthy and a pretty easy weeknight dinner.

You will need:
1 cup of quinoa (that's a grain, for those of you who don't live in California)
1 cup of cooked chickpeas (or one small can, rinsed well)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced in half lengthwise and then into rounds
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped and rehydrated
1/4 cup golden raisins, rehydrated
2 teaspoons of curry powder
3/4 tsp. of tumeric
3/4 tsp. of ground coriander
1/2 tsp. of cardamon
1 big bunch of chard (I like rainbow chard), remove the ribs and chop
salt to taste
juice of one lemon

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the quinoa and a little salt, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes. Leave the lid on and set aside until you are ready to add it.
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil, add the onions, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the carrots and cook for 10 minutes more, lowering the heat if the onions begin to brown. Add the spices and stir for one minute, add the raisins, the apricots and the chickpeas. Stir well. Cook for 2 minutes and then add the chopped chard. Once the chard is cooked (about 5 minutes), add the cooked quinoa and stir well until everything is nice and hot. Remove from heat, add lemon juice and salt to taste, and serve.
This also makes a nice room temperature picnic salad.
I've never been to Morocco, so I can't vouch for the authenticity of the dish, but it's a good way to get your greens, legumes, and grain in one bowl.

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