Grain Explorations: Quinoa Pilaf

Despite my pile of cookbooks, my first evening of "Grain Explorations" found me turning to a tried and true, a recipe that doesn't take much time and always adds a nice side for any meat or fish dinner.  I turned to Pilaf.

The wonderful thing about Pilaf is once you are familiar with the basic steps you can mix up the grain and veggies used to match what you have handy.

Traditional pilaf is made with rice, but since I only use brown rice, sometimes I turn to Quinoa if I need a faster dinner.

Quinoa is a wonderful grain.  Here are a few Quinoa basics to entice you!

1. Quinoa cooks in about 15 minutes.
2. Quinoa is a complete protein.
3. Quinoa is gluten free.
4. While I'm including it as one of my favorite grains, Quinoa is actually a seed!
5. Quinoa tastes goes equally well in summer cool salads and warm pilafs.

Basic Pilaf Steps
1. You're always going to start with that base of chopped onion, celery, and garlic.  Saute this over low to medium heat with a bit of olive oil until softened.  You can add chopped carrot to this if you wish and I encourage you to add the garlic toward the end, so it doesn't get too brown.

2. Once your veggies are softened, and maybe lightly brown, measure out your grain and add it to the pan, mixing it in with the softened vegetables.  You want the grain to toast a bit before adding the appropriate amount of water or broth.

Notes:

• If using Quinoa, I encourage you to rinse it prior to adding it to the pan. 
• Water is always fine, but you can use any broth in a pilaf recipe to up the flavor.  If you use water, you'll want to add salt and pepper!

3. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cover for the length of time needed to cook that grain.

4. Mix in any preferred additions and serve!  These additions could include nuts, such as sliced toasted almonds or toasted pine nuts; thinly slices spinach or any green; fresh chopped herbs; or even raisins or dried cranberries.

As you can see, on this night I paired this lovely Quinoa Pilaf with some carrots and trout.