Spanish Quinoa is a protein-boosted take on your favorite Spanish Rice. All the same delicious flavors of tomatoes, onions, peppers and diced green chiles are there and it takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish. Perfect paired with your favorite Mexican dinner.
There are just some days that you want to do without the extra starches and added empty calories of processed food and this was one of those days. I decided to try my hand at exchanging the rice in one of our favorite rice dishes, Spanish Rice, with quinoa and see if it would match up.
I love making dishes with quinoa, like my Quinoa Waffle recipe, Butternut Squash Quinoa Pilaf, and Quinoa Salad. Whether it's a main or a side dish, I always feel good about adding it to the menu. Quinoa can be an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, as a complete protein it supplies all eight essential amino acids and it fills you up just as much as whole grains.
This recipe is super easy and surpassed all my expectations! In fact, I think I will be making this in the future in place of our favorite rice version. All you need are 8 basic ingredients that you can find in your kitchen. And it can be on the table in less than 30 minutes!
The hardest part is cooking the quinoa - I know, not too hard is it?! While the quinoa is cooking just saute the onion and green pepper.
Once that is done it's just a matter of tossing everything together. And what you get is a bowl of yum!!! And it's gluten-free as well as vegetarian if you use vegetable broth.
I like to serve mine as a side to my favorite Mexican dishes like Easy Chicken Enchiladas and Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos.
Enjoy!
For another tasty side dish, try my Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad with tomatoes, chickpeas, onions, and garlic.
Find even more healthy salad recipes here on 2CM!
SPANISH QUINOA
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
- 2 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth for a vegetarian meal)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- ¾ cup onion, chopped
- ½ green pepper, chopped
- 10 oz can diced tomatoes
- 4 oz can green chiles
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
Instructions
- Drain the diced tomatoes and green chiles, reserving liquids in a 2 cup measuring cup. Fill the measuring cup the remaining way with chicken broth, up to the 2 cup mark.
- In a medium saucepan, combine quinoa with the 2 cups of tomato-chile-broth mixture. Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat and cook for approximately 15 minutes. Fluff with fork.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil and saute onion and pepper for about 5 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add tomatoes, green chiles and chili powder and just heat until tomatoes are warm. Toss in quinoa and serve immediately.
This post has been updated and was first published on April 22, 2018.
Check out the variety of quinoa, such as our favorite Nature's Earthly Choice Premium Organic 100% Whole Grain Quinoa, found on Amazon.com. It's a great place to pick up packaged raw foods as well as gluten-free foods. And if you are part of Amazon Prime there is free 2-day shipping.
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