Quinoa with Roasted Butternut - Healthy Eating

Quinoa with Roasted Butternut; find out how to cook quinoa.

As a change and feeling in a healthy eating kinda mood, I felt the need to cook quinoa.

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is marvellous stuff and although a little on the weird-looking side, it is actually rather nice to eat and is good for you too.

That said, of course, it does need some love to make it nice as alone it can be a bit tasteless. But if you add a glug of oil (ha-ha) and some roasted veg along with a dollop of sun-dried tomato paste and it turns into a lovely thing indeed.

Now I have to admit to adding a little crumbled feta after this picture was taken but since I'm trying to come across all healthy and that - just don't tell anyone!

Did you know?

Quinoa is a complete protein unlike wheat or rice and contains all eight of the essential amino acids. It's also a Superfood as it is packed with dietary fibre, phosphorus, magnesium and iron. It's also gluten-free and easy to digest which all goes to suggest it is as close the most perfect ingredient you can get.

Quinoa contains a high amount of fibre which will make you feel fuller for longer which in turn should make you eat fewer calories overall.

How to Cook Quinoa:
Before cooking it looks like tiny beads - you need to rinse it well or it will taste bitter.

Then pop into a saucepan (please note 1 cup of uncooked quinoa will turn into about 3 cups when cooked) so allow a big enough saucepan or you will have a bit of trouble!

Cover with plenty of water and bring to the boil then turn down to simmer and cook covered with a lid for about 20 minutes or until it looks transparent.

Yield: 2Author: Jan Bennett

Roasted Butternut and Vegetable Quinoa

As a change and feeling in a healthy eating kinda mood, I felt the need to cook quinoa. Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is marvellous stuff and although a little on the weird-looking side, it is actually rather nice to eat and is good for you too!

ingredients:

1/2 a cup of quinoa

half of butternut squash - sliced into 1-inch slices

1/2 a red bell pepper - sliced into 1-inch slices

1 medium red onion - quartered

about a tablespoon of sun-dried tomato paste - I used the brand Sacla'

sea salt and pepper and a couple of glugs of olive oil

a few leaves of chopped flat leaf parsley

instructions

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F of Gas 6

Cook your quinoa to the instructions on the packet (some quinoa needs to be soaked before cooking and some doesn't)  Rinse, drain well and set aside.

Put the prepared butternut, pepper and onion onto a non-stick baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil then season with sea salt and pepper.  Using your hands, coat the veg well with the oil.

Pop into the preheated oven for about 20 minutes before turning, then return to the oven for another 10 or 15 minutes or so.  The butternut should now be cooked through but you can test with a sharp knife to see if it's nice and soft.

Remove from the oven and transfer to a chopping board to cool.  Once cold, dice into 1 cm pieces and transfer to a bowl.  Stir in about a tablespoon of sun-dried tomato paste and coat well.  

Add the cold, cooked and drained quinoa along with the chopped parsley, drizzle with a little more olive oil. 

Mix together, have a taste and adjust the seasoning and serve.

Created using The Recipes Generator