Quinoa...or....Keen-Wa!

Hello my foodie friends! How's it going? We are only 2 days away from Thanksgiving! Is everyone ready? I have a philosophy about eating on the holidays and that is to just relax and enjoy the day. I eat the pie and mashed potato's and gravy and I just enjoy! My thoughts are all about healthy balance. If you are eating healthy and exercising the majority of the time, the one day will not hurt you. I always think 80/20! It's what you do the majority of time. Being consistent and balanced is key! OK, just my two cents on the issue :-}

I came across a Quinoa recipe here and it reminded me of a recipe that I used to frequently make. I thought to myself, "why did you stop making the recipe?" I used to eat this about 1-2 tx a week. So I decided to make my old faithful side dish and was so glad I brought it back. I will have to bring this back into rotation for awhile. First, let me tell you about the health benefits of Quinoa. (Oh, actually if you have never heard of this grain it is pronounced Keen-wa, but no worries if you mis-pronounce it, its all good) Quinoa is the highest in protein of all grains! So this could actually stand in as your protein if you wanted a nice meatless lunch or dinner. Quinoa provides necessary essential amino acids,is gluten free,and easy to digest! I am able to find this at most grocery stores with the other grains and of course Trader Joe's carries this also! So enough of that talk, lets get to the recipe!

What you need:
1 onion - cut into slices
1 8 oz. package of Bella mushrooms - washed & sliced
2 cups of organic chicken broth
1 cup of Quinoa
2 cloves of garlic
Sea salt for flavor
Dash of extra virgin olive oil

Place one cup of Quinoa and 2 cups of chicken broth to a pan and heat to a boil. Once it boils cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Then you will cut your onion, mushrooms and garlic. Place a dash (about 1/2 tsp or so) of extra virgin olive oil in a saute pan and heat on medium. Add in your onion and cook for about 1-2 minutes and add in the mushrooms. You will let this cook for a total of about 15-20 minutes allowing all of the flavors to come together and to caramelize. You will want to give this a stir about every 3 minutes or so allowing it to cook evenly. Right at about 10minutes toss in the garlic so that the garlic and cook for the last 5 minutes or so.




This is what your Quinoa will look like after it is done cooking!



Put your Quinoa and onion/mushroom/garlic into a large bowl and mix together. Add a dash of sea salt and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese to the top and mix. Serve and enjoy!