Posted Feb 20, 2012
Having recently fallen in love with the nutty flavor of red quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah), I’ve been looking for ways to use the ancient grain.
Updating a favorite recipe seemed like a good start. The dish, called East Indian rice, was clipped about 20 years ago from a newspaper whose name, along with the name of the person who developed the recipe, is long forgotten. It’s a simple rice dish with dried fruit and onions cooked right in, and flavored with Curry Powder, Cinnamon and Ginger. Yogurt stirred in at the end makes it creamy.
The red quinoa (really a seed, but it is used like a grain and generally described that way) subbed easily for the rice, making a quick one-pot meal or a complex side dish for simply cooked chicken or pork.
If you’d like a vegetable accompaniment, try steamed Broccoli or wilted spinach, or a salad, such as an Asian slaw.
Tips: Rinse the quinoa well before cooking to remove a possible bitter flavor from the coating around the kernels. Can’t find (or don’t like) quinoa? Use long-grain white rice instead. Increase water to 2 cups.
Make the dish more substantial by stirring in a cup of chopped cooked shrimp or chicken along with the Yogurt.
Red quinoa with dried fruit and yogurt
Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 30 minutes Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 to 2 teaspoons chopped crystallized Ginger or fresh grated ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons Curry Powder
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon each: ground Cinnamon, salt
1/4 teaspoon red Pepper flakes
1 cup red quinoa, rinsed, drained
1 cup diced dried mixed fruit
1/2 cup plain yogurt, at room temperature
1/2 cup salted Cashews or peanuts
Chopped fresh Cilantro leaves
1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; add onion and ginger. Cook until onion is softened, 5 minutes. Add curry powder; cook, 1 minute. Add water, cinnamon, salt and red Pepper flakes. Cover; heat to a boil. Add quinoa and fruit; stir to mix. Cover. Lower heat to a simmer; cook, 20 minutes.
2. Remove from heat; let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Stir in yogurt. Sprinkle with Cashews and Cilantro.
Nutrition information: Per serving: 447 calories, 15 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 3 mg CHOLESTEROL, 72 g carbohydrates, 12 g protein, 430 mg sodium, 6 g Fiber.
jxgray@tribune.com
©2012 the Chicago Tribune
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Tags: Carbohydrate, Cholesterol, Cooking, Information
