Vera's Quinoa

My friend Vera recently requested that I make a recipe using quinoa. I was shocked to find that I had no quinoa recipes! So here is the first one. Since it is fall I wanted to use fall flavors like sage and rosemary and of course squash! This recipe uses 1 cup of roasted butternut squash, so if you are roasting a whole squash you can use 1 cup for this recipe then save the rest for another recipe (like my Curried Butternut Squash Soup). If you are making more than 1 serving you might end up using the whole squash. Otherwise you can usually buy pre-sliced squash in the prepared produce section of some grocery stores. You roast it the same way. As for the greens in this recipe, you want to use ones that can stand up to heat like arugula, chard, kale or spinach. You can use just one or a combination of them. (*Gout: if following a gout diet you should use avoid the use of spinach, instead you should use arugula, chard or kale.)

This recipe has several parts cooking at once, but if you put the get the butternut squash into the oven first, then you can get every thing else ready while it is roasting.

Makes: 1 main course or 2 sides

Preparation time: 20m
Cooking time: 20m
Total time: 50m

Ingredients:

  • 1 small butternut squash (you will use 1 cup per serving)
  • 1/4 cup quinoa
  • 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup black beans
  • salt and pepper (to taste)
  • 1 cup hearty greens (arugula/chard/collard greens/kale/spinach/etc)

Equipment: baking sheet, parchment paper, vegetable peeler, saucepan, sauté pan

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450ºF/232ºC and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Peel the butternut squash with a vegetable peeler, scoop out and discard the seeds them chop the squash into 1” pieces. Roast at 450ºF/232ºC for 30 minutes, flipping the pieces over halfway through cooking. For more detailed instructions see my post: INLINE-LINK-START title="How to roast butternut squash" href="http://www.wafflehearts.com/howtos/how-to-roast-butternut-squash" target="_blank">How to: Roast Butternut Squash INLINE-LINK-END.
  3. Meanwhile, put the quinoa and chopped rosemary in a small saucepan with a little less than 1/2 cup of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for for 15 -20 minutes or until the water is absorbed.
  4. Put the sage and olive oil into small sauté pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Continue to cook until the sage is crispy, this should take about 2 - 3 minutes. Once the sage stops sizzling that means all of the water has been cooked out of it and it is done. Immediately remove from heat and set aside.
  5. Once the quinoa is finished cooking, drizzle the crispy sage olive oil over it and mix well.
  6. In a large bowl combine the black beans, greens, quinoa and squash. Toss well, then season to taste with salt and pepper.