Quinoa? What is that?

 So I’ve been hearing a lot about quinoa lately, well I don’t know that I would say a lot, but some of that fancy squeezy baby food I buy for Micahel for occasions like car trips, airplane trips, vacations (cause it is too expensive for regular use) contains it and I started to do some research. Then I decided to buy some, and today I decided to cook some. See I am not the biggest rice a roni fan, and we don’t really eat potatoes so we needed another grain/cereal dinner option- enter quinoa, plus I had heard that it was really good for you, much better than rice a roni (no kidding) and since we have recently made the switch from white to brown rice I thought why not! Today was our first time eating it, but it was pretty tasty. I will admit that the texture did throw me, it kinda looks like couscous but the grains are bigger… so the best way I can describe it is as “bubbly”. Anyway it was a hit! Michael gobbled it down (rare these days), Brian had it, and yes I even enjoyed it, so I thought I would share… actually I thought I would share the recipe for the whole dinner since this dinner with a few variations from time to time is a favorite around our house.

quinoa, salmon, and roasted veggies

Salmon with Roasted Veggies and Quinoa (not together in the same dish… separate as food should be)

Baked Salmon

Prep time 12 seconds

1 salmon filet (about 4 oz) per person, or one large salmon filet for the family

Lemon Pepper (Costco sells the best stuff)

Lemon slices or coins as desired

Oil or cooking spray

Cover baking dish with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray, place salmon on baking dish (skin side down if your pieces have skin).

Preheat oven to 450.

Sprinkle salmon with lemon pepper (do NOT add extra salt). Cover salmon with lemon slices/coins if you like it nice and lemony (I do).

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with fork. Remove from oven and eat..immediately.

Quinoa (the rice way)

1 c. quinoa

1 ½ c. chicken broth

2-5 sprigs fresh thyme chopped

Place quinoa and chicken broth in stockpot, bring to a boil, add herbs.

Turn heat to low, set timer for 12 minutes. Remove from heat after 12 minutes and “fluff”.

hungry yet?

Roasted Veggies

We also do these as grilled veggies… so decide oven or grill.

Veggies on hand, I did carrots, zucchini, and bell peppers, but tomatoes, onions, summer squash, etc are delicious as well.

Thyme sprigs (if you have them)

Garlic cloves, smashed (I used 5).

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

*Montreal steak seasoning, if grilling I would go with this option, skip the thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic, this has it all and is great on the grill.

**If using carrots you need to precook them. Cut in half lengthwise, then into quarters. Boil for 1-5 minutes or until slightly soft (these are great grilled).

Cut veggies, add spices, toss lightly with olive oil, spread oover baking pan.

Preheat oven to 400 (do this before cooking the salmon). Place veggies in the oven and back for 15-20 minutes or until soft enough to