Quinoa - 5 Simple Recipes That Get Me Through the Week
Quinoa has been a favorite staple of mine. It is an incredible versatile food and is packed with a huge amount of nutrients.
Not only is it good for you and versatile, it’s incredibly easy to make. I usually make a few containers of it earlier in the week in the rice cooker and set them in the refrigerator until I’m ready to use it.
Quinoa has also replaced my pasta dish the night before a long run. It is incredibly gentle on my sensitive belly.
I’m going to share with you my favorite 5 Quinoa Recipes
Roasted Veggies over Quinoa
This is incredibly easy - just choose whatever veggies you enjoy or have on hand - roast them in the oven with a bit of olive oil or coconut oil and some salt then top over the quinoa. Most of the time I don’t even warm up the quinoa if I’ve had it refrigerated because the head from the roasted veggies will warm it up for sure. Sometimes I’ll get fancy and add some broiled haddock or tilapia to it, but most of the time I just love a huge helping of veggies over my quinoa. Sometimes I add nutritional yeast on top.
Southwest Quinoa Salad
I enjoy making this on a Sunday and then filling up several containers of it for my school lunch. Again, it’s packed full of great food and it’s filling.
2 cups of quinoa
handful of cilantro finely chopped up
1 container of halved grape tomatoes
1 avocado, diced up
1 can of sweet corn or 1 or 2 ears of corn on the cobb (obviously cut off)
1 can of drained/rinsed black beans or 1 bag of thawed edamame (right now I’m enjoying my own garden grown edamame)
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs red wine vinegar
a few drops of hot sauce
Mix all of the ingredients together, split into 5 containers and lunch for the week is done!
Greek Quinoa
Another easy lunch, salad favorite of mine. Again I like to make a bunch of this on a Sunday, separate it into 5 containers and my lunch for the week is done.
2 cups quinoa
1 container of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 of a jar of kalamata olives, diced or whole - either works
1/2 container of feta cheese
1 diced cucumber
1 tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Caprese Quinoa
2 Cups Quinoa
Grape/Cherry tomatoes
Mozzarella balls
Fresh basil leaves, torn
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Lemon Pesto Quinoa
make your own pesto
My favorite homemade pesto has been:
a few handfuls of fresh basil
olive oil
2 tbs lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
sunflower seeds
put all the above ingredients in the food processor and process away
Then top it over some of your favorite veggies, cheese and quinoa. Oh yum!
*Sometimes I add parmesan cheese to the pesto and sometimes I omit (forget). I like it both ways. If I’m craving the salty flavor that parmesan cheese adds, then I just add a bit of salt to it.
Not only is it good for you and versatile, it’s incredibly easy to make. I usually make a few containers of it earlier in the week in the rice cooker and set them in the refrigerator until I’m ready to use it.
Quinoa has also replaced my pasta dish the night before a long run. It is incredibly gentle on my sensitive belly.
 |
| just waiting for me to use it |
I’m going to share with you my favorite 5 Quinoa Recipes
Roasted Veggies over Quinoa
This is incredibly easy - just choose whatever veggies you enjoy or have on hand - roast them in the oven with a bit of olive oil or coconut oil and some salt then top over the quinoa. Most of the time I don’t even warm up the quinoa if I’ve had it refrigerated because the head from the roasted veggies will warm it up for sure. Sometimes I’ll get fancy and add some broiled haddock or tilapia to it, but most of the time I just love a huge helping of veggies over my quinoa. Sometimes I add nutritional yeast on top.
Southwest Quinoa Salad
I enjoy making this on a Sunday and then filling up several containers of it for my school lunch. Again, it’s packed full of great food and it’s filling.
2 cups of quinoa
handful of cilantro finely chopped up
1 container of halved grape tomatoes
1 avocado, diced up
1 can of sweet corn or 1 or 2 ears of corn on the cobb (obviously cut off)
1 can of drained/rinsed black beans or 1 bag of thawed edamame (right now I’m enjoying my own garden grown edamame)
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs red wine vinegar
a few drops of hot sauce
Mix all of the ingredients together, split into 5 containers and lunch for the week is done!
Greek Quinoa
Another easy lunch, salad favorite of mine. Again I like to make a bunch of this on a Sunday, separate it into 5 containers and my lunch for the week is done.
2 cups quinoa
1 container of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 of a jar of kalamata olives, diced or whole - either works
1/2 container of feta cheese
1 diced cucumber
1 tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Caprese Quinoa
2 Cups Quinoa
Grape/Cherry tomatoes
Mozzarella balls
Fresh basil leaves, torn
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Lemon Pesto Quinoa
make your own pesto
My favorite homemade pesto has been:
a few handfuls of fresh basil
olive oil
2 tbs lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
sunflower seeds
put all the above ingredients in the food processor and process away
Then top it over some of your favorite veggies, cheese and quinoa. Oh yum!
*Sometimes I add parmesan cheese to the pesto and sometimes I omit (forget). I like it both ways. If I’m craving the salty flavor that parmesan cheese adds, then I just add a bit of salt to it.
Are you are fan of quinoa? Share your favorite recipes or you link here!
Yum. I'm a big fan too. It's so easy to make and goes with pretty much anything. Love the idea of the pesto. I love to use it in my veggie burgers too. I always end up making way too much so I freeze it or use it in the burgers. So versatile.
ReplyDeleteGreat recipes! Love quinoa - it's so healthy and delicious!
ReplyDeleteI have a box of quinoa waiting to be open...I've not had it before but it's something that I want to try. Thanks for all the recipe ideas!
ReplyDeleteThose look SO YUMMY! Do you have these on Pinterest? I would LOVE to pin them!!
ReplyDeleteSo good! Ive only tried with garlic & olive oil... Will try these :) thank you!
ReplyDeleteI adore quinoa, thanks for some great recipe ideas! Too bad my husband hates quinoa. The caprese one looks scrumptious!
ReplyDeleteDelicious! I think I need to try the roasted veggie version pronto!
ReplyDeleteJen@HealthyFoodandFamily
Love quinoa! It's a staple in my house. I'll have to try the pesto idea. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletestill have never tried quinoa. must try soon. thanks for all the great ideas. have a great weekend! spa love!
ReplyDeleteomg! pesto quinoa!? thats an especially amazing idea!!! spa love!
ReplyDeleteOh, yum! So many delicious ideas! I love the caprese salad option... thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLemon Pesto Quinoa sounds yummmmmmmy! Great ideas here :)
ReplyDeleteI love Quinoa! These recipes look fantastic Jen!
ReplyDeleteI love quinoa with lots of things, especially feta! Thanks for sharing your ideas. It's always good to change it up. :) Here's my Mediterranean inspired quinoa dish: http://www.lovesweatbeers.com/2012/03/02/prep-n-pep/
ReplyDeleteI've never tried quinoa! Sounds like I need to...with your recipes! Thanks for sharing! I'm pinning!!!
ReplyDeleteYum! I heart pesto too! SPA <3
ReplyDeleteI am a collector of quinoa recipes and I love these! Those roasted veggies over quinoa looks so delicious! Pinning them for sure! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteReally glad you postd this because I'm such a quinoa novice. In fact, I've only cooked it once, in stuffed peppers. I seriously need to use more often and am going to refer back to this post! -- Ericka @ The Sweet Life (sweetlifeericka.com)
ReplyDeleteYum!! I need to pin this for future reference!
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge quinoa fan and it's so easy to use! I like the Southwestern option - I make something similar with just beans and would be so easy to add quinoa. Thanks for these!
ReplyDeleteLoving all these recipes! :)
ReplyDeleteI have been looking for a good red quinoa recipe. I guess I can apply any of these, they look good - thanks.
ReplyDelete