Quinoa with Marinated Artichoke Hearts
Quinoa with Marinated Artichoke Hearts. Quinoa delivers quite a few healthy benefits. It is considered a super food due to its rich nutritional content, and it is a favorite for fitness conscious individuals.
I have prepared it many times as a side dish. It has a great nutty flavor and firm consistency, but honestly for me, it does not shine on its own like a serving of a fluffy brown or wild rice. For this reason, I try to infuse it with additional flavors every time a prepare it.
And guess what? Well, I hope that you will agree when you try this recipe, that I have discovered a simple combination of flavors that result in a super delicious quinoa. You will be able to eat it as side dish, or as a main course on your meatless days. I think this will be my favorite simple quinoa recipe and hopefully it will be yours too.
Quinoa Recipe Basics
Before we get to the recipe, here are some quinoa basics. One cup of dry quinoa yields about three cups of cooked quinoa, similar to rice.
Packages come with basic cooking instructions, which involves boiling a certain quantity of product with a certain quantity of water.
For this recipe, you will follow the package instructions. I suggest using an unsalted or low sodium chicken or vegetable stock to cook the quinoa to infuse additional flavor. You can prepare your own, or use your favorite brand.
Can You Refrigerate Quinoa?
By the way, quinoa is not actually a grain, it is a seed that comes from a relative of the spinach, beets, and chard family. You can read more interesting details and see actual pictures of the quinoa plant at Encyclpedia Britanica. The reason I raise this fact is because since it is a seed, cooked quinoa behaves differently than rice when you refrigerate after cooking.
How many times have you been less than pleased with the appearance and texture of left over rice? If you wanted to impress someone with a side of reheated rice, it simply wouldn’t be easy to do.
Quinoa, on the other hand, is great freshly cooked, cold, or reheated. It doesn’t loose it’s shape and it lends itself excellently to meal prepping. The best part is that you can follow the simple basic cooking instructions, then further prepare the quinoa one way, or use a small quantity with one recipe and store the rest of the quinoa to use with different ingredients later in the day or the week.
Either way, you feel like you are eating a fresh batch of delicious quinoa every time even if the original cooked batch has been previously refrigerated. No more feeling like you are eating undesired left overs.
Product Shelf-Life
You can store cooked quinoa covered in the refrigerator for up to a week, and at least a month in the freezer, although some websites claim it can last frozen from 8 month to a year.
To reheat, cover so that you don’t loose the moisture, and if you wish, you can sprinkle a bit of water or chicken or vegetable stock.
Quinoa and Marinated Artichoke Heart Recipe
Ingredients:
1 c. quinoa
2 c. water or low sodium vegetable or chicken stock
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 7.5 oz. glass jar marinated artichoke hearts (use 1/3-1/2 jar), chopped
4 sm. garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
grated parmesan cheese (optional)
white or button mushrooms, chopped, .5 lb. (optional)
This recipe was originally published in previous food blog.
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