This is a delicious quinoa side dish accented with the flavors of garlic, pine nuts and lemon. Since I blogged about quinoa and greens earlier this week, I thought I’d share a recipe that includes both of these ingredients. This is an adaptation of one of the first quinoa recipes …
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup pine nuts or 1/4 cup raw sunflower nuts
- 1 clove garlic, peeled, smashed, kept whole (to be removed)
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions
- In a large saucepan, bring water, salt and quinoa to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook until quinoa is tender and water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes, set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pine nuts or sunflower nuts and cook until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook just until it starts to brown, about 2 minutes. Remove garlic and discard. Stir in the cooked quinoa and spinach. Heat until the spinach wilts. Stir in the lemon juice and all but a pinch of the cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted. Serve sprinkled with the remaining cheese.