Quinoa with Pink Greens

I stayed up past my bedtime last night watching the Golden Globes, and nearly choked on my butternut squash paella when Tina Fay said that after being married to James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow must know a thing or two about torture. Zing.

Rather unconsciously and resolution-free, I’ve been eating a lot of main course vegetarian grains this month. The butternut squash paella was leftover from a vegetarian dinner party I threw on Friday, and was a second attempt at the dish, which I made for the veg heads at my table on New Year’s Eve. (Recipe to come…).

This quinoa with pink greens is a combination of two dishes I make often–this recipe from Food52, and a turmeric-laced quinoa pilaf I make often to go with various tagines. It’s been very popular with some of my more health-savvy clients, so I thought it was probably the right time of year to share it with you.

One of my clients who’s a nutritionist liked the dish so much, she put it in her new book coming out this Spring! I’ll keep you posted on when that’s happening. In the meantime, use this quinoa as a receptacle for all your wayward beet greens and chard leaves. It’s great as a bed for a spicy stew, or on its own if you’re having a quiet night in front of the TV, as I plan on doing tonight with some DVR-ed Downton and Girls.

Eat up!

xo

Phoebe

Quinoa with Pink Greens

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Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Phoebe Lapine

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 bunch red chard and/or beet greens thick bottom stems removed and thinly sliced
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
• ¼ cup pepitas optional

Instructions

• In a small lidded saucepan, combine the quinoa and turmeric with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and allow to rest, covered, for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a large non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil over a medium-high flame. Add the greens and cook, tossing constantly, until the leaves have wilted and released a good amount of liquid, about 5 minutes.
• Add the lemon juice, honey, salt, and cayenne. Continue to lightly simmer until the stems are tender and the liquid has reduced by a third.
• Transfer the cooked quinoa to the skillet with the chard. Toss in the chard and juices until well distributed - the quinoa will turn a faint pink color.
• Spoon the quinoa into a large serving bowl and garnish with the pepitas, if using. Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you make this, tag @phoebelapine and #feedmephoebe - I'd love to see it!