Oh Quinoa!

Quinoa, pronounced Keen-wa, is the new favorite grain of the Manatee/Badger Girl household. Wednesday night we made a quinoa pilaf. It was awesome though I will say that I liked it much better then next day, when I stirred in some leftover steak. The irony of this being, for those who know me, is that there have been several times in my life where I have been a vegetarian. yet when faced with a particularly good vegetarian meal then all I could think of was, 'Gee this would be better with meat'.

Here is my leftover lunch with meat.

Hmmm...that doesn't look as appetizing as it actually is. I guess you will just have to trust me on this. Now I will give you the recipe, but a warning: I kind of suck at ratios. You will only want to follow this to a tee if you are feeding a small athletic team or teenage boys. Adjustments may need to be made for a typical family or couple.

Quinoa Pilaf


2 cups uncooked quinoa
4 cups water

1 huge jar of salsa
2 cans of black beans
lots of taco seasoning
4-5 green onions sliced

1. Cook the quinoa as directed. I did 2 cups of uncooked quinoa with 4 cups of water. That makes a LOT of quinoa just so you know.
2. Mix in the other ingredients and heat until it's all nice and warm. I kept adding taco seasoning until I could taste it, then I added salt. 
3. Eat.

I served it over green romaine lettuce with greek yogurt. It was good but I would also suggest mixing in chicken or steak. Then it's awesome.

We will definitely make this again.

In regards to The Plan, due to my off ratios with this dish and what I made last night (chicken sausage + various veggies + diced tomatoes + tomato paste + spaghetti squash), we do not need any new recipes anytime soon, so leftovers are on the docket. Once we catch up, I will post the new Plan and keep you posted.

The baked good goal of the weekend is biscotti. I will be making some for the cookie exchange at work. I'm excited and terrified.