Giada's Herbed Quinoa

I found this tasty summer dish while aimlessly clicking through Food Network video clips. I made it tonight and so far it might be my favorite way to do quinoa.  I really would love to grow a lemon tree in my back yard. *sigh*

I pared it with a balsamic chicken and strawberry salad with crushed almonds. So so good.

Giada's Herbed Quinoa

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups quinoa

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the quinoa: In a medium saucepan, add the chicken stock, lemon juice and quinoa. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan and cook until all the liquid is absorbed, about 12 to 15 minutes.

For the dressing: In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, basil, parsley, thyme, and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Pour the dressing over the quinoa and toss until all the ingredients are coated. Transfer the quinoa to a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve.

SERVES 4

Quinoa Creation!

I came across this blog, "Iowa Girl Eats", and she has some great recipes. One recently was for "Sweet Corn &Quinoa with Honey Lemon Vinaigrette" and it sounded good but not quite hardy enough for dinner. Plus, I only had red quinoa. So I added in some grilled chicken and avocados...SO GOOD! It was delish!

Here is my combination recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup dry quinoa

2 cups water

2 Tablespoons butter

2 green onions, sliced

2 ears sweet corn (or one can of sweet corn drained)

1 avocado diced

3 chicken breasts grilled and cubed

salt & pepper

Cook the one cup of quinoa in the two cups of water until the water evaporates. I toasts my red quinoa in a little olive oil before adding the water. Saute corn in the butter for a couple of minutes. Add the cooked quinoa, green onions and cooked/cubed chicken breasts. Pour the vinaigrette over the meal in the pan...toss.  After transferring the meal into a dish add the diced avocados...you don't want the warm.  

Vinaigrette:

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 garlic clove, microplaned or finely minced

1 Tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper