Quinoa Primavera adapted for P.I.N.K

Have you tired quinoa? I hadn't either until the other day when a friend of mine "pinned" a recipe for quinoa primavera on Pinterest that looked really good. Have you tried Pinterest? It is like a virtual bulletin board where you can catalog anything you see on the web and want to be able to find again, it is so cool but be careful if you try it, it can be addictive.  Back to the quinoa. The original recipe with can be found here called for a few things that aren't PINK approved like the cream cheese, butter or the parmesan cheese so I decided to take them out and scale down the size of the recipe so that it only made 2 servings since I was only cooking for myself that night, the rest of the family was enjoying take out Chinese and I chose not to indulge.

Quinoa is an ancient grain used by native Indians and was considered a sacred food with Incas. It is actually not a grain however, it is considered a seed that is high in protein and delivers many other nutrients. The flavor when cooked is a little nutty but the texture is sort of creamy with a little crunch. Quinoa is an approved slow carbohydrate during the primary phase of the P.I.N.K Method and 1/2 cup cooked is considered a serving. Enough with background, let's get to the recipe because it was really good!

Quinoa Primavera
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (when cooked this will end being about 1 cup or enough for two servings)
2 cup chicken broth, (should be homemade but I will admit I used an organic low sodium stock)
1 1/2 cup of chopped assorted vegetables (I used onions, carrots, zucchini, broccoli and cauliflower)
1 tbsp of olive oil

Start by cooking the quinoa in the chicken broth just as you would rice. When it is done, it will soften and the grain will pop open slightly. It will take about 15 to 20 minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking, chop your vegetables into small pieces and saute in the olive oil.

When the quinoa is cooked add it to your sauteed vegetables and stir to combine.

This ready to eat...add your serving of protein and a side of vegetables and your meal is done. I had chicken sauteed with a little balsamic vinegar and some spices, it was really good. Let me know if you try this and how you liked it. I know I loved quinoa and I am going to try it next for breakfast as a hot cereal.