Food & Recipes

• 2 1/2 cups
  cooked quinoa (see Tip)
• 1 
  onion, diced
• 3-4 cloves
  garlic, chopped
• 1 
  yellow summer squash, sliced
• 1 fistful
  of slender asparagus or green beans, trimmed, sliced
• 1 
  Japanese eggplant, (small eggplants are way less bitter) peeled, sliced into bite size pieces
• 1 
  bell pepper, red, yellow, orange, or green, cored, sliced
• 2 cups
  baby bella mushrooms, trimmed, halved
• 1 tablespoon
  balsamic vinegar
•  
  extra virgin olive oil, to taste
•  
  sea salt and ground pepper
•  
  herbs, to taste, parsely, basil, thyme, red pepper flakes- whatever you prefer

1. Make your quinoa the easy way, in a rice cooker.  You'll need roughly 2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa. As it cooks, gather and cut up your summer vegetables.
2. When the quinoa is almost done, heat a splash of light olive oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, stir until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the remaining vegetables. Season with sea salt, pepper, and herbs. Add the balsamic vinegar. Stir-fry until tender.
3. Scoop the cooked quinoa out of the rice cooker and add it into the wok. Stir to combine with the vegetables. Taste test and add more salt or seasoning if it needs it. Remove from heat. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and toss to fluff.
4. Serve immediately; or allow it to cool, then cover and refrigerate it to eat as a salad. Before serving it cold, taste test again and adjust seasonings.

1 cup of dried quinoa will cook up to be about 3 cups. Rinse the quinoa well under cold water and drain. Put the rinsed quinoa into a saucepan and add 2 cups of cold water. Cover and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil, turn the heat down to a simmer, and set the lid just ajar, to prevent boiling over. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. If the quinoa is tender but there’s excess water in the bottom of the saucepan just leave the lid off completely for a few minutes until the water evaporates. When done turn off the heat, put the lid on and let sit for about 5 minutes. Use a fork to fluff up the quinoa and serve.