Inca Red Quinoa with Roasted Vegetables & Swiss Chard
April 18, 2008
My kitchen is ready for Passover, and now so is my contribution to tomorrow night’s seder. I originally thought I’d base this recipe on a southwestern couscous recipe I got from a friend a few years ago, but I found it became a much more basic exercise: make quinoa, prep vegetables, mix together.
Inca Red is an heirloom variety of quinoa packaged by Quinoa Corporation, I buy it at Mrs. Green’s, which is a Whole Foods-type market nearby.
I cooked the quinoa according to the directions on the package, using vegetable stock instead of water (2 cups quinoa, 4 cups stock). Then I cut 2 zucchini, 2 yellow squash, and 1 red pepper into bite-sized pieces, and tossed them with a pint of halved grape tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil, a heaping teaspoon of minced garlic and some salt and pepper. While those vegetables were roasting for about 30 minutes as 425° F, I thinly sliced 4 green onions, setting them aside.
Then I removed the leaves from the dense stalks of a bunch of swiss chard, and rinsed them well (discarding the stalks). The wet chard then went into a covered pot, and I cooked it until it wilted. Then I drained it well and chopped it finely on a cutting board. Finally, I mixed the quinoa, roasted vegetables, swiss chard, and green onions in a large bowl until they were well-combined. And adjusted for seasoning.
What about those mushrooms I mentioned? I had planned to use 8 oz. of baby bellas in a recipe earlier this week, but I never got around to making it. When I opened the mushrooms tonight I was overwhelmed by a fishy smell. I have to imagine that mushrooms smelling like fish = A VERY BAD THING, so I tossed them. I’ve never had that happen before, and they looked fine. But I wasn’t taking any chances with a dish I’m serving to 20+ people!
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Filed under: Holidays,Veggie Mains,Veggie Sides
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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6 Comments
1.
Jodi | April 18, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Good call on the fishy mushrooms!:O)
2.
Grammy | April 18, 2008 at 7:56 pm
This dish looks so festive!
3.
grace | April 19, 2008 at 6:42 am
i think quinoa is my new favorite creation, and this particular combination of flavors sounds irresistible!
4.
Sharon | April 19, 2008 at 8:07 am
How strange – I just had the same experience with a package of baby bellas yesterday, too…funky smell so I chucked them. Perhaps we bought them at the same store and they were a bad batch??
Your Passover dish looks delish! Have a great holiday — you got fabulous weather for it!
5.
Sharon | April 19, 2008 at 8:10 am
PS: How do you kasher a crockpot? My kids might like that chicken and quinoa in the crockpot recipe – it looks like a very thick chicken and rice soup.
Kashering generally involves boiling an object. What I would do is make sure it was cleaned thoroughly, and then fill it will boiling water from a tea kettle and let it sit for a bit. For me, it’s mostly a symbolic ritual and not a cleaning process that actually changes the appliance in any way. For instance, I run my dishwasher through a cycle while it’s empty to kasher it for Passover; I run my coffee maker through a vinegar cycle and then a few plain water cycles. To me, it’s about consciously preparing for the holiday. — Dara
6. chickinthekitchen.com &ra&hellip | April 19, 2008 at 8:35 am
[...] behind there, so don’t touch until Passover is over! You can see my two big containers of Inca Red quinoa, ready for tonight’s seder, on the right side of the [...]
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