With the holidays upon us, I’ve been busy helping around the house with decorations and spreading good cheer, usually in the form of 24/7 Christmas music stations. Because it IS that time of the year, folks!
To keep sharing good tidings with my readers, I whipped up this FREEBIE just for you!
These gift tags are just something quick I threw together for you. You can download and print on card stock for best results.
Quinoa with Sweet Potato and Kale
Today’s recipe is inspired by the Food Network’s Spicy Quinoa and Sweet Potato recipe. I didn’t have a number of the ingredients on hand so I made quite a few substitutions.
Quinoa is on my dinner plate every week and for good reason. This “super food” is a great source of protein, fiber and antioxidants. And as part of a healthy diet, quinoa helped me lose fifteen pounds in 2017. I’ll tell you all about that in a future post.
While quinoa may still be somewhat new for most of us, I’ve paired the grain with some old super food favorites: sweet potato and kale. Both are chockful of fiber and vitamins including Vitamin A, Vitamin B, magnesium and folate.
This recipe will not fail to deliver on nutrition.
Substitutions
I didn’t have chili powder on hand so I used cayenne, paprika and cinnamon instead. No chicken stock or broth so in lieu of that, I used plain water. I was missing cilantro, too, which is fine with me because, really, it’s a garnish. I used bottled lime juice because that’s what we had on hand…and it’s convenient!…but you could use fresh limes, too.
Also, I can’t handle super spicy food. For me, that means jalapenos and anything else in the hot pepper category. The one skillet meal that resulted today was instead a flavorful concoction that had my kitchen smelling absolutely seasonal.
Based on the reviews for this recipe at The Food Network, I was mindful of how much salt I added while cooking. So my alterations below may not have enough salt for some of you. However, I think the dish turned out great for anyone watching their blood pressure.
So is cilantro really just a garnish? Let me know your thoughts below!
Enjoy!
- 1 cup quinoa, uncooked and rinsed
- 4 1/2 cups of water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 cup chopped frozen kale, thawed
- 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- Rinse the quinoa under running water for thirty seconds using a micro-perforated colander or something similar. Add the quinoa to a saucepan with 3 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes until all the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and cover for another 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
- While the quinoa is cooking, heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and red onion and cook until the garlic starts to brown, about 3 minutes. Add all the spices except the remaining salt and continue cooking while stirring for another minute until the onion darkens from the spices. Add 1 ½ cups of water, remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, sweet potatoes and kale. Bring to a simmer. Stir occasionally while cooking for another 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender and liquid is absorbed.
- Add the quinoa to the sweet potato and kale mix. Then add the lime juice and salt to taste. Serve immediately.