Friday, March 1, 2013

Creamy Quinoa Primavera

I didn't do my usual meal preparation for the week this past weekend. Working the weekend really got in the way of my productivity. I managed to make a lot of one meal (baked pasta) so when mid-week came and I needed to make something, I turned to Pinterest.

This recipe is something I had pinned a while ago and, shock, never got around to making. I really need to create something where I list pins I want to actually recreate so I can cross them off one by one.

I really love quinoa but don't have many go-to quinoa recipes (besides quinoa bake - which I hope to share with you very soon). This recipe has a lot of what I love. quinoa. vegetables. cheese. For another yummy quinoa recipe, be sure to check out House of Hoff's recent post!

I didn't tweak this recipe too, too much as it was my first time actually making it. I rearranged the cooking order of some things and I think it turned out pretty well!
I am a huge fan of dirtying as few dishes as possible so I tried to just combine everything into one pot here instead of mixing stuff in a separate bowl before combining.
I'm not gonna lie with you guys, when I was mixing in the cream cheese, I was thinking to myself, "oh crap, what else can I whip up for dinner.."
but it tastes very, very good!! Don't let it scare you.





Creamy Quinoa Primavera
from Let's Dish
serves 6 dinner sized portions

1.5c uncooked quinoa
3c water + 1 bouillon cube
4oz cream cheese
1T fresh basil chopped or 1t dried
1T butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5c thinly sliced vegetables (I used onions, peppers, carrots, broccoli)
3T grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

  • Start by rinsing and cooking your quinoa. I make my quinoa in my rice cooker. It makes my life so much easier. Just pour ingredients, flip switch, walk away until the button pops and it's done. Water to quinoa ratio is 2:1 so in this case 3c water, 1.5c quinoa. I whisked in a bouillon cube before turning on the rice cooker.
  • While the rice cooker does its job, start prepping your vegetables. I cut up some onion, peppers, and steamed some carrots and broccoli (leaving some bite to them), then cut into similar sized pieces. 
  • Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Depending on the veggies used will depend on this part. I began by cooking the onions and peppers in the butter for a few minutes, until softened. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds more. Now add veggies. Cook for about 5 minutes until heated back through (make sure to leave them still crisp, you don't want a bowl full of mush).
  • Toss in cooked quinoa. 
  • Stir in cream cheese and basil.
  • Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.
Nutritional Information (per serving): Calories 190, Fat 7.6g, Protein 6.4g, Fiber 3.3g, Carbs 25.7g




I was pleasantly surprised with this recipe. I was a bit iffy because of the cream cheese but it does NOT taste like cream cheese at all. I mixed in some Parmesan in the quinoa as well as a sprinkle on top before serving. 

What's a recipe you make where there's an "iffy" ingredient but it ends up working?

Linking up to Townsend House


18 comments:

  1. Yum! I love quinoa, but we don't have a rice cooker. I'm sure that does make it easier! I have made a few recipes with cream cheese where I was concerned because of the cream cheese - but they all seem to turn out ok!

    Recently I have been trying a lot of new to me ingredients - like nutritional yeast - and I have been pleasantly surprised!

    Hope you share this at what i am eating http://www.townsend-house.com/2013/03/what-i-am-eating.html

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    1. Just linked up!!
      Nutritional yeast is fairly new to me as well - I have some recipes I use it in but I need to get more adventurous and add it to more stuff. It's so good for you!!

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  2. This looks so good! I've been wanting to try some quinoa recipes!

    -Sarah
    Limited Space Organizing

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    1. My husband even liked it so it is a keeper!

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  3. This looks delish! I've to try it. :-)

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  4. Thanks for the link! I'm going to try this one...it lookes easy enough for even me to make! :) Have a good weekend!

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    1. No problem! I'm excited to make your quinoa recipe as well

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  5. This looks delicious! Thanks for sharing it! Can't wait to try.

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  6. That looks great - especially on the first day of March! Come on Spring!

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    1. I know, right. Though today I woke up to some snow :(

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  7. This looks yummy, thanks for the recipe! Jess

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  8. Oh, this sounds good! I'm not the biggest fan of cream cheese, and neither is my husband, so it's good to know that you can't really taste it!

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    1. You can't taste it at all! You can always try halving the recipe to start (it does make a good amount) and buying one of those small packets of cream cheese to try it out. But we really couldn't taste the cream cheese.

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  9. This looks delicious! I have only recently started using quinoa in cooking... but I really like it! I can understand how the cream cheese would make you a bit concerned, but I'm glad it turned out well! I've had the same concerns before when making recipes. Typically any time I add mayo to something because I'm not a big fan of the taste, so I try to avoid using it.

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    1. Yea mayo skeeves me out! but it's not cause of taste. I eat veganise now!

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