Organic Tricolor Quinoa stir fry, easy, healthy & delicious

A couple of years ago, I tried white quinoa and was totally unimpressed.   Although I wanted to have a healthy substitute for rice, quinoa didn't cut it.  No matter what I did, it was not light and fluffy like rice.  It was kind of mushy for me. 

So I decided to try this Organic Tricolor Quinoa from Trader Joe's.  While the white grain is a little softer, the red and black grains are nice and crunchy.  

I do my normal stir fry, just julienne my vegetables to about the same size, and give them a quick stir fry in a wok on high heat.  All you need is a tablespoon of canola oil for your stir fry.

To cook the quinoa, it's almost the same ratio as rice, two to one.  But, there is a difference.  I know this isn't common (or it could be), but I found that after I cooked the quinoa for 15 minutes and drain it in a fine mesh colander, it retains it's integrity and does not get mushy.

So when your vegetables are tender, just add 1/2 cup of the cooked quinoa to your skillet and toss for one minute.  An optional but delicious addition is to add a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil to the finished dish.

If you'd like amounts of vegtables, here they are.  You can mix and match whatever vegetables you have on hand, just keep them about the same size.  You can also add cooked, cubed meat or 1/2 cup of black beans for protein.

1/2 large onion, sliced thinly
1/2 large red pepper, sliced thinly
1 medium zucchini, julienned
1 medium carrot, julienned
1 large stalk of celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal


I've joined Foodie Friday today at:  http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/