Chorizo & Quinoa

Ingredients:
1/2 lb Spanish style chorizo, sliced on the bias
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup quinoa
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Directions:
In a large sauce pan, heat the oil. Add the onion, garlic, chorizo, and celery. Saute until fragrent, about 2-3 minutes. Add the quinoa. Cook 1 minute. Add the broth and smoked paprika. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and cover. Cook about 20 minutes or until the quinoa is translucent and has a small, visable spiral. Serve hot.

Yield: about 4 servings

My thoughts:

Quinoa has to be one of my favorite food words to say: KEEN WAH! But the excitement over the pronunciation is only part of the fun when it comes to quinoa. Quinoa, while frequently referred to as a grain and treated as such is technically not a grain at all but an edible seed. It was first cultivated by pre-Columbian Andean civilizations. It is gluten free, unusually high in protein and has a balanced set of essential amino acids which makes it a great substitute for couscous or rice. This also makes it a wonderful food choice for vegetarians or vegans who are looking for a good protein source. That said, I didn’t take the vegetarian course this time and instead made a somewhat Spanish influenced one pot meal instead. It is super simple yet super tasty.

9 Comments

  1. Yum! Sounds wonderful. I love quinoa, too, and I’m always looking for good recipes to apply to this useful grain.

  2. My partner is wild about chorizo. And I love grains. This is a winner! Thanks. 🙂

  3. I’ve got to get back into using quinoa, and definitely with chorizo…

  4. Quinoa is so versatile–love it. Thanks for sharing and consistently posting simple yet artistic combinations.

  5. I used quinoa a lot for a while but it’s been just sitting in my cabinet lately. I don’t know that I’ve ever had chorizo but it sounds great. This recipe is definitely on my list of things to try!

  6. Looks yummy! There are some good mock veg sausages, and the smoked paprika should make the taste work. Glad to see you use this paprika — I got some but have hesitated, not sure how much to use. This and the pumpkin seeds above too: starting points, thanks.

  7. I'm so trying this. I've been using Quinoa as a breakfast food and am glad to see a relatively familiar recipe for a dinner that uses it.

  8. Just ate this and it makes me wish I could get real Chorizo around here. Quinoa tasted great, taking on the flavour of the oil and broth. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

  9. This is one of our go-to dishes now so thank you so much for posting it. It's easy and it tastes gooooood! 🙂