Easy and Healthy: Cilantro and Lime Quinoa

Quinoa 

I've sort of been on this health kick since the New Year and one of my newly discovered and favorite things to make is Quinoa. Pronounced "Keen-wah", I know, it's sort of a funny name (but seriously jump on this superfood bandwagon). It's packed with protein and fiber, and a number of other healthy things (don't believe me, google it!) This delicious and nutritious food is easy to make no matter how small your kitchen. There are literally thousands of ways to prepare this but this is what I did for dinner tonight.

First, I cooked my quinoa. This was literally the only thing I cooked since I added all my veggies in raw. The ratio for cooking quinoa is 2:1 (two cups of water to one cup of quinoa). But really, the best way to know how to cook yours is to just read the label on the bag. Depending on the type you buy, you may need to soak or rinse your quinoa but make life easy for yourself and buy a big bag of the stuff that's ready to go.

Once you get your quinoa and water in the pot, bring it up to a boil and reduce heat to low and cover. It should take anywhere from 15-20 mins for the water to absorb and the quinoa to fully cook. It should taste tender but still chewy, and you'll be able to see these spiral-like threads appear in the pot.

While my quinoa was cooking away, I raided my fridge for whatever spare veggies I could find: some red onion, a lime, cilantro, a tomato, cucumber and a jalapeño!

Quinoa Mise En Place 

Once the quinoa was cooked I transferred it to a large bowl. Threw in my chopped veggies. Topped everything off with some extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar and seasoned with salt and pepper.

It was so good and so easy. And I made enough for leftovers for at least a couple of days. This is definitely one of those foods that gets much tastier with time.