QUINOA WITH MUSHROOMS AND SPINACH

I made this recipe for several reasons. It includes three ingredients that I like - quinoa, spinach and mushrooms; I had lots of fresh mushrooms that needed to be consumed and a big bag of spinach in the fridge.  When shopping at Costco, larger packages of merchandise are sold so you come home with big bags of lettuce, spinach, mushrooms, cucumbers, peppers, berries and so on.

This recipe could be cooked as a risotto but I didn't include wine as part of the cooking liquid.  The following pictures show the steps in making this dish.  I also included a photo of a soy sauce that I am now using.  It is much lower in sodium than the typical soy or tamari sauce.  I will add some of this soy sauce to the quinoa serving on my plate for supper tonight.  As this recipe makes a number of servings, I plan on having this for a number of lunches this week.

Onions, mushrooms, celery and garlic being sauteed in the pan. 

The stock and quinoa has been added.

The quinoa is cooked and the chopped spinach is being added.

Ready for the table.

A soy sauce I started to use that has much less sodium. 

QUINOA WITH MUSHROOMS AND SPINACH

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

½ lb mushrooms, thinly sliced or chopped

1.5 cups quinoa

3 cups water, vegetable or chicken stock

½ lb fresh spinach, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large frying or saute pan and add the garlic, onion, celery and onions.  Saute for 10 minutes.  Add the quinoa and stock, raise the heat until it boils and then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook for 18 to 20 minutes.  Add the spinach.   Cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serves 4 to 5.