(upbeat guitar music)
- Hi friends, welcome to my channel.
If you're new here, my name is Alyssa,
and today's recipe video
is all about one of my
favorite ingredients.
If you can't already tell,
you're on the channel
called Simply Quinoa,
and yes, it's all about quinoa.
So today I'm gonna show you
how to make three easy quinoa recipes.
These can be used for a
bunch of different things,
whether it's bulking up like at dinner,
making it into a meal prep
thing, using it for side dishes.
They are fabulous.
There's also a breakfast recipe in there,
so there's tons of ways for you to use it
and I hope that this video also shows you
how versatile of an
ingredient quinoa actually is.
I mean if you followed me for a while
and you've checked out any
of my recipes on this site,
then you probably already
know that you can use quinoa
a million different ways.
But these easy quinoa recipes
are just like I said, easy.
They're also vegan and
they're also gluten-free.
As always, I have linked them
in the description box below for you,
so they're already up on the blog
and everything you need to
make them is in those posts.
So you can find all that info
down in the description box.
I would also love for you
to subscribe before you go
if you are not a part of our community.
Tap that red button that
is right below this video
and that will subscribe you.
And otherwise, let's go ahead and dive in.
So the first one we're gonna do
is the chai breakfast quinoa.
We're gonna start by adding
in our almond milk into a pan,
and then we're actually just
gonna add two chai teabags
directly into that pan.
Bring it to a little simmer,
and then let the heat reduce.
So take it off the heat
and let this steep like you would tea,
for about five minutes or so.
And set those aside or just discard them.
And then we're going to
add in our cooked quinoa.
And you guys probably already
know how to cook quinoa,
but you can find that on the channel
if you don't know how to do that already.
As well as some maple syrup,
cinnamon, and chia seeds.
And we're just gonna
stir this all together,
and because the almond
milk is already hot,
it should be warm.
But if it has cooled
down more than you like,
you can just put this back on the stove
and heat it up quickly until
the quinoa is nice and hot.
When you're ready to serve it up,
just divide it into your two bowls.
And then toppings are totally up to you.
You can do whatever you like.
My personal favorite
is some almond butter,
some jam of some sort.
This is blueberry chia jam.
And then I always sprinkle
it with some sort of crunch.
So whether it's coconut, or
in this case it's some seeds.
And then I like to add in some
almond milk to finish it off.
So this is a really
quick and easy breakfast.
It's ready in about five minutes,
maybe a little bit longer.
It's great for a meal prep.
It's super-delicious and
it's really high in protein,
high in fiber, and it will
keep you nice and full.
The next recipe we're gonna make
is a one pot Spanish quinoa.
This is a really great side dish.
We're gonna start by adding olive oil
into our small sauce pan.
Follow that with your white onion
and we are just going to saute the onion
until it is translucent,
and nice and soft.
Once you have that texture,
or that consistency,
you can add in your quinoa
as well as your salsa.
So I like to do hot, chunky salsa,
but you can do any sort of
jarred salsa that you like.
And then some vegetable broth.
And if you aren't vegan or vegetarian,
you could totally use chicken broth.
That would add a little
different depth of flavor.
Not necessarily more flavor,
but it would definitely
add a different flavor.
So add whatever sort of broth you want.
You could also use water.
Stir it all together until
everything is combined
and we'll just bring this up to a boil.
And then cook it like you
would a regular quinoa.
So you will reduce it to simmer.
You'll cover it.
And this does take a
little bit longer to cook,
about 20 minutes or so.
But once it's cooked it will
have absorbed all the liquid
and you'll have red rice style quinoa.
So Spanish quinoa, or Mexican quinoa,
or red quinoa, whatever you want to say.
But this is basically a version
of Spanish rice or Mexican rice.
And this goes really well as a side dish.
It also can be bulked up
with your favorite protein of choice,
whether that's beans, grilled tofu.
You could do grilled
chicken or grilled shrimp,
and crazy simple to make.
Five ingredients in one pot.
You really can't go wrong.
So I hope you guys try it
and I definitely recommend
serving it at your next
Mexican-inspired feast.
And then our final one
is just going to be a simple
spring roasted vegetable.
We're gonna start by roasting
some spring vegetables.
You can use any sort of
vegetables that you want.
Here I have radish,
asparagus, and cauliflower.
You're gonna drizzle
them all with olive oil.
Sprinkle on some salt.
And in the springtime
my favorite seasoning
is lemon pepper seasoning,
so if you can find that, use that.
If not, you can just do regular pepper.
Once you've got everything seasoned,
you can just pop this in the oven
and roast them up until they
are nice and golden brown.
While they're roasting, we're
gonna make our dressing.
And the dressing is a base of tahini.
Duh, I always make tahini dressings!
Along with the juice of one whole lemon.
We're also gonna add in some spices,
like garlic powder, tumeric
powder, and red pepper flakes.
And of course salt and
pepper to finish things off.
Add everything into that bowl,
stir it all together, and
it will definitely get thick
because of the lemon and tahini
that tends to get almost seized.
It thickens up a lot.
So I like to thin out my
dressings with some water.
So just add a splash or two
of water, stir it together.
If you feel like you
want it to be thinner,
add a little bit more water.
And just keep adding
a little bit of water,
stirring in between,
until you get the consistency
that you're looking for.
I like to do just kind of
like a drizzle-able sauce,
so it's still kind of thick.
It's like a thick, creamy,
almost Caesar-style dressing,
but doesn't taste like Caesar dressing.
(laughs)
And then once we're ready
to serve up our bowls,
I always do a base of greens.
So in the springtime I love arugula,
'cause it's got like a bite
and it's kind of spicy,
but you could use any green you want.
And then of course our quinoa,
'cause this is a quinoa video.
So you're gonna add in your quinoa,
top that with your roasted vegetables.
And again, you can use any
sort of roasted vegetables
that you want here.
And I always finish off my bowls
with some sort of healthy fat.
So I like to do avocado here.
And the protein that
we're using is quinoa.
You could also add beans if you wanted.
And the final step is to just drizzle on
that lemon tumeric dressing,
which is absolutely delicious,
and dive right in.
This is a really great meal prep recipe.
I've linked it down for you in the blog,
so if you're interested in
learning how to meal prep it,
and how to store it,
definitely check out the blog post,
because I explain everything.
But this is a great
dinner, it's a great lunch,
and it's super-flavorful,
and so in season right now,
which I adore.
(gentle music)
And there you have it, my friends.
I hope you enjoyed today's recipe video
all about my favorite
healthy, easy quinoa recipes.
Quinoa, like you can see,
is just on of those ingredients
that really can take on a life of its own.
It's really versatile,
it's great for, of course, savory dishes,
but it also can be used in baking,
it can be used in sweet dishes.
So there is really no end in possibilities
when it comes to quinoa,
which is one of the reasons why I love it.
Of course it's also super-high in protein
which is great.
It's high in fiber,
it has tons of complex carbohydrates,
meaning it digests more slowly.
It's full of vitamins and minerals.
It's just one of those amazing foods.
So if you are interested in
trying any of these recipes,
you can find them down in
the description box below.
I've linked them for you.
Otherwise I would love for you
to give this video a thumbs
up if you enjoyed it.
I'd also love to know what
your favorite quinoa recipe is,
so if you have one that you make at home,
or if there's one that's
online that you make,
I would love for you to
let me know what that is
in the comments.
Otherwise, I hope you guys enjoyed it.
Don't forget to subscribe before you go.
Tap that red button.
It's right below this video.
It's super-easy and if you
like content like this,
then you will love being
a member of our community.
Other than that, I hope you
have a fabulous rest of your day
and I'll see you guys
in the next video, bye!
(gentle music)
