Quinoa with Basil and Pine Nuts

Quinoa with Basil and Pine Nuts

This recipe comes from The Kind Diet.  It sounded like a great, simple side dish to experiment with quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WA).  The title calls for pine nuts, but as you'll see in the first photo, I used raw cashews that I already had, as she recommends in the book.

I started by placing my nuts in a small dry saucepan and roasting them on medium for 7 minutes or so.

To cook the quinoa, you start by rinsing it really well.  My men weren't big quinoa fans when I first started cooking with it.  It turns out, it's because I wasn't rinsing it - which is necessary with quinoa.  Even if the package says "pre-rinsed", do yourself a favor and rinse it a couple of times in a fine mesh strainer again.

You cook the quinoa with water and a little sea salt until it's boiling. 

Then you simmer it, covered, for 20 minutes.

Toss the quinoa, nuts, and some basil together with a little olive oil.

I chopped and mixed in half my basil, then topped the rest with fresh basil at the end.

The quinoa is nutty so goes great with the nuts.

David would recommend doubling up on the nuts, but the recipe below is the original.

Go wild making your own version!

 

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

Enjoy!