I have never made quinoa before. I somehow had it in my head that we wouldn’t like it, I’m not sure why. But I kept seeing recipes for various quinoa dishes on other blogs and in magazines, so I was starting to get curious about it. Then a couple of days ago I was getting my hair cut. I was talking to my stylist and we got to talking about food (shocking, I know) and she was telling me about a couple of ways that she makes quinoa. Both sounded delicious, so as soon as I was done with my haircut, I headed off to the grocery store and bought some quinoa and a few other ingredients.
That night I made this spinach parmesan quinoa. Amy, my stylist, was telling me that she didn’t like quinoa plain, but when she cooked it in chicken stock and added parmesan cheese to it, it was delicious. So I made it pretty close to the way she makes it, except I added some sauteed onion and garlic to add even more flavor.
It turned out to be very tasty and it was a snap to make. The parmesan definitely added a big boost of flavor to the dish. The whole family liked it. In fact, Steve and Kelly even had seconds! I will be making this dish again and I hope that you give it a try, too.
Spinach Parmesan Quinoa
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 handfuls baby spinach
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper. Add quinoa and saute for about 2 more minutes.
Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for about 15 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
Add spinach to the pan, cover for a couple of minutes to allow the spinach to wilt.
Once spinach starts to wilt, stir into quinoa and stir in parmesan. Serve immediately.
ENJOY!
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This sounds so good! I’ve never made quinoa before but I love it. I just started a weekly link party, http://djssugarshack.com/wordpress1/skateboard-themed-birthday-cupcakes/ , I’d love for you to share this there.
I’m sorry that was the incorrect link. Here is the correct one Whatcha Whipped Up Wednesday
This looks wonderful! Thank you for sharing darlin’! Thursday’s Treasures Week 36. See you soon. <3 and hugs!
This is amazing! Very tasty an super healthy! Quinoa now has a home in my kitchen for life!
I’m so glad you liked it Brittany!!
Just made this for dinner, but used a brick of frozen spinach because it was all I had. It’s almost like a soup, but it is delicious! Even my husband likes it!
I’m glad you liked it Amanda! Did you squeeze the water out of the spinach first? If not and you make this again with frozen spinach, you might want to try squeezing the water out of it first. Just put it in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze the heck out of it and that should prevent the dish from being soupy.
I have never had quinoa before. I made this tonight….it was fantastic!!! Thanks for the recipe.
I’m so glad you liked it Jennifer!!
I’ve been looking for a simple recipe to try making quinoa… Just made this tonight, and it is easy, and delish! Thank you. I did it with kale and tasty cheese, as that’s what I had on hand. Next time I might add mushrooms and walnuts. Cheers!
Yum, I bet the kale was delicious, I would love mushrooms in there too!
Delicious! The best quinoa I ever made. My husband loved! Thank you so much Lisa.
Yay!! I’m so glad you liked it Aline!!
Can This be served cold as a salad?
I don’t think this particular recipe would work real great as a salad. As it cools off, it tends to get sticky. So to serve cold, I think it would need to be tossed with a vinaigrette of some sort, because then the oil would keep it from getting sticky. I hope this helps, Jenn!
I notice there isn’t any nutritional info posted. Could you please post that? Thanks
Wow! My first experience with quinoa as a side dish. Amazing! Thank you! I added mushrooms because we put mushrooms in just about everything here. Great recipe!!
I’m so glad you liked this Lynn! I think mushrooms in this sounds fantastic! I’ll have to try it next time I make this.
How many servings does the above ingredients make?
This would be about 4 side dish servings, Kristen.
This was my first time making or eating quinoa. I followed your recipe exactly just added some precooked shrimp at the end to make a full meal. I’m eating the leftovers now for lunch and just had to comment. Delicious! Thanks so much for posting your recipe!
Thank you so much Deb! I’m glad you enjoyed this. The addition of shrimp sounds delicious!
I’ve never made Quinoa before (in fact I”m not even sure I’m saying it right). And this was delicious. I was highly impressed by the amount of protein in it too, which is great for this pregnant woman! Thanks for the delicious recipe!
I’m so glad you liked this Katie! This was the first recipe that I tried with quinoa and it sold me!
Like most of the other commenters, this was my first shot at quinoa and it was really tasty! The super easy recipe was what got me. I actually added bits of bacon too and gave it a smoky flavour. Yum! Thanks for posting
This was absolutely delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
I’m so glad you liked it Ashley!
I was in the middle of making this tonight, when I discovered my spinach wasn’t any good! I quickly searched the cabinet and came up with a can of mushrooms. I sautéd them up in a separate pan to get them caramelized and then added them and the parmesan as instructed. It turned out great!! This was the first time our family has tried quinoa, and we were pleasantly surprised. Thanks so much for this simple recipe, even altered it was great!
I’m glad to hear your family liked this, Haley! The mushrooms sound like a great substitution. I’m going to have to give that a try!
This looks so good! I’m going to try making it this week. Question because I rarely cook with Quinoa – do I use 1 cup of cooked or 1 cup of uncooked? (And, if uncooked, do I cook it first before the satuee step or is the point to sautee it dry and let it cook in the stock later?)
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Tracy! I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, I was on vacation and didn’t have good access to my messages. But for this recipe you want to use 1 cup of uncooked quinoa and you saute it dry and then cook it in the stock. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
This looks delicious! I am doing the Advocare 24 Day Challenge right now and was looking for good, healthy recipes and came across this on Pinterest…will have to try it!