Cooking Light's Whole Grain Challenge: Recipe 2 - Shrimp Quinoa

As part of my April challenge from Cooking Light, I'm eating whole grains! The next whole grain up for me was quinoa. It's a little grain that puffs up and tastes similar to rice.

I found a recipe for Shrimp Quinoa that seemed like it could mask the quinoa with lots of good stuff - just in case I thought it was gross. That's sort of my plan for every recipe - mask it and hope for the best.

Jimmy was my sous chef for the meal...lots of fresh ingredients - pepper, asparagus, mushrooms, onion, etc...

Lots of sauteeing...such pretty colors!

You cook the quinoa much like rice - I used chicken broth to add some extra flavor to it. I cooked it a little longer than the recipe called for - I just wanted to make sure it was soft and not crunchy or anything. It was a little sticky by that point so keep an eye on it.

I threw the shrimp in at the last minute (I did use frozen shrimp for convenience). 

And here's the finished product!

And how was it? REALLY GREAT! Even Larry - who doesn't like new things and doesn't really like vegetables - cleaned his plate! I was a bit hesitant about the quinoa so I served the sautee mixture on top of the quinoa but it was tasty as well. The lemon juice was a nice add and I put a bit extra in. 

Shrimp Quinoa

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
•  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 8 spears fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring the quinoa and chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, and let the remaining liquid absorb into the quinoa.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, onion, and red bell pepper; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the asparagus, mushrooms, raisins, and ginger; continue cooking until the asparagus is tender. Stir in the shrimp, and cook until the shrimp have turned pink and are no longer translucent in the center.
3. Stir the lemon juice into the quinoa, then toss the quinoa with the shrimp and vegetable mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 385 | Total Fat: 10.8g | Cholesterol: 175mg

From Cooking Light