I always find it interesting that the simplest recipes always generate the most questions and requests for the recipe. This doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I'm flattered!
My life and eating habits have revolved a lot around vegetables lately since my palette hasn't really wanted any meat. The inspiration for this dish came from my sister's friend who lives up near Albany. Michele is another food lover, and we send each other text messages of our latest dishes and concoctions. She is also a vegetarian and has opened my eyes up to a lot of combinations I never would have tried if I was eating a hamburger for dinner every night. :-) I should really think about renaming this dish "The Michele" instead. Hmmmmm....
Anyway, this is a quick (and I mean, QUICK) weeknight dinner. The ingredients are very simple, but you are welcome to add your favorites flavors as always.
What you will need:
- a small sauce pot (to boil the quinoa)
- a skillet (for the veggies)
- 1 cup of quinoa
- 2 cups of water
- a small container of sliced portabella mushrooms
- 2 handfuls of baby arugula
- butter
- olive oil
- a half of vidalia onion, sliced thin
- 2-3 cloves minced garlic
- garlic powder, to taste
As you look at the "What you will need" list, you're probably wondering, why aren't there measurements for the butter and olive oil? Allow me to explain. I cooked this recipe to taste, and so should you. I like my veggies very soft and very garlic-y. (That's a real word. Trust me.) I was making a butter sauce with my mushrooms to go over the top of the quinoa, so I ended up using more butter and olive oil. If you only want the flavoring and not a sauce, you might opt for less of those ingredients. You get the idea. Every chef's dish is as good as they make it. As long as you make it, taste it while you're cooking, and enjoy it...you've done a great job. That's how I look at it. :-)
Ok, so get your water boiling in your sauce pan and add the quinoa. Bring it to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer and cover for roughly 15 to 20 minutes. The quinoa should have "opened" and look like small spirals. While that's going on, heat some butter and olive oil in your skillet. Leave the skillet at about medium to medium low. Add the fresh garlic and garlic powder in the pan as well and stir it around so it all combines. Add your chopped mushrooms and coat them in your butter garlic mixture. Stir them every few minutes until they're nice and tender. Remove them from the heat and onto a place.
In the same pan, add a little more butter, olive oil, and garlic. You're going to repeat the same process with the arugula, but you may not need as much this time. Arugula is extremely delicate and it will start to wilt as soon as it hits the pan. I cooked my arugula until it was just coated and it had just begun to wilt. Also remove the arugula from the heat when it's done.
To plate this meal is also really simple. Do you see a pattern here? Simple. Simple. Simple! Serve yourself a helping of quinoa. Add a bit of arugula to the top of the quinoa. This is where your vidalia onion slices come in, and they're completely optional. (But they're really tasty, I promise.) Just lay a few slices of onion over the warm arugula. It's a nice surprising crunch later. Last, but not least, add a few scoops of the warm mushrooms with garlic butter sauce over the top. Voila! That's it. Your meal is complete, it's healthy, and it takes no time at all.
I didn't add any salt to this dish, but feel free to add it to your mushrooms or quinoa. I added lots of garlic flavor to my veggies and sauce because I feel quinoa doesn't have a lot of its own flavor. That's my opinion. Either way, I hope you enjoy this delicious and hearty meal. If you try it out, please take a picture and add it to my Facebook food page at: The Delicious Bite Facebook Page I always love to see what you guys come up with!
