At my house, we don’t feel the need to include meat in every meal. I’m fortunate that my children appreciate vegetables and seem to truly enjoy them as much as I do. Cooking a meatless meal seems less intensive, and I don’t have to worry about thawing anything out. That’s something this busy mom really appreciates.
But when I cook a meatless meal, I like to look for alternative ways to pack it with protein. Quinoa is a great plant source of protein, and I’ve started incorporating it into more of our meals. Recently, I experimented with substituting quinoa for rice in one of our favorite dishes: fried rice.
Cooked quinoa has roughly five times more protein than cooked white rice, which is what I typically used in my original fried rice recipe. Using it as a substitution didn’t detract from this traditional favorite. The texture was similar to traditional fried rice, and it was a big hit with the family.
In my recipe below I’ve included eggs, but you can make it without eggs, for a protein-packed vegan meal.
Quinoa fried ‘rice’
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons coconut or vegetable oil
- 4 medium carrots, diced
- 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
- 4 scallions, white and green parts separated, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 eggs, beaten
- Sea salt
- While prepping vegetables, combine the quinoa and water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low, cover and simmer until the quinoa is al dente (about 15 minutes). Uncover and remove from heat.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok or large skillet. Stir fry the carrots, shallot and white scallions over high heat until soft and a little browned (about 5 or 6 minutes). Add garlic, ginger, green scallions, a dash of sea salt and stir into vegetables for about 2 minutes. Add the quinoa by folding it into the vegetable mixture. Stir in soy sauce and sesame oil.
- If adding eggs, create a well into which you will pour the beaten eggs. Stir until nearly set, then mix in.
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