Vegan Friendly Quinoa Pilaf w/Pistachios Apricots and Mint

I’m obsessed with quinoa lately. I can’t get enough of it. I guess there are worse things to be obsessed with like Big Macs or something. Here is my latest and greatest favorite quinoa recipe:

Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa {find quinoa online}
1 small onion, diced
1 sweet pepper, diced
3/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup shelled pistachios, chopped
zest and juice of 1 orange
3 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed pepper flakes {optional}
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Cook your quinoa. I like to cook it in either a rice cooker or a slow cooker. It cooks just like white rice, so the most important thing to remember is to use the ratio of 1 part quinoa to 2 parts liquid {I use vegetable stock most of the time}. For example, 1 cup of liquid to 1/2 cup of uncooked quinoa. If you’re using a rice cooker, your quinoa should be done in about 15 minutes!

If you do not have a rice cooker simply add the quinoa and broth in a saucepan, bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook covered, until the liquid has been absorbed and quinoa is tender {about 20 minutes}.

Remove shells from pistachios and toast at 350 for 10 minutes. Sauté shallots and red bell for 5 minutes, adding water if needed to keep veggies from sticking to pan. Add cooked quinoa, apricots, orange zest and juice, mint and red pepper flake and cook for 5 minutes, season with salt and garnish with pistachios.

Looking for more Qunioa Recipes? The Qunioa Cookbook is awesome!