Garden Quinoa with Pesto Sauce
Prep 15 mins Cook 15 mins Eat 30 mins
If your refrigerator is bulging with zucchini, corn, peppers, tomatoes and basil from your summer garden or the bounty at the farmer’s markets, this dish will speak to you. Garden Quinoa with Pesto Sauce is full of flavor, super easy to make and only 232 calories per serving. Grill the vegetables for extra flavor and combine them all with some naturally gluten-free quinoa.
Grilled Vegetables are the basis of the Garden Quinoa.
While the vegetables are grilling, cook the quinoa in some water. It will take only 15 minutes. Don’t miss the step of rinsing the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer before cooking to remove the natural bitter coating or you won’t like this dish.
Chop the grilled vegetables into bite sized pieces.
Chop all the vegetables into bite sized pieces. Click here to learn how to roast and skin the sweet peppers.
I stripped the corn from the cob with this handy corn stripper from The Pampered Chef.
Slice corn off the cob with a knife or a corn stripper.
Garden Quinoa ingredients are mixed together.
Mix all the ingredients together except the cheese – the veggies, the quinoa and the pesto sauce, which can be made in a food processor in about a minute!
Redwood Hill Farms Raw Milk Feta Cheese goes great in the Garden Quinoa.
Top with some feta cheese and halved cherry tomatoes. I used Redwood Hill Farms Feta Cheese made from raw goat’s milk.
Beautiful purple opal basil from my garden is the icing on the Garden Quinoa!
Garnish the Garden Quinoa with some basil sprigs and serve in 30 minutes. Enjoy this Fresh Food in a Flash!
Garden Quinoa with Pesto Sauce
2 zucchini sliced
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 ear corn
1 cup quinoa
2 cups basil leaves, washed and spun dry (remove flowers, but you can leave the smaller stems)
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts
1/4 cup Feta cheese crumbled
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half or quarters
1. Slice the zucchinis lengthwise and place in a bowl. Sprinkle olive oil just to coat and add salt and pepper to taste. Place zucchini strips, bell peppers and husked ear of corn on barbecue to add grill marks, which should take a few minutes on each side. Turn the bell peppers until the outside is charred. Cool the zucchini and corn on a plate or platter. Place charred bell peppers in a plastic bag to steam. Set all aside.
2. Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Add to saucepan with 1 1/4 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for approximately 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Add more water, if pot begins to go dry before done.
3. While quinoa is cooking, make the pesto. Process garlic in food processor. Add basil leaves, pine nuts, salt and pepper and process again. Drizzle in olive oil from the feed tube just until a paste is formed.
4. When bell peppers have cooled slightly. Peel off the charred skins, cut them open and remove seeds and stem. Slice the peppers into strips, then cross cut into 1″ pieces. Slice zucchini strips into 1″ pieces also and slice corn off the cob. Place all in a bowl, add quinoa and enough basil pesto to coat it all nicely when stirring together. You may not need all the pesto, so save some for another dish.
5. Place Garden Quinoa in a presentation bowl and top with sliced cherry tomatoes and feta cheese.
Servings: 8 232 calories per serving
Garden Quinoa with Pesto Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini sliced
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 ear corn
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups basil leaves washed and spun dry (remove flowers, but you can leave the smaller stems)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts
- 1/4 cup Feta cheese crumbled
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes sliced in half or quarters
Instructions
- Slice the zucchinis lengthwise and place in a bowl. Sprinkle olive oil just to coat and add salt and pepper to taste. Place zucchini strips, bell peppers and husked ear of corn on barbecue to add grill marks, which should take a few minutes on each side. Turn the bell peppers until the outside is charred. Cool the zucchini and corn on a plate or platter. Place charred bell peppers in a plastic bag to steam. Set all aside.
- Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Add to saucepan with 1 1/4 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for approximately 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Add more water, if pot begins to go dry before done.
- While quinoa is cooking, make the pesto. Process garlic in food processor. Add basil leaves, pine nuts, salt and pepper and process again. Drizzle in olive oil from the feed tube just until a paste is formed.
- When bell peppers have cooled slightly. Peel off the charred skins, cut them open and remove seeds and stem. Slice the peppers into strips, then cross cut into 1" pieces. Slice zucchini strips into 1" pieces also and slice corn off the cob. Place all in a bowl, add quinoa and enough basil pesto to coat it all nicely when stirring together. You may not need all the pesto, so save some for another dish.
- Place Garden Quinoa in a presentation bowl and top with sliced cherry tomatoes and feta cheese.
- Servings: 8 232 calories per serving
- ENJOY THIS RECIPE FROM FreshFoodinaFlash.com
I was looking for quinoa recipes and ran into this. Perfect. 🙂