Recipe: Quinoa with grilled vegetables and fresh herbs

Is quinoa new to you?

Posted 12:23 a.m. Jun 23, 2010 — Updated 12:23 a.m. Jun 23, 2010

Ilina Ewen

We are honest-to-goodness carbivores in my house. Bread. Pasta. Rice. We devour them all.

We are particularly partial to breads from all over the world: naan, pita, paratha, Nan-e Afghani, injera. If there's a carb to be had, we're having it. I don't much like South Beach, the Miami hot spot or the diet. I'm Indian so there's no way this girl's gonna live without rice. I've been dabbling in new grains to expand our standby repertoire. Couscous is an easy crowd pleaser, though it's a veritable mess under the table after that meal. Thankfully our new dog, Lark, does help suck that up with his drooling oral vacuum. I also add barley to soups and have some Israeli couscous on hand to try out.

My latest star at the dinner table is quinoa. Say it with me: kee-NO-wah.

The boys devoured it. From what I could tell between mouthfuls of exuberant mmmms..... I think they liked it. Mac Daddy has already packed up the leftovers to take to work for lunch tomorrow.

Quinoa with Grilled Vegetables and Fresh Herbs

Prepare 1 cup quinoa (It expands like my waistline between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day so a little goes a long way!)

Grill (coat with olive oil first) and then roughly chop 1 yellow squash, 1/2 red onion, 1 red bell pepper, 1 eggplant. Add to cooked quinoa.

Toss in a seeded and chopped tomato, handful of basil, handful of fresh mint, small bunch of fresh chives, minced garlic clove

Toss with cooked quinoa.

Squeeze in juice of one lemon. Add a drizzle of olive oil.

Season with salt and freshly grated pepper to taste.

Grate fresh parmesan at the table.

Serve as a filling accompaniment or add some sliced grilled chicken and make it a meal! This dish is excellent hot or cold.

Ilina is the mom of two boys who writes about food here every Wednesday. You can always find her on her blog Dirt & Noise.

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