Quinoa Wrap-Up for the Week

The possibilities for adding quinoa in your cooking and baking are endless. I even found the ultimate website http://www.simplyquinoa.com devoted to simple healthy foods with a quinoa twist. A recent feature in December was 25 ways to add quinoa to your cookies. How about these?



Fudgy Brownie Cookies


Quinoa Coconut Macaroon



Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes with Pesto and Quinoa
Cook's notes: Pesto, asparagus and tomatoes all tossed with quinoa and covered with melty cheese! It's healthy and easy! Other seasonal vegetables can be substituted for asparagus such as zucchini. The recipe serves 4 and comes from ohsweetbasil.com.
Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup prepared pesto
2 cups grape tomatoes
2 cups asparagus, trimmed and chopped into 1-2" pieces
olive oil or Blood Orange Olive Oil
2 TB. Balsamic vinegar or Cranberry Pear Balsamic
sea salt
1-1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese or mozzarella cheese
Directions:
Cook the quinoa with the vegetable or chicken broth instead of water according to package directions. Fluff and set aside.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the tomatoes and asparagus on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with sea salt.
Roast for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your veggies. Remove from the oven and toss with the quinoa and pesto in lightly greased 2-1/2 qt. baking dish. Sprinkle the top with cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is browned and melted.