I'm a big fan of quinoa. It has many health benefits that are diet friendly AND it's gluten free! This little grain is high in fiber, antioxidants, iron, and it's an awesome source of plant based protein, with 1 cup of cooked quinoa serving 8.14 grams. We use quinoa a lot at home, so I thought I'd share my favorite recipe using it.
This meal is easy to make and as long as you have the sweet potatoes and the quinoa, it can be altered depending on what you have in your pantry! Obviously I include bacon (I mean, hello), but you can forego the bacon and enjoy a vegetarian friendly version if you desire.
Servings: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hr 10 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
4 medium-large sweet potatoes
1 cup dry quinoa (that has been rinsed under cold water for 2 minutes)
2 cups stock of your choosing (I usually use chicken stock, but vegetable stock works just as well)
4 tsp brown sugar
4 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup green onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, diced
2/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (you can use sunflower seeds or even sliced almonds if you don't have pumpkin seeds)
6 slices of bacon, diced
Pinch of salt
1/2 a lemon
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Wash and scrub your sweet potatoes to remove any dirt. Pat dry and carefully poke holes all over each potato with a fork.
Lay out a sheet of aluminum foil (roughly 1 ft x 1 ft) for each potato. At the center of each sheet of aluminum foil, place one Tbsp of butter and a tsp of brown sugar. Place one of your potatoes at the center of each prepared sheet of foil and wrap all the contents up so the potato is completely covered by foil. Place the foil wrapped potatoes on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 55 minutes.
Once the potatoes have been in the oven for 20 minutes, you can start on the quinoa.
In a large pot, cook the bacon to your desired level of crispiness over medium heat. Remove the bacon on the pot and place on a paper towel to cool.
Remove all but about 1 Tbsp of bacon grease from the pot. Add the carrots to the pot and allow the carrots to soften for 1 minute, stirring to prevent burning.
Add the dry quinoa and toast with the carrots - stirring constantly - for another minute.
Stir in the broth and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low.
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the cranberries, cover, and continue to cook for about 8 more minutes, stirring every few minutes, until all the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat.
Stir in the bacon, pumpkin seeds, and green onion. Cover and set aside.
When the potatoes are finished cooking, they should be tender when poked with a fork. Allow to cool out of the oven for 5 minutes before handling them. CAREFULLY, remove the sweet potatoes from their foil, taking care not to spill the hot butter that's likely still in the wrapping. Place the potatoes on a plate, make a slit 3/4 of the way deep down the length of each potato and gently spread each potato apart to create pocket.
Pour the remaining butter/brown sugar goodness from the foil in the pocket of each sweet potato.
Scoop a few heaping spoonfuls of quinoa on top of each potato. Finish with a little squeeze of lemon, and enjoy!
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