Green Pea Quinoa (vegan, gluten-free)

This vegan Green Pea Quinoa is a super healthy, high-protein side dish. Tasty and vibrant, goes perfectly with tofu dishes.

Quinoa is great. We all know that. But sometimes it’s just not enough. I’m usually missing something. Some color, some taste, something. So, I figured: why not add some peas? Yay! I already LOVE green pea rice, so it was an obvious choice.

There isn’t a special method to create this easy side dish, but I will grab this opportunity to tell you how I make my quinoa to be perfectly fluffy.

First of all, dry quinoa has a bitter outer coating that should be removed. You can do that by rinsing it under running water for a minute or so.

After that just place 1 cup of dry quinoa (makes like 3 servings) with 2 cups of water (twice as much) in a pan with your preferred spices/salt (you can omit oil if you want), then cover and bring to a boil.

Green Pea Quinoa (vegan, gluten-free)

You can add the frozen green peas at the beginning, just make sure to add 2-3 tablespoons of water as an extra.

After the boiling point, turn off the heat a little bit. The water should be simmering now. Check the water levels every 4-5 minutes and when the water has disappeared from the top of the quinoa, turn off the heat completely.

This part is crucial. Let the quinoa steam in the remaining water for the next 15-20 minutes, while covered.

This is the step that’s gonna make your quinoa really fluffy.

So, there you have it. It’s so simple, isn’t it?

Other delicious vegan quinoa recipes:

• Quinoa Avocado Spinach Power Salad
• Lemony Quinoa Brussels Sprouts Salad
• Cilantro Lime Quinoa

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Green Pea Quinoa (vegan, gluten-free)

Green Pea Quinoa (vegan, gluten-free)

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, vegan

Prep Time 2 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 32 minutes

Servings 3

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa dry
• 2 cup water
• 1/2 cup green peas frozen
• 3 tbsp water
• 2 tsp oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions

• Start by rinsing the quinoa under running water to remove the outer bitter coat.
  
• Put the 1 cup quinoa, the frozen peas with the 2 cup+3 tbsp water, the  salt+pepper and the oil into a medium pan. Cover and bring to a boil.
  
• When it starts boiling, bring down to a simmer and check the water levels every 5 minutes.
  
• When the water has disappeared from the top of the quinoa, turn off the heat and let it steam (while covered) for an additional 15-20 minutes.
  
• Enjoy!

Try my other vegan side dishes:

• Mexican Rice Salad
• Carrot Ribbon Stir Fry
• “Cheesy” Italian Pasta Salad