☘☘Happy St. Patrick’s Day!☘☘

In the spirit of sharing something green for St. Patrick’s Day I ‘d like to share a quinoa pilaf recipe with good for you leafy greens.

Collard greens are wonderful greens to cook with in a quinoa pilaf. I used over eight cups of chopped collard greens in this recipe from a giant bag of greens  I had just received from my friend Rita.

Asian sauces and tofu for a hefty pilaf

What really surprised me about this dish is the tofu. I crumbled a block of extra firm tofu in the quinoa, and it transformed this dish into a deliciously fluffy pilaf.  Anjali wanted me to make an Asian inspired pilaf so I used an Asian braising sauce for flavoring.

About the recipe

The recipe is pretty simple. Cook quinoa and set aside. Then get ready to cook the greens. First shallow fry fresh ginger and garlic and then add the collard greens and cook until tender. Then goes in the sauces, cooked quinoa and tofu. Cover and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes and it’s done.

Collard Greens Quinoa Pilaf
serves 4-6

Ingredients: 

• 8 cups chopped collard greens
• 4 cups cooked quinoa
• 6 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 tsp ginger paste or fresh grated ginger
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp braising sauce like an oyster sauce, chili sauce, teriyaki sauce, etc.
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 dried red chili (optional)
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 block extra firm tofu – 14 oz
• Few sprigs of chopped cilantro for garnish

Directions:

• In a large pot heat 2 tbsp oil and sauté garlic and ginger until garlic is slightly browned. Add all the collard greens and cook covered with 1/2-cup water for 5-10 minutes until collards greens are tender.

• Once collard greens are cooked add soy sauce, braising sauce, turmeric powder, and sugar and mix into the greens. Add cooked quinoa and crumbled tofu and toss together. Cook covered for 5 minutes.
• After 5 minutes add garlic powder at the end and toss the pilaf. Collard greens quinoa pilaf is ready.

• Garnish with chopped cilantro and it’s ready to serve.

☘ St. Patrick’s Day ☘☘
For each petal on the shamrock
This brings a wish your way –
Good health, good luck, and happiness
For today and every day.
Author Unknown
From quotegarden.com

☘☘☘☘☘