This very quick and easy quinoa pilaf has been one of my favorite go-to dishes when I want to make something fast, filling and delicious.

Frozen quinoa and kale blend to the rescue

What makes this pilaf a breeze to make is the frozen quinoa and kale blend that I buy at Costco and keep in the freezer. The frozen quinoa has four individually wrapped packets, each with cooked quinoa and super green such as kale.

This way I can use one, two, or three packets depending on how many people I am serving.  

All this recipe requires is cutting an onion, a pepper and a few garlic cloves. Then just cook the veggies with spices and add them to the quinoa. That’s it. For a scrumptiously delicious quinoa pilaf in as little as 15 minutes give this quinoa blend a try.

Kale Quinoa Pilaf
makes 5-6 servings

Ingredients:

• 3-4 bags frozen quinoa and kale blend
• 1 large bell pepper finely cut
• 1 onion finely cut
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek powder (optional)
• 2 tsp brown sugar (optional)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt
• Cayenne pepper (optional) add to your heat level
• Oil
• Fresh chopped cilantro for garnish

Directions:

• Thaw quinoa in the microwave for 3-4 minutes until the quinoa blend is loose and fluffy.

• In a large pot heat 3 tbsp oil. Sauté onions and garlic for a 1-2 minutes until onions are translucent. Add all the spices and mix into the fried onions.
• Next add the peppers and cook peppers for about 3-4 minutes until peppers are tender.

• Add the quinoa kale blend, add salt to taste and mix into the veggies. Cover the pot and cook the quinoa for an additional 5 minutes to allow the spices and veggie flavors to absorb into the quinoa.

• Turn the stove off. Add juice of 1 lemon and fluff with a fork. Quinoa pilaf is ready. Garnish with cilantro before serving.

Cook’s Notes:  Kale quinoa pilaf tastes great with a side of yogurt raita. Here are few raita recipes that are easy to make in as little as 5 minutes.