Quinoa and Grilled Veggies; It may be fall but my BBQ is still getting well used!

Lets talk about trying something new. Well, maybe this isn't something new but lets chat anyway.

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a grain-like (not grain) crop that is delicious. So good. Its nutty and almost pops in your mouth. Its a great food to add to your diet because it contains things like iron, calcium and protein.   It is super easy to make (rice cooker anyone?), can be used in place of pasta. rice. or couscous, and I think it looks pretty. 

Now, I don't want you to be confused with couscous (speaking of). I like couscous but it is a completely different crop. Couscous derives from wheat and doesn't require the same cooking as quinoa. It is still considered a delicious and very healthy grain. It is full of good stuff that again we all need to eat. But...I just can't make myself eat it very often. 

Its not that I don't like, its just that when Aaron and I went to France for a summer so he could take some courses and I could have a 6 week French coast beach vacation (that trip was amazing) the university served a cheap meal everyday for lunch in the cafeteria. Because I had taken 6 weeks off work and Aaron was a student being cheap was our life so I met him everyday for lunch at the school. Every day they served couscous and I could never stomach it. Turns out I was a few weeks pregnant with Hazel and maybe I should have been eating the couscous rather than the fresh shellfish and soft cheeses I lived on that summer but there was something about the couscous that my baby making belly couldn't handle. And inst it funny that now 5+ years later I still associate couscous to that sick feeling I had when I walked into that little french cafeteria. 

The Kid who ruined couscous for me. Sweet trampoline hair hey?

So, though couscous is healthy and good and you should eat it I'm not going it. 

But I will eat quinoa forever more. 

Quinoa and Grilled Veggies

1 cup of Quinoa (Costco has one of the best prices for this not cheap grain, better usually than bulk barn even)

2 cups of water or broth (I like to cook mine in broth because it adds some flavour)

Now, since this is my blog I get to tell you how I make it but if you don't have a rice cooker you make this on the stove top the same way as you would rice, or just follow the directions on the packaging. 

So, I put my quinoa and my broth (or water) into my rice cooker (don't have one? you should get one) and turn it on. When it turns itself off telling me that its ready I stir or fluff it up and its ready to go. 

Easy.

Now for the grilled veggies. I made these the same way as when I posted the recipe for Smoky Peppers on the BBQ but I added some zucchini.

3 Peppers cut in half with stems and seeds removed. (Get colorful! I used Red, Yellow and Orange Peppers)

2 Zucchini cut in half.

Brush the veggies with Olive Oil and sprinkle with salt (Salt is a must to help the peppers get juicy!)

Place on a hot BBQ for approx 8 minutes on each side or until tender. 

Once the veggies are cooked (and you can really use any veggies you want) cut into bite sized pieces and mix into your quinoa. I like to add a few shakes of Mrs. Dash and voila, you are ready to eat. 

This dish can be served as a side or even part of a main course. 

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oh, and we ate all of it before I could take any pictures so how about one of my cute family?

Family wrestling on the tramp