Garlic Butter Quinoa

This recipe recreates the flavours of garlic bread without the bread. Garlic Butter Quinoa is a fast main or side dish option that’s got all the flavour of garlic bread with the healthiness of quinoa.

I’m a garlic bread junkie.  I’m the type that will order garlic bread from a take-out menu to pair with my already carb-heavy and greasy pizza.  Do I need it?  No.  But, it’s just one of those things that I have to have no matter how many calories I’m consuming or how much sodium I’m ingesting.

Friday night is order-in night for us.  After a long week at work, we love to order our favourite Chinese food or our favourite pizza and just relax in front of the television.  Ordering pizza seems to be the most common occurrence of the two because it’s less expensive and has less sodium.  (I think!)

When we order pizza, we need to order three different pizzas, because we all have different likes and dislikes – oh, and there’s the vegetarian thing.  John.e will have his usual green olives, green peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes.  McKenna will only ever have mushrooms and extra cheese.  And, for me, it’s pepperoni and sausage.

Sometimes, if I’m feeling extra hungry, I’ll order a very small order of chicken wings to accompany my pizza, but always – and without fail – I order garlic bread or garlic sticks.  Even with the grease, carbs, fat, etc., of the pizza, I just gotta have the bread.

QUINOA LOVES FLAVOUR!

Garlic Butter Quinoa is a substitute – and a damn good one – for garlic bread.  It’s really simple to prepare and the flavour is wonderfully garlicky and buttery.  Most garlic bread comes with cheese, so if you want your Garlic Butter Quinoa to have a cheesy side as well, just add in some freshly grated parmesan once the quinoa has finished cooking.

I’ll be posting numerous quinoa dishes to my blog in the next little while.  Why?  Well, do you remember the chicken wing issue?  If you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, you might remember my story about purchasing chicken wings from Costco and realizing when I got home that there were over 60 chicken wings in one package.  That’s not a bad thing, but it’s a whole lotta chicken wings when you’re the only meat eater in your household.

THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS RECIPE

Well, the Costco curse strikes again with this quinoa.  A few weeks back, John.e and I were looking to purchase some quinoa from one of our three grocery stores, but the price was ridiculous.  Around the same time, Lesli, a coworker, introduced me to Costco’s home delivery service.  They had organic quinoa at a great price.  I placed it in my online cart, along with some other items, and proceeded to checkout.

Costco is like Texas – everything is bigger.  Organic quinoa at Costco is no exception.  The bag is huge!  It would take some families months to use it all up.  Luckily, since John.e and McKenna are such lovers of quinoa, I’m sure I can use it all in no time.  Recipes like this Garlic Butter Quinoa will help, I’m sure!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Quinoa
• Butter – If you use salted butter, cut the added salt back to 1/2 teaspoon.
• Garlic – There’s a lot of garlic in this recipe, but it’s not overpowering. Use only fresh garlic here. The dried stuff just will not cut it!
• Salt and Ground Black Pepper
• Stock – I’m using vegetable stock to keep this dish vegetarian, but chicken stock would be a great alternative.
• Parsley

HOW TO MAKE GARLIC BUTTER QUINOA

Quite possibly, this is one of the easiest and most delicious quinoa recipes out there. It’s extremely simple! Here’s how I make it.

Add all of the ingredients, except the parsley, to a sauce pan.  Stir to combine. Turn the heat to medium-high and allow it to come to a boil. Place a cover on the sauce pan, reduce the heat to simmer, and allow the quinoa to cook for 15 minutes.

Turn off the heat.  Add the parsley and fluff it into the cooked quinoa with a fork.  Let the quinoa sit for 5 minutes before serving.

THIS QUINOA RECIPE IS VERSATILE

I love the ease and versatility of this recipe.  As I said earlier, feel free to add some parmesan to the pot once you turn off the heat if you want a cheesy flavour.  You can double or triple the recipe if you need a larger quantity.  Like more garlic or less garlic?  Simply adjust to your tastes.  And, one of my favourite things – other than the taste – is that you can serve Garlic Butter Quinoa hot or cold.  I love it cold!

Garlic Butter Quinoa makes a great side dish.  This is delicious served alongside a simple chicken breast.  It would be lovely with almost any protein, especially a piece of salmon.  But, if you’re in a hurry, you can enjoy this dish completely on its own.  It eats like an entire meal if that’s more your thing.  As I’ve said before, Dear Reader, no judgment.  Enjoy!