Quinoa Pilaf

Today is my daughter's 9th birthday.  And she has mono.  Happy Birthday, right?  Not so much.  We are going to try to make it a nice day for her.  Kinda hard when you feel like you got hit by a mack truck. 

So, I love pilaf, but am not a plain rice fan.  Actually, I hate plain brown or white rice with butter.  HATE.  But you give me a pilaf or something that has flavor,  I can hang.  I know by cooking in chicken broth you can bring a bunch of flavor to rice, which I have done countless times.  My problem is chicken broth costs a buck and while it leaves all the flavor, the liquid is gone.  I find seasoning can give you the same great flavor, and at pennies to the dollar.  I add some veggies to my pilaf to up the nutritional content (any way to sneak in extras!) and used quinoa instead of rice to up the fiber and protein.  Takes minutes to throw together and is pretty foolproof.  My kids love it.  Bonus.


QUINOA PILAF

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups water (I add a tad extra when I add veggies, like 1 TSBP)
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1/2 baby carrots finely diced
• 1/3 cup frozen peas  (opt., I forgot 'em)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp herb seasoning (I used parsley and Italian seasoning blend)

DIRECTIONS:

Place it all in a pot.  Boil for 10-15 minutes until liquid all absorbs.  Some say covered, some say uncovered.  I covered, then uncovered about halfway through to allow greater evaporation.