Spinach & Feta Quinoa

I like to think that I'm pretty successful at Food Blogger stalking. If it was a sport, I'd at least get to Nationals. One of my favorite blogs to stalk is "Closet Cooking". Kevin, the mastermind behind it all, posts almost daily and always pairs pretty simple ingredients together to make an interesting meal.

As I was making my daily visit to his page a while ago, I noticed that he had made a quinoa salad with spinach and feta. I love the Greek-style combination of spinach and feta and I had always wanted to try cooking with quinoa. I bookmarked the page and I finally got around to making it, albeit several months later! Of course I changed the recipe a smidgen, since I'm not a huge fan of the parsley that Kevin uses. I compensated with feta cheese and some crushed red pepper, for a little kick.

Spinach & Feta Quinoa
slightly adapted from Closet Cooking

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion (chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 1 bunch spinach (roughly chopped)
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth or water)
• ~ 1/2 cup dill (chopped)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
  
• splash of lemon juice
  
• ~1/2 cup feta (crumbled)

1) Drizzle oil in the pan and let it heat up for a minute.

2) Add the onions and saute until they are translucent, about 5 minutes.

3) Toss in the garlic and saute with the onions for another minute.

4) Add the spinach and let it cook down until it wilts.

5) Add in the quinoa, chicken broth, dill, and crushed red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper, then bring it to a boil.

6) Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for ~20 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender.

7) Remove the pan from the heat and hit the quinoa with the lemon juice.

8) Mix in the feta.

9) Serve warm, room temperature, or cold.

First of all let's get to why I use an approximate symbol (~) in my ingredients list. Well, it's because I don't always measure everything. I know this is frustrating, but sometimes I just forget. Go with it. So add as much or as little feta or dill as you think you might like. Just taste everything and you can't go wrong because you'll know if you like it or not.

Now let's talk about the quinoa. Kevin's pictures may be better than mine, but this dish was so tasty it doesn't matter. I love the tang from the feta cheese and the lemon juice. The sauteed onions provide a slight sweetness and the pepper flakes gave me a little heat. The quinoa almost has the texture of rice. Almost. It's firmer and pops a little in your mouth. That's some fun eating right there. Try this out with your own little twist and let me know how it turns out.