This is a first: never before have I been so ridiculously excited about such a healthy recipe - and a vegan one to boot! Quinoa bowls - they don't sound much, but flavours and textures in this dish are just unbelievable.
Just imagine it: fluffy quinoa, the fresh flavour of al dente broccoli, soft chickpeas, crunchy pine nuts, and plenty of garlicky, lemony dressing... I'll admit, this stuff barely made it into the bowl, which is a bit of an issue for a recipe titled 'quinoa bowls'. But 'quinoa eaten straight from the pan' didn't seem to have quite the same ring to it.
You could serve this quinoa recipe as a side dish, but actually it works great as a full meal too - the quinoa, chickpeas and pine nuts mean that these quinoa bowls are packed with protein. One big, warm, comforting bowl of protein. This is actually one of my favourite ways to make dinner when I have a fridge full of food but no inspiration of what to make - start with a grain or some other form of carb in a bowl (mashed potato, quinoa, rice, whatever), pile on whatever veggies you have in the fridge, and then add some form of protein (beans, chickpeas, nuts, cheese, etc). It always leads to an awesome dinner, but it's rarely quite as incredible as these quinoa bowls were.
This dish is irresistible served warm or cold - even the leftovers that I left in the pan to cool down weren't safe from me and my fork. So, you can either cook it fresh, or cook it in advance and pack it up for a picnic - I would quite happily eat these quinoa bowls for breakfast, lunch and dinner (in the same day).
Garlicky quinoa bowls with broccoli and chickpeas
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Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 100 g quinoa
- 350 ml vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 small leek halved lengthwise and then sliced
- 150 g broccoli separated into florets
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 400 g tin chickpeas 240g when drained, drained
- 2 tablespoon pine nuts
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of half a lemon
- 3 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Add the quinoa and the vegetable stock to a pan, and place over a low heat. Simmer gently, stirring regularly, until all of the stock has been absorbed, the quinoa is soft, and the spiral-shaped germ has detached from the quinoa. If the quinoa begins to dry up before it is fully cooked, just add a dash more water.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan, and add the sliced leek, broccoli and garlic. Cook over a very low heat for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the leek and garlic are soft and the broccoli is just tender but still has a bit of bite to it.
- Add the chickpeas, and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- When the quinoa and vegetables are both ready, combine them, along with the pine nuts, olive oil, lemon juice, fresh parsley and plenty of black pepper. Mix to combine, and serve warm or cold.
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Quinoa fan? Try quinoa egg fried 'rice'!
LittleMonsterx14 says
this looks so healthy and flavorful, double win!
Sarah @ Seriously Lovely says
Yum, this sounds delicious!
How to Philosophize with Cake says
Mmm this looks delish! Anything with "garlicky" in the title has to be good. :) I love adding chickpeas to dishes for protein, so this would be a hit at my house. :D
KalynsKitchen says
You had me at quinoa + pine nuts! Sounds delicious.
Sheena @ Hot Eats and Cool Reads says
This looks fantastic, Becca! Pinning!
miss messy says
I need to get more quinoa in my life, it's so popular! This looks like a great way to do it. I'm obsessed with pine nuts!
Deirdre says
Looks delicious. Wish I had a bowl of it right now. Another one for both daughters and me. Thank you Becca
CakePants says
Looks like my kind of meal! Hadn't really thought to combine broccoli and chickpeas before, but heck, why not?!
maria tadic says
This looks awesome! I love quick "clean out the fridge" dinners like this! And it looks super hearty and filling - yum!
Timaree says
I'll try it. Pine nuts are ridiculously expensive but maybe I can buy just 2 Tbs.! It sounds good.
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Really! They're not the cheapest thing ever here, but not terrible either. You could always skip them if you need to!