Pineapple Edamame Quinoa

I have been planning to Thai one on ever since I read this Coconut-Cashew Red Quinoa recipe on the Dish by Trish blog. I finally made it for lunch today and I must say, “What bliss!” The quinoa is salty, the pineapple is sweet, the edamame is…

Oh, did I neglect to mention the edamame? Well, the short story goes something like this:

When I went to the grocery store over the weekend, I picked up unsweetened coconut milk and canned pineapple, but I neglected to grab cashews. Over the next few days: we celebrated my mother’s 70th birthday, my car overheated despite all the $$$ spent last week on the intake manifold and a new water pump, Mother Nature dumped several inches of snow, and somehow I sent a boy back to college.

And now home again with the car fixed (fingers crossed) and an appetite for quinoa, I found that I still didn’t have cashews.

So, in a make lemonade frame of mind, I pulled a pouch of edamame out of the freezer and used that instead. I used less quinoa than the original recipe because I didn’t want more than 4 servings. My quinoa and onions are white, so my version isn’t nearly as pretty as Trish’s. Mighty tasty though and definitely a keeper recipe.

Pineapple Edamame Quinoa

serves 4

• 1/2 Cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 3 green onions
• 1/2 Cup diced onions
• 2 Cups water
• 1 Cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 cup canned pineapple chunks, drained and chopped
• 5 ounces frozen edamame
• parsley for garnish

Heat the coconut milk and cook the onions in it for 2-3 minutes.

Add water, quinoa, salt, pepper, and brown sugar. (Hint: don’t skimp on the salt.)

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.

Stir in pineapple and edamame, bring back to boil, and simmer about 5 more minutes to absorb the rest of the liquid.

Try not to eat all the quinoa at one sitting if you are just one person.

When I make this again, I will use some of the pineapple juice in the can for the liquid in the quinoa and skip the brown sugar. Other than the fact that it could use more color – I should have grated in some carrot at least -this recipe rocked my taste buds and fully lived up to my expectations.

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