Lemon Quinoa with Asparagus and Feta

Spring weather means it's time for asparagus.  I can't get enough of it.  Roasted to tender crispness in the oven, folded with Hollandaise sauce into crepes, added to vegetable lasagne---everywhere you use it, it elevates the dish into something magnificent.  So here's what you should make for dinner tonight.  It's one of my favorite recipes, and best of all it only takes 20 minutes to make.  You'll love it!

Lemon Quinoa with Asparagus and Feta

3 c. water
1 1/2 c. quinoa
1 t. salt
2 t. chicken bouillon (or use broth for liquid)
2 bunches asparagus, trimmed* and cut into bite-size pieces
olive oil
kosher salt
parmesan cheese
4-8 oz. feta cheese
2 T. lemon juice

1. Combine water, quinoa, salt, and boullion in large pot and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until all of liquid is absorbed, 15-20 min.
2. Meanwhile, spread asparagus pieces in single layer on foil-covered cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and then sprinkle with kosher salt.  Roast in oven at 500 for 10 min. or so until asparagus is tender and just starting to brown on the tips.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
3. Stir roasted asparagus into quinoa.  Add crumbed feta cheese and lemon juice.  Stir until combined.

This is good served with poached eggs and a fruit smoothie.  Mmm, a perfect dinner!

*To trim asparagus, just hold it in your two hands and break it.  It will break naturally where the stem gets more tender.  Discard the lower half (or save to make stock for soup) and use the tender upper half to roast.  The upper part will still be long enough to need cutting, if you want to make bite-size pieces.

11 comments

  1. Awesome. We're obsessed with quinoa lately, and this sounds delicious.

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  2. Did you make this up?
    You poach eggs? It looks too hard.
    My kids love quinoa, but I don't think I would have tried it unless I'd first had it at your house.
    Keep sharing recipes. I need to buy vital gluten (at Macey's?) and then I'm going to try your bread recipe.
    Yum!
    P.S. Mpbsc didn't have her baby today.

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  3. Beth: yes, you can get the gluten at Macey's. It's near the yeast. As to poached eggs: I don't actually poach them. I have a secret way to make them--it's easy and they _taste_ like they are poached. I will tell you about it if you're interested.

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  4. Looks delicious, and I'd probably make it, but...what's quinoa? Wanna hang out again?

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  5. wow, that looks amazing. Do your kids eat asparagus? Maybe I just need to cook it more often.

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  6. Looks so very good. But you'd have to cook. And asparagus is the only food I ever threw up on an airplane.

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  7. K: I'd like to extract two words from your last sentence so we can analyze it for a moment. "Food," and "airplane." These two clues should be enough to tell you that asparagus as an entity is blameless in the matter.

    I should be a food lawyer. In other news, my wv was "Sithmen."

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  8. Wow...yum. I made this for dinner last night. Except I used wheat couscous instead of Quinoa. Did I miss the boat entirely? I just couldn't bring myself to spend $11 on a bag of something I only have one recipe for. Maybe I'll have to try it another day.

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  9. Emily: I think couscous is a great substitute. I'll have to try that. And, that quinoa sounds very expensive! I don't think I've ever paid that much for it. Have you looked at The Good Earth, in the bulk bins? I use quinoa in many, many recipes---and it's a great substitute for rice in just about anything!

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  10. Sam: I hereby hire you as my food lawyer. And for those who don't capitulate . . . I will release sithman!

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  11. I also buy my quinoa in a bulk bin, but at Sunflower Market. I tried this with pepper strips and green beans instead of asparagus (because I don't really like asparagus) and with chevre instead of feta (because that's what I had in the fridge) and it was great! Although my family unanimously agrees that spinach is not as good in this as I had anticipated.

    Thanks for the recipe!

    ReplyDelete

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