Italian Beef and Veggies Over Quinoa
Serves 6-8
- Quinoa:
- 2 cups organic quinoa
- 1 Tb raw apple cider vinegar
- filtered water
- 2 Tb butter, preferably from grassfed cows
- celtic sea salt
- Italian Beef and Veggies
- 2 Tb butter, preferably from grassfed cows
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 8 medium cremini mushrooms, chopped
- 1&1/2 pounds ground beef, preferably from grassfed cows
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jar of Italian Herb Pasta Sauce, 26-ounces (or your favorite marinara sauce)
- celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- shredded raw cheddar cheese, to garnish
- Soak the quinoa: In a glass bowl, cover the quinoa with filtered water, stir in a splash of apple cider vinegar, and allow to soak at room temperature for 4-18 hours. Soaking the quinoa in an acidic medium helps in reducing the anti-nutrients (such as phytic acid) that are present in grains. I find that quinoa gets rather mushy when allowed to soak for too long, so I often only soak it for a few hours before cooking it.
- Start cooking the onion: About 40 minutes before dinner, melt 2-Tb butter in a 4-quart heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, sprinkle with salt, and saute. It is fine if the onion gets a bit of browned color; that means it is caramelizing and releasing its natural sweetness. (I love to use my bamboo spatula for this recipe.)
- Drain and rinse the quinoa: In the meantime, drain the quinoa in a mesh colander. Then rinse the quinoa VERY well. The more the quinoa is rinsed before cooking, the less bitter it will be. I like to rinse the quinoa until the water becomes crystal clear.
- Cook the quinoa: In a medium pot, combine the quinoa with about 3-4 cups of filtered water. The amount of water depends on how long the quinoa was soaked; use less water if you had a long soaking time, or use closer to 4 cups of water if the soaking time was short.) Add a sprinkle of salt. Bring to a low boil.
- Add the carrots and celery to the onion: Once the onion has been cooking for 5-10 minutes and is becoming translucent, add the celery and carrots. Sprinkle with salt and saute for a few minutes. You may need to reduce the heat a bit if the pot it getting too hot.
- Skim the foam from the quinoa: Once the quinoa has come to a low boil, use a shallow spoon to skim off the foam. Discard the foam. Then add the butter to the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir occasionally.
- Add the mushrooms to the veggies: Add the mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, and saute for a few minutes until the mushrooms have released their liquid and shrunken down some.
- Add the beef to the veggies: Crumble the ground beef into the veggies. Add 1.5 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper. Cook for several minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beef is mostly browned. The beef does not need to be completely cooked during this step.
- Add in the garlic: Add the garlic to the veggies and cook for about a minute, until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the pasta sauce: Pour the pasta sauce over the veggies and beef. Stir to combine, then put a lid on the pot and let it simmer.
- Check the quinoa: It will be done when all of the moisture has been absorbed and it is nicely soft. If the quinoa is done before everything else, just put a lid on the pot and turn off the heat.
- Simmer the beef and veggies: Let the beef and veggies simmer for about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Shred the cheese: In the meantime, use a box grater to shred the cheese.
- Plate it up: To assemble the meals, start with a scoop of quinoa, add some beef and veggies, then top with a generous sprinkle of cheese. My kids and husband prefer to have a smaller amount of quinoa with more of the beef and veggies. I prefer to have equal amounts of both.
- Enjoy!
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