Quinoa with Lemon, Walnuts, and Parsley

We are having friends over for dinner tonight, and I decided to try out a new quinoa recipe. This was a good gamble, as it is so delicious! If you haven't tried quinoa before, I highly recommend it. There are lots of great articles about quinoa's nutritional benefits and how to cook with it, including this one from Cooking Light, and this one from Eating Well. Quinoa is often touted as being high in protein for a grain, and one of the coolest things about quinoa is that unlike most other plant foods, it contains all of the amino acids, which makes it a gem for people like me who get most of their protein from plant sources.
Many recipes advise rinsing quinoa before using it, but I've never found this to be necessary. Quinoa does have naturally occurring coating that can give it a bitter flavor, but most of the quinoa available commercially has already been processed to remove this coating.  If you like to rinse it, go for it, I just find it to be an extra (and messy) step. At any rate, below is a modified version of a recipe I found on Cooking Light. I added lemon zest and juice since they are such natural flavor affinities for  parsley and nuts. I also substituted walnuts for the pine nuts in the original, but I'm sure it would be delicious either way. The recipe in Cooking Light also had a cook time for the quinoa that was way too short (it was still crunchy at the time the recommended). I usually cook mine for about 20 minutes,  so that's how long I cooked it for, and I added an extra 1/2 cup of broth to the original. This recipe makes plenty for four people with leftovers to boot. I hope you try it and enjoy it- it's easy to make and really good!

Quinoa with Lemon, Walnuts and Parsley

2 cups uncooked quinoa

4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons finely chopped shallots

2 tablespoon minced garlic

3 cups broth (if unsalted you will need to add the salt)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (optional)

1/2 cup walnuts

2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

zest of one lemon

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallots; sauté 1 minute or until tender. Add minced garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add quinoa; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add broth and optional salt; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is tender.

2. While quinoa cooks, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add walnuts to pan; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Combine quinoa mixture, nuts, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, parsley, lemon zest and juice, and pepper; toss.