Yin and Yang: Quinoa and Sausage

Quinoa is supposed to be this super-healthy grain-like substance that contains all the essential amino acids. I've been meaning to try it for a while. If it tastes good what's not too like. Now, you might think I'd incorporate it into some super-healthy dish. But, that's not quite what I did. You see, at the same time I bought the quinoa at Save-On I also bought some Spolumbo's Spicy Italian Sausage.

Thus I created a sort of sausage "ragout" perhaps and served it over quinoa. It also may have been good over pasta. Anyways, what I did was to boil the sausage until it was mostly cooked. Then I sliced it and sauteed it in a little olive oil with about one medium chopped onion; seven large, chopped crimini mushrooms (the brown ones), and a couple of chopped garlic cloves. I sauteed for quite a while to try to get things browning. Then I added a 14 ounce can of plum tomatoes that i stabbed up a bit (stabbing is a good cooking technique, you should stab the sausage with a fork while you boil it). I added some pepper, thyme, and oregano and let it simmer for a bit. Towards the end of the simmering I added a chopped red bell pepper and some crushed chili pepper flakes. Finally, at the very end I stirred in some fresh parsley. I served it over quinoa (cooked by boiling for 15 minutes) and garnished with parsley and grated Asiago cheese.

This is what my concoction looked like:

It was quite delicious, spicy from the pepper flakes and sausage. Sweet with red bell peppers. Aromatic from the herbs. Meaty-tasting chunks of mushroom and of course the incorporable joy of pieces of sausage.

You might be wondering about the quinoa: Did that "grain" work? It worked wonderfully. It has this fantastic slightly chewy texture and a subtle flavour. I liked the way it stuck to the bits of meat and vegetables in this dish. This is what cooked quinoa looks like if you're curious:

I cooks up fast, tastes good, has an appealing texture, and is very healthy as it is high in fibre and protein. I can see myself buying more quinoa and making it a regular part of my dining at home. Actually, I ate quinoa today as sort of a "salad." I sauteed peas, garlic sprouts, and green onion and mixed that with quinoa, canned sardine, pepper, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar. I thought it was pretty decent for something thrown together and quite enjoyed the quinoa. But, no photo of that.

What I call garlic sprouts are shoots cut off the green part of the garlic growing in the garden. They tasted garlicy but not really strong.

Quinoa must be rinsed thoroughly prior to cooking to remove its bitter outer layer.