Mushrooms with Quinoa

 

Quinoa is a seed, not a grain, and kind of borderline as far as being lower carb.  It's somewhere between rice and a legume nutritionally.  Like the barley I added to the artichoke casserole, I went easy on it here and made the recipe mostly about the mushrooms.

Ok, I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms, but I'm getting hungry.  I've lost almost 5 pounds on this reduced-carb lifestyle, which tells me I was in fact eating too many.  I really should not lose any more, although I can now get into those jeans I keep even though they're really too small for me.  Come on, we all have a pair like that.

This dish can be considered a vegetarian main, but I had it as a side.  As a main, it serves 2-3, as a side it serves 4.  It's loaded with protein, iron, and whatever good vitamins mushrooms have.  I forget, since I hardly ever put a whole container of them in anything.

There weren't any decent-looking packages of sliced mushrooms at the market, so I got out the vintage slicer tool. I don't know why I keep that thing.  I last used it on strawberries for a party a year ago, and haven't used it on eggs in maybe a decade.  It did make very quick work of the mushrooms, so it gets to live.

1 Tb butter
*2 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz white or crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 C tri-color quinoa, rinsed if necessary
salt and pepper to taste
water as needed

1.  Melt butter over medium-low heat in a 10" skillet with a lid.  I used the smaller omelet pan, which did work because mushrooms are mostly water, but the next size up would work better.  Cook the garlic until fragrant, 3 minutes, then add the mushroom slices.  Cover and cook until mushrooms give up some water and are about half the volume, 10 minutes.

2.  Sprinkle quinoa evenly over the mushrooms and add salt and pepper.  If you don't think there is at least 1/2 C water in the pan, add a bit more.  Replace lid.  Turn heat down to a simmer and cook until the quinoa is done, about another 10-12 minutes.

3.  Remove lid and stir.  If there is excess water still in the pan, turn the heat to medium and allow the liquid to boil off.  Serve hot.  I found that some of the turkey gravy I was having with the sweet potatoes went very well on this.  It would make an excellent side at Thanksgiving.

Difficulty rating  π