Quinoa with Cranberries

I was looking for a side dish to serve with my Cicken Korma the other night, I was wanting something with a little medetrrainian flare. Then I remembered a recipe somewhere that had couscous with dried cranberries. I knew I’d be able to figure something out, even if I didn’t have the exact recipe, so off to the pantry I went!

No couscous.

Not to be discouraged, I started perusing the pantry. I found quinoa. If you’re not familiar with quinoa it’s a grain that’s cooked just like rice. The grains are smaller than rice, but bigger than couscous (which isn’t a grain at all, but that’s another post). I don’t think it has much flavor on it’s own, but will soak up the flavors of whatever it’s cooked or served with.

I started pondering what I would need to change to add the cranberries and here’s what I came up with (it’s more of a guideline than a recipe):

• Cook the quinoa as directed, you usually boil water, add quinoa, cover and simmer for about 15 mins. The liquid is all absorbed just like cooking rice.
• I cooked the quinoa wtih chicken broth (which I almost always do, adds a little extra flavor) but water would work fine. You could even replace some of the water with juice, OJ might be interesting.
• Add the dried cranberries at the same time as the quinoa, I’d recommend 1 or 2 tablespoons per cup of uncooked quinoa. The cranberries plump up while cooking, if you want smaller pieces you could chop them first.
• Add just a tiny bit extra broth since the cranberries will absorb some of the cooking liquid. I’d say about a tablespoon per cup of water. If you wind up with too much liquid you can cook a few minutes longer without the lid to cook some if it off.
• I’d imagine you could do this with any dried or frozen fruit or veggie. If using frozen you don’t need to add extra water and it’s probably best to thaw them before adding in with the quinoa.
• Fresh herbs would be a nice addition as well. Cilantro, parsley, and rosemarry all sound like appetizing options to me.

If you try other variations let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear how it turns out.

P.S. Sorry folks, I forgot, again, to take a picture of the finished product. Thus the generic picture of uncooked quinoa you see at the top.