Quinoa with Mushrooms and Scallions

Name: Quinoa with Mushrooms and Scallions
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 cup quinoa; 2 cups water; 1 buillion cube; 3 cups sliced cremini mushrooms – about 15 medium sized mushrooms.; 6 to 8 scallions – chopped; 3 garlic cloves – minced; 4 twists from a pepper mill.; 1/3 cup (1 large handful of walnuts); 1/3 cup diced or crumbled feta; 2 tbs minced parsley; 3 tbs olive oil; 1/2 lemon – squeezed

Published: Mar 26, 2014 · Modified: Sep 5, 2017 by Geraldine · 16 Comments

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I’ve been on a quinoa kick lately. Today it’s quinoa with mushrooms and scallions. The woodsy flavor of the mushrooms and the mildly pungent kick of the scallions are a great taste combination. Saute the mushrooms until they are a lovely golden brown, add the scallions and a bit of garlic and your kitchen will smell delicious. When the mushrooms are ready, toss with the quinoa, add some walnuts and a bit of salty feta and you’ve got a great salad.

A couple of notes:

I wash my mushrooms. A lot of recipes say to wipe them or brush them but I just don’t think that gets them clean. I’m not talking about soaking them in water – just give them a quick rinse in a sieve and tumble them into a tea towel to dry off. I’ve never had a problem with mushrooms being soggy after washing them.

Cooking mushrooms – You need to start with a hot pan, add a little oil and then add the mushrooms in a layer on the bottom of the pan. Leave the mushrooms over medium high heat and DO NOT touch the mushrooms for 3 minutes. The hardest thing is not touching those mushrooms. They will be making a squeaking noise – this is good – it’s the mushrooms releasing their water and the water being evaporated by the high heat. You’ll be tempted to stir them – but wait. You want them to take on a golden brown color so you need to wait before stirring them. After the 3 minutes stir away. The pan needs to be hot enough to evaporate any water that the mushrooms produce – so keep it on medium high heat. If you cook the mushrooms over low heat they will just stay a beige brown color.

I cooked my mushrooms in two batches so as to not crowd the pan. If you have a really large sauté pan you should be okay but you want the mushrooms to be in a single layer on the bottom of the pan.

Quinoa needs to be rinsed before you cook it. Rinse in a fine mesh sieve to remove the bitter coating.

To prevent quinoa from being mushy – turn out the quinoa onto a baking sheet to cool once it’s finished cooking. This will leave the quinoa delicate and fluffy.

This salad does not need a lot of dressing – it’s very flavorful – so just a small amount of lemon dressing is needed.