Curried Quinoa Pilaf

It has been a crazy week in our home. The storms pushed us out of school just two days after we started, which means Monday I had to start all over again. This week has been a real bear. Which means I've had limited time in the kitchen, and even more limited time to document and blog. In fact, I made another quinoa dish this week that I just couldn't get a photo of. So now I will have to re-create and document that later.

Today's dish is a quick, easy, skillet meal that you can make as big or small as you want. The first time I made it, it was good. The second time, I added honey which made it MUCH better, and the third time I traded the lemon for lime. The end result? Something truly tasty that can be made from leftovers in minutes.

Curried Quinoa Pilaf

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion (or 1/2 medium), chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon garam marsala
1/2 teaspoon yellow curry powder
The juice of 1/2 of a lime
1/4 cup diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
1/3 cup cooked chickpeas
1/4 cup milk
1 Tablespoon nuts (I used pine, but walnuts, peanuts, and pecans would all be good)
1 Teaspoon honey
1 to 1 1/2 cup Quinoa

Heat olive oil in pan over medium to medium high eat.

Add onions and garlic, saute for a moment, until they start to turn translucent.

Add spices and lime. Continue to cook for a minute.

Add tomatoes, cook until the tomatoes start to juice. Then add the chickpeas, and cook for several minutes more.

Once everything has started to release moisture, add the milk. Stir and blend until the milk has been well combined and the sauce starts to turn a little thick.

Add the quinoa, heat. Then add the pine nuts and honey, stir well and saute for another couple of minutes.

Plate and eat. Top with fresh cilantro, if you desire.

This would be just as good with rice, if that is what you had on hand. Since rice is a bit more bland, you might want to reduce the amount of garam marsala slightly.