ROTW is BACK - Quick 'n Easy Quinoa Pilaf

Okay, I need to get back to blogging & what better way than to share a quick easy recipe that makes for a GREAT meatless meal! I decided to turn Mondays into "Meatless Mondays" to force myself to cook more, try new ingredients and get back on track with the journey to a healthier me! This Quick 'n Easy Quinoa Pilaf is great as a side dish or main course! I added a side of teriyaki stir fried veggies to round out the meal.

Quick 'n Easy Quinoa Pilaf

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4

Serving Size: 1 cup
Ingredients

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed & chopped

1/3 cup diced carrots

1/2 cup diced bell peppers (red, green & yellow)

1 pkg sliced baby Bella mushrooms

2 tbsp olive oil or butter

1 tbsp mrs dash seasoning (garlic & herb)

Directions

1. Cook the quinoa in the vegetable broth according to the package directions**. Set aside.

2. Sauté the vegetables in the oil until crisp.

3. Add in the cooked quinoa & mrs dash and sauté an additional 2-3 minutes to combine the flavors.

** NOTE: The quinoa takes about 10-15 minutes to cook in Step 1. You can use that time to chop/dice up the onions, carrots, bell peppers & garlic OR stir fry some veggies as a side like I did!

OTHER NOTES
 - Technically, one serving of quinoa is 1/3 dry, uncooked quinoa, so the 1 cup uncooked quinoa is three servings. The amount of pilaf this recipe makes is about four 1-cup servings from my experience.
 - At four 1-cup servings, the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com estimates the PointsPlus value to be 6 points. **If you make any substitutions, I suggest you enter the recipe into the Recipe Builder to make sure your points values are as accurate as possible.
 - I found the quinoa in my local Super Walmart. One box makes a good amount of cooked quinoa, but then again, I cook for just me! :)

If you try it, let me know what you think!