Mediterranean Quinoa

Tonight I was really craving pasta but my husband was hoping for something a little lighter. So I started sauteing and simmering my favorite vegetables with garlic and onion and decided to mix it all up with healthy protein packed quinoa. The dish turned out so yummy even my little one year old gobbled it up. If you follow the quantities to this meal correctly you should end up with almost twice as much vegetable as quinoa. This makes the dish extra light but satisfying as well.

Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa
2 cups steamed broccoli florets
2 tbs olive oil
1 medium yellow onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 tsp of salt and pepper to taste
4 Roma tomatoes chopped
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives halved

In a medium pan simmer quinoa on med low for about 15 minutes or follow the directions on the package.

In another medium pan steam broccoli until just barely tender.

In a large saute pan heat olive oil over medium heat and add onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Saute together on medium low for about 8 to 10 minutes until onions are softened. Add tomatoes and saute together for another 5 minutes. Add Broccoli and olives and saute till vegetables are heated through; about 5 minutes. Combine vegetables and quinoa together and it is ready to serve.

Yields 4 servings