Red Quinoa and Lentil Pilaf

My new chiropractor has the best magazines.  I never mind being kept waiting.  She lets you take them home or if it is a recipe or two, her assistant will copy it for you.  I read this recipe in Food and Wine, March 2012.  This was a Vegan recipe.  We’re not vegan, so I had no qualms about substituting the vegetable broth.  This serves 6. 

Ingredients:

1C French green lentils, rinsed

1 bay leaf

1 thyme sprig

1 garlic clove

¼ onion

2 T coconut oil (I had coconut butter and used that)

1 shallot, minced

1 celery rib, minced

1 carrot, minced (I did all the mincing in a mini-processor)

½ C red quinoa, rinsed

1 C vegetable stock ( I didn’t have any so used chicken broth)

Salt and pepper

1# cauliflower, coarsely grated

¼ C chopped flat-leaf parsley

1/3 C coarsely chopped Marcona almonds (not sure what they are, I used almonds from TJ)

Directions:

1.      Put the lentils in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water.  Add the bay leaf, thyme, garlic and onion and bring to a boil.  Simmer over moderately low heat until the lentils are tender, about 18 minutes.  Drain and discard the bay leaf, thyme, garlic and onion.  Wipe out the pot.

2.      Add I T of the coconut oil to the saucepan.  Add the shallot, celery and carrot and cook over low heat until softened, about 8 minutes.  Add the quinoa and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes.  Add the stock, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  Cover and cook over low heat until the grains are tender and plump and the liquid is absorbed, about 18 minutes.  Cover and let stand for 5 min.  (If you want to get done faster, use two pots.  In this house it is more important to keep the cleanup down.  Jim judges the quality of the meal by the amount of clean up.)

3.      In a large nonstick skillet, heat the remaining 1 T of coconut oil.  Add the cauliflower and cook over moderately high heat until lightly browned in spots, about 5 minutes.  (I chopped the cauliflower and it took longer to cook.) 

4.      In a large bowl, toss the lentils with the quinoa, cauliflower, parsley and almonds.  Season with salt and pepper and serve hot or cold. 

This is very good.  We have leftovers for lunch.