Creamy Thai Quinoa
Coconut milk creates a creaminess and flavors of lemongrass, fish sauce, and red curry elevate quinoa into a Thai-inspired dish.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups quinoa, red or blended/trio
- 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
- 1/2 cup chicken stock, lower sodium
- 1 serrano, sliced
- 2 teaspoons lemongrass paste, see Notes
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon red curry powder
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup green onions, sliced
- 1/4 cups fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced or torn by hand
Instructions
- If your quinoa doesn’t come pre-rinsed, place it in a fine-mesh sieve and run underwater through it until the water runs clear.
- Place coconut milk and stock in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Add remaining ingredients, except basil. Cook quinoa until most liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Stir and taste for salt and add if desired.
- Pour quinoa into a serving bowl and gently stir in basil. Serve.
Notes
You could use shrimp stock or vegetable stock in this recipe. Whichever you use, I would use a low-sodium. You can always add more salt.
Make this baby as hot as you want, adding more serranos or hotter peppers such as habaneros.
Fresh lemongrass can be used if you’re fortunate enough to live near a store that sells it or you know someone who grows it! The tube is fine here. It is found in the refrigerated section in your produce department in your grocery store. I actually used the tube in this recipe because of what’s available locally.
I came up with this recipe because I wanted to use up some half-used red curry pastes in my refrigerator and a bottle of powder in my pantry that I can’t remember why I bought it… ever do that?
Go easy on the salt. There’s a lot of salt in the fish sauce alone.
Nutrition Facts
Creamy Thai Quinoa
Amount per Serving
Calories
199
% Daily Value*
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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