Quinoa Pilaf with Dried Fruits

Love this recipe. A perfect side dish or cold as a salad…great for lunch! Easily adaptable to your personal taste which just adds to the glory of this recipe!

I don’t remember where I first found this recipe. I have mailboxes on my phone where I save recipes that I have seen and want to keep try later. Looking for a side dish the other night I found this recipe. It is delish! I made several changes to the original recipe

Add any type of dried fruit you like, Next time I am going to add currants instead of the raisins. I think they would be perfect in this dish. Also any small nut or seed will work too

Quinoa Pilaf with Dried Fruits

Ingredients

2 cups quinoa, rinsed

3 cups boiling water

4 tbsp olive oil – divided

2 onions, chopped

4 carrots, chopped

2 cups dried fruit, chopped if necessary

pinch of cinnamon

1 tbsp maple syrup

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp kosher salt

1/4 cup slivered almonds, optional ( any nut of your choice)

Method

1. Put the quinoa into the boiling water. Stir,  Cover and reduce heat. Simmer until tender and the water has been absorbed.
2. While the quinoa is cooking, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a saucepan.
3. Add onions and carrots and cook until tender
4. Add the dried fruit, cinnamon, maple syrup, lemon juice and salt. Mix to combine and cook a bit longer. The dried fruit will soften up as it warms in the pan
5. In a large bowl, combine the cooked quinoa and the mixture from the saucepan. Add the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil, the lemon juice and the nuts.

***This is good served warm as a side dish, room temperature or cold right from the fridge which is how I aml eating the leftovers!