Curried Lentil Quinoa

Quinoa is the IT grain today.  I went into my pantry and had the end of a quinoa box and the end of the lentil box.  Why not combine them.  They are both cooked separately and then combined.  I added the spice to the quinoa and then mixed in the lentils.  They need to each be cooked separately because they cook at different rates.  The quinoa can more easily take on the spices so that is where the flavor is infused and then the lentils are used to add texture.  This accidental combination is great.  The other idea this curried lentil quinoa recipe demonstrates is how only a few ingredients can have such great flavor.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of quinoa
• 1/2 cup of lentils
• 2 tbsp madras curry powder
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 2 1/2 cups of water, divided

Directions:

In one pot, bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil.  In a second pot, bring 1 cup of water to a boil.  Once each pot is boiling drop the temperature to low, drop the quinoa in the 1 1/2 cup of boiling water pot and the lentils into the second pot.  Stir each pot well and then leave alone.  Put a top on the quinoa.  This should take about 30 minutes to cook.  Mix a couple of times in the process.  The quinoa and lentils will soak up the water.  Just before the quinoa has soaked up the water, add the spices.  Stir well and finish burning off the water.  Drain the lentils in a colander and then add to the quinoa. Mix well.

 

 

Serve and enjoy!