Thai Fried Quinoa - 16/100

On Saturday I posted about how I've been craving coconut milk and Thai curries. The problem is whenever I attempt a Thai curry at home I end up being very disappointed with the flavours.

So when I found this recipe over at the Culinary Couple - it seemed like the perfect way appeasing my craving AND not having too high expectations for the magical mythical Thai curry of my dreams.
Here is what you're going to need:

1 cup quinoa (I used red...)
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup vegetable broth
1/3 cup chopped scallions - which of course I couldn't find, so I used a normal onion
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup pineapple
1/4 cilantro chopped
2 tablespoons of lime juice
2 tablespoons of soy sauce

Now, we were not going to have this as a side dish but as our full and complete dinner so I wanted to beef it up a bit. As such, I included some finely sliced green bell pepper.  I also wanted to boost the cilantro flavour and so finely chopped the very lower stem of the cilantro as well as the leaves.

Step one - heat an empty medium sized pot, add the quinoa and let it fry for about 4 minutes - or until it smells nutty.  Then add your coconut milk and broth and bring to the boil. Once it has boiled, turn it down to low and cover the pot. Leave it alone until all the liquid is absorbed 15-20 minutes.

Step two - mince and chop all your veggies.

Step three - in a frying pan heat up some coconut oil (olive oil is perfectly acceptable, but I wanted a REALLY cocnutty flavour!). Once it's hot, add your minced ginger, garlic, and onion (and green pepper if using) to the pan.  Fry for 3-4 minutes until onion and pepper have softened.

Step four - Add in the stems from the cilantro. Let cook for another minute.  Add a cup of frozen peas, your pineapple chunks, and your chopped cilantro. Stir fry for another two minutes.

Step five - Add the quinoa to the pan (and be ye not as stupid as I, and use a frying pan that can handle the amount of quinoa that you've cooked), stir fry for another 2-3 minutes or until the quinoa has started turn a light golden colour.

Squeeze a lime over the top and add your soy sauce (or be like me and forget this step).

Eat.

It was the exact right amount coconut and it was delicious.  If you're an egg eating type of person, like Inspector Climate, you could scramble an egg and eat it with your fried quinoa - I heard rave reviews on this variation.

This is recipe number 16 on my life list goal of cooking 100 new recipes (and posting them on the blog).

Is this something you'd make?