Spicy Chorizo Spanish Quinoa Recipe

If you like spicy, healthy recipes, you will love this Spicy Chorizo Spanish Quinoa. Just nix the chorizo and add spicy peppers to make it a vegetarian delight! The great qualities of quinoa are its protein and iron content and the fact that it's easier and faster to make than rice. For those new to quinoa, this dish is also a great introduction as the unique texture is barely noticeable.

Spicy Chorizo Spanish Quinoa
Serves Six

2 cups quinoa

1 ¾ cup vegetable broth

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 chorizo sausage

A pinch of chili powder

1 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

Garnish of your choice: Parsley, Fresh Basil, etc.

Directions

1. Soak quinoa for 10-20 minutes in cold water. This helps remove saponin, the outer coating of quinoa that is a natural deterrent to insects. If not removed, saponin can cause quinoa to have a bitter taste. Strain and rinse, and set to the side. This can also be working while you chop and sautee the onion, so it doesn't have to slow you down.

2. Chop onion and sautee over medium heat. The onions don't have to be finely chopped, just chopped. Sautee for 3-4 minutes. I recommend a pot instead of a skillet since you'll be adding a bunch of liquid later.

3. Add a pinch of chili powder (you can use more if you really love chili powder) and using a garlic press, press the cloves right into the mix. Stir for another 2-3 minutes.

4. Add rinsed quinoa to the pot, stirring for 3-4 minutes.

5. Add tomato sauce and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil while stirring occasionally.

6. Once mixture is boiling, cover and lower heat to a simmer for 20 minutes.

7. After 20 minutes, turn off heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Begin browning chorizo in a separate pan. It may come in sausage-looking packages, but it wants to be cooked like ground beef, so just treat it as such. Brown for 7-8 minutes.

8. Add cooked chorizo to quinoa mix and stir.

9. Serve and garnish, my favorite is fresh basil!

Serve with a slightly sweet red wine (I used Snap Dragon's California Red Wine) and a loaf of bread with a olive oil and balsamic vinegar dipping mix.

Interested in a quinoa soup? Simply use more vegetable broth, it's delicious!

For a hearty quinoa soup for two (plus some for lunch the next day), I just use all the same ingredients except I use half the amount of quinoa. The final product is not runny at all, just soupy.