Chickpea & Quinoa Pilaf

I have made this two times in the past week. It was very good and rather easy.

So first is first, sautee a small yellow onion in a bit of olive oil (2 tbps) for about 6-7 minutes on medium area heat, not too hot though. After this add 2 cloves of minced garlic. Sautee for another 2 minutes. Some people actually do mise en place, which is nice if you're worried about something burning or maybe you're a ridiculously slow chopper/mincer, etc. Mise en place meaning having everything you need for the meal already prepared and in a place that is easily accessible. I like multi-tasking so I just mince garlic during, do whatever is easiest for you. Anyway, while that is sauteeing get ready to throw in 1 tbps of tomato paste (I just use ketchup ha, they're similar enough for me), 1 tbps coriander (the recipe says crushed, but who actually buys whole coriander seeds? I just used ground), 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp of salt, and about 1/8 of a tsp of black pepper. Throw those in when the garlic has sauteed. Mix it up a bit, it should only be in for a minute or so, then throw in the cup of quinoa. Okay, I didn't only use quinoa because first time I made it I ran out so I cut it with bulghur (bulghur is a whole grain generally made from durum wheat). This time I did the same thing because I liked it so much. I used about 1/4 cup of bulghur and 3/4 cup of quinoa. Once again do whatever you think is best. Sautee this for about 2 minutes. Heating grains brings out starch making them able to form better starchy bonds. At least that's how it works in rice, I imagine it works similarly in quinoa and bulghur. After you sautee that and mix it up a bit, add a can of drained chickpeas and about 2 cups of vegetable broth. Bring this to a boil. Once at a boil lower the heat down pretty low. I put it at a low simmer. And cook for 18-20 minutes, or whenever all the broth is gone.

This takes a little over 30 minutes so its a quick meal. It is also rather easy. The only thing really to worry about is if the heat is too high and the onions or the garlic get burnt. Otherwise it's very straightforward, quick, and good. A good pairing that I used was Lemon Garlic Broccoli. I really like a bit of lemon in a side dish paired with the quinoa.

Well, I think tomorrow I will be posting about the Pane Siciliano I have been working on. I planned to make it today but I misread and found out it has to proof again overnight....sigh.