Golden Beet Quinoa Pilaf / Meatless Monday

Hello Folks !!!

For this meatless monday I am bringing a delicious golden beet and quinoa pilaf. This is a very mild , slightly sweet pilaf flavored with cinnamon . You can serve this with a spicy curry of any kind or a grilled chicken & salad.  This is a very easy recipe to make and it will only take 15 minutes give or take. As you all have heard about the superfood quinoa all around and I thought why not bring a quinoa dish for this week’s meatless monday. The beets which I have used here is a harvest from my garden which was my last fall harvest, now I need to wait another 8 months to start my gardening 😦 .

This pilaf is a very easy recipe , I have caramelized the beets here for an added sweetness , flavored with cinnamon this gives a slight kick to this mild & sweet pilaf.

Now let’s see how to make this easy pilaf

Prep Time – 10 minutes
Cooking Time – 15 minutes
Serves- 4 to 5 people
Author- Parvathy V Nair

Ingredients

Quinoa – 1 cup
Golden Beet- 3 medium
Onion – chopped 2 tablespoons
Garlic- chopped 2 cloves
Ginger- chopped 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon Stick – 1 medium
Brown sugar- 1 tablespoon
Salt & pepper- as needed
Oil- as needed

Method

1. In a sauce pan bring water to boil  , add the whole beets to it without peeling and cook for 5 to 8 minutes till tender .

2. While the beets are cooking we can cook quinoa . In another sauce pan add one teaspoon oil . when the oil is hot add cinnamon stick to it and add onion , giner & garlic to it , saute till transparent.

3. To this add salt and quinoa and enough water . The ratio for quinoa and water is , for one cup quinoa 1 1/2 cups water.

4. Let the quinoa cook , the beets would have cooked as well . Now peel the beets dice it and keep it aside.

5. In a pan heat one teaspoon oil add the diced beets to it . Let it roast for a minute , now add brown sugar to it . Roast in medium flame till the brown sugar has turned into a syrupy consistency , by this time beets would have absorbed this goodness.

6. Now add this cooked beets to the cooked pilaf and garnish with green onions serve hot .