Autumn Quinoa + Spiced Apple & Avo Salad

I took these pics for the Beautiful Plate Challenge and wanted to share the recipes—especially for the Autumn Quinoa, since it is so yummy!

In general, I find plain quinoa can be a little, shall we say, blah-tasting on its own. But cooking it in veggie broth with seasonings makes it taste great! For convenience, I like to use plain water and a powdered veggie broth mix but feel free to use boxed (or your own homemade) vegetable stock or broth instead.

Quinoa is a high-protein seed-like grain and very easy to digest. It is one of the grains that is most well tolerated by people with IBS and those on a low-FODMAPS, GAPS or SCD diet.

Enjoy Autumn Quinoa topped with a lightly cooked pastured egg (as shown above) or keep it vegan with a drizzle of lemon-tahini dressing and a sprinkle of sesame/hemp seed or raw cashew pieces. 

You can also pair this dish with any salad of your choice (as in the Spiced Apple & Avo Salad, shown below).

Autumn Quinoa

1 cup yellow quinoa

2 cups water

1 tsp Seitenbacher's Vegetable Broth powder

1 Tbs toasted onion flakes

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/8-1/4 tsp minced fresh hot red chili pepper, or chili flakes to taste

1 tsp minced green onion tops 

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until all water is absorbed. Stir in minced hot pepper and green onion tops, recover and let sit 5 minutes. 

Spiced Apple & Avo Salad

1/2 Honeycrisp apple, diced

1/2 ripe avocado, diced

1 teaspoon lemon juice

cayenne sprinkled to taste

Stir all 4 ingredients together. The lemon juice keeps the apple and avo from turning brown; the cayenne turns up the heat and makes this a warming dish, even though it's raw. Eat at room temperature for best flavor and to help beat the chills.