Chorizo and Green Pepper Quinoa 'Paella'
Quinoa, pronounce keen-wah, is easier to cook than rice as you can add the water and leave it to get on by itself. It's higher in protein and lower in starch than rice so its better for you. I use chorizo here because I love it. It isn't very nutritious, but a little here and there will do you no harm! You can put any vegetable and meat combination in. You could put prawns in towards the end, or make it entirely vegetarian.
Ingredients
- 1 ring chorizo skinned and diced Tesco's Finest has dextrose no sugar
- 1 onion finely sliced
- 1/2 green pepper deseeded and diced
- 150 g quinoa
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika use smoked paprika if not using chorizo
- 1 tsp Marigold Boullion powder reduced salt
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 300 ml boiling water
- 150 g raw tiger prawns optional
- salt and pepper
- lemon juice to serve
Instructions
- Rinse the quinoa with cold water in a sieve. Set aside.
- Fry the onions in the oil for 5 minutes until soft.
- Add the chorizo and pepper, fry for 2 minutes.
- Add the quinoa and stir to coat in the oil.
- Add the water and the rest of the ingredients. Stir well. Bring to the boil then simmer covered, for 20 minutes. If using the prawns add in after 15 minutes and cook for a further 5 minutes. If it gets too dry during this time add a little more water to make sure it doesn't stick.
- Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice to taste.