4/10/09: Kosher for Passover - Quinoa Pilaf

This one is great, since it adapts to many restricted diets - it's kosher, as well as kosher for passover (quinoa is I think the only allowed grain since it's technically a grass), vegan and gluten free.

Chop an onion finely into slices and grate 1-2 medium carrots. Stir fry in a deep pot (one you'd use to cook rice or other grains in) until slightly browned, add a couple crushed cloves of garlic if you like and add the quinoa and gently stir fry until slightly browned. Add water to cover by an inch or two and cover. Boil for a couple minutes then bring down to a simmer. If you have some good fresh or dried herbs, add them now. I used thyme, sage and rosemary (no parsley though!). Set a kitchen timer to 25 minutes and let the quinoa simmer.

While the quinoa is cooking, thinly slice 1-2 medium portobello caps (med to me is ~3" in diameter) ~2 C white mushrooms, and ~10 shiitake caps. These three are nice and easy to find, but any good mushroom will work here, the more variety, the better. Slice, and saute in a nonstick pan with a little olive oil for flavor. You can add a little fresh or dried tarragon here if you like. Once the mushrooms are done, tip them on top of the cooking quinoa, grind a good bit of sea salt and fresh black pepper on top and let finish cooking. If the quinoa is tender but still a bit wet, take the cover off and let cook on low-medium heat for 5-10 minutes to let the water boil off. If the quinoa is still hard-ish, recover, add a little more water if needed and let simmer for 5-10 minutes and test again. If you bring this to a seder or potluck, cover the entire pot in a towel to keep it warm!