Thai Quinoa Bowls

 

Thai Quinoa Bowls are filled with delicious Thai ingredients: fresh veggies, crunchy peanuts and a great tangy sauce. No meat but the quinoa packs it with so much protein, you won’t miss it one bit. Serve it warm or cold! 

 Oh, Thailand! You crazy, crazy country. If you’ve ever spent time in Thailand - you know exactly what I mean. Thailand was…an experience for me.  Let’s just say that I had to face a series of unfortunate events (nothing serious!) over the course of my time there and left feeling like the whole country was out to get me! Ha. It definitely was one of the most interesting places I’ve been.  But if you’ve ever been, you know that amongst all that craziness lies some incredible and unexpected street food that will blow your mind and stick with you forever.

Thai cuisine has a very distinctive flavour and it’s one of my favourites (after Indian). It usually consists of a combination of a few key ingredients: ginger and garlic, shallots, coriander, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, chilis, lime, peanuts, etc. Although not all their dishes have these ingredients - there’s always that distinct sweet and sour taste that no other cuisine offers. Ever notice Thai cuisine always has a bit of a crunch to it? I love that - all the “slurpy-noodley-ricey” goodness and then the fresh crunch from the green onion, bean sprouts or the peanuts. Yummy!

Don’t be thrown off by the title of this post, quinoa is certainly not a normal Thai ingredient but you’ll think differently after you’ve tasted this dish. The quinoa takes on the sweet and sour taste of the sauce beautifully and the peanuts and green onions give that finishing crunch that is so satisfying… it’ll take you back!  It’s absolutely Thai-rrific! Yup… I just said it.

THAI QUINOA BOWLS

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Ingredients needed for Thai Quinoa Bowls:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 shallots - finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic - minced
• 1 tsp of fresh ginger - minced
• 1/2 of a green Thai chili- minced (use a whole chili if you like spicy dishes)
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/3 cup soy sauce or tamari
• 3 tbsp granulated white sugar
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 green onions - chopped and cut at an angle.
• 1/2 cup coriander + garnish
• 1 cup of freshly grated carrots
• 1 medium red pepper - sliced thinly
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts + garnish
• 4 cups cooked quinoa
• Slices of lime

Special equipment needed:

• Large sauté pan or wok

Directions for Thai Quinoa Bowls:

• Heat olive oil in pan on medium-low heat. Add shallots, garlic, ginger and chili. Sauté for about 5 minutes until shallots are translucent.
• In a bowl, combine vegetable broth, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and vinegar. Stir until sugar has dissolved and add to pan.
• Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

• Stir in cooked quinoa. Take the pan off the heat and stir in carrots, green onion, red pepper, coriander and peanuts.
• Squeeze a slice of lime over individual servings of quinoa before serving. Serve in a bowl with a wedge of lime, peanuts and a sprig of coriander.

I know you will enjoy this dish as much as I do! The best thing about it is you can serve it warm or cold! Enjoy! xxx

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Do you like worldly recipes? Check out my Indian Chickpea Curry with Naan Bread! It’s also very easy to make.

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All the ingredients you need to make delicious thai sauces: