Lemon garlic quinoa with asparagus and peas
A bright spring one-pot: garlicky quinoa with tender asparagus and sweet peas steamed right on top, finished with lemon, parmesan and toasted almonds.
- 35 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $3.07 a serving
- 480 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- ⅓ cup almonds, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ cups quinoa, rinsed
- 2½ cups vegetable broth
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 lb asparagus, woody ends snapped off, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 480 calories, 20 g protein, 58 g carbs and 20 g fat, and costs about $3.07 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No frozen peas? Frozen mixed vegetables work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Toast the almonds in a large dry pot with a lid over medium heat, stirring, 3 minutes, until . Tip them onto a plate.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Add the oil and garlic to the pot and stir 30 seconds, . Add the quinoa and stir 1 minute.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Pour in the broth, add the lemon and salt, and over high heat.
Zest. Zest is the thin, colored outer layer of citrus peel, rubbed off on the smallest holes of a grater. It holds the fruit’s fragrant oils, so it adds bright flavor without the sourness of juice.
How you’ll know: You see bright flecks and smell citrus right away; stop when you reach the white layer, which is bitter.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low and cook 10 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 10 min
Scatter the asparagus and peas over the quinoa, cover again and cook 5 minutes more, until the quinoa is tender and the asparagus is bright green.
Low heatTimer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: The vegetables steam on top of the quinoa, so there’s no extra pan to wash.Take the pot off the heat and stir in the lemon juice, parmesan and pepper.
Serve topped with the almonds and parsley.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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