Pesto quinoa with cherry tomatoes and mozzarella
Quinoa tossed with basil pesto, blistered cherry tomatoes and spinach, then topped with torn fresh mozzarella, a bright 30-minute summer dinner.
- 30 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 2
- About $4.23 a serving
- 600 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- ¾ cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 cups baby spinach
- ¼ cup basil pesto
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 4 oz fresh mozzarella, torn
- 2 tbsp grated parmesan (optional)
From your pantry
- 1¼ cups water
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 600 calories, 23 g protein, 49 g carbs and 35 g fat, and costs about $4.23 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the quinoa, water and salt in a small and over high heat.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
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 15 minutes, then leave it covered off the heat.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Heat the oil in a large over medium-high heat. Add the whole tomatoes and cook, shaking the pan now and then, 4 to 5 minutes, until the skins split and blister.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heatTimer: 4 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: A few will pop and spit, so keep your face back. Squash some with a spoon to make them juicy.Add the garlic and stir 30 seconds, then add the spinach and until it .
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Medium-high heat
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the quinoa, pesto and lemon juice.
Divide between two bowls and top with the mozzarella and parmesan.
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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30-minute dinners ›Vegetarian dinners ›What to make with spinach and parmesan ›What to make with tomatoes and parmesan ›What to make with spinach and tomatoes ›