Quinoa fried rice
Fried rice made with nutty quinoa, edamame and plenty of vegetables, a filling make-ahead dinner that tastes just like the takeout kind.
- 55 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.04 a serving
- 610 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups quinoa
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 4 stalks green onions, sliced
- 6 large eggs
- 2½ cups frozen shelled edamame
- 3 tbsp gluten-free tamari
- 2 tsp sesame oil
From your pantry
- 2½ cups water
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
Each serving has about 610 calories, 32 g protein, 62 g carbs and 28 g fat, and costs about $3.04 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the quinoa in a fine strainer, then put it in a medium with the water and over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
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
Dolly’s tip: Rinsing washes off a natural coating that tastes bitter.Cover, turn the heat to low and cook 15 minutes, until the water is gone. Take it off the heat and leave it covered 5 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Spread the quinoa on a and put it in the fridge for 20 minutes to cool and dry out.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Timer: 20 min
Dolly’s tip: Dry quinoa fries into toasty little grains, and warm, steamy quinoa goes mushy. Quinoa cooked yesterday is even better.Meanwhile, the onion, carrots and pepper, the garlic, the ginger and the green onions. the eggs in a bowl.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large over medium heat. Scramble the eggs until just set with no runny parts, about 1 minute, and slide them onto a plate.
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 heatTimer: 1 min
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Turn the heat up to medium-high. Add 1 tablespoon oil, the onion and carrots and cook, stirring, 4 minutes, until the carrots start to .
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Medium-high heatTimer: 4 min
Add the pepper, edamame, garlic and ginger and 3 minutes, until the edamame is hot.
Stir-fry. Stir-frying means cooking small pieces fast over high heat in a little oil, stirring almost constantly. It moves quickly, so have everything chopped and ready before the pan gets hot.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the whole time, and the vegetables turn bright and tender-crisp in minutes.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min
Add the rest of the oil and the quinoa. Spread it out, let it sit 1 minute, then 3 minutes, until hot and a little .
Stir-fry. Stir-frying means cooking small pieces fast over high heat in a little oil, stirring almost constantly. It moves quickly, so have everything chopped and ready before the pan gets hot.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the whole time, and the vegetables turn bright and tender-crisp in minutes.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium-high heatTimer: 4 min
the tamari around the pan, add the eggs, sesame oil and most of the green onions, and 1 minute. Serve with the rest of the green onions on top.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
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.
Medium-high heat
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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