Quinoa for the first time

Friday night a friend had a potluck Shabbat dinner so it was another great opportunity to make a new recipe. I decided to bring a side dish and opted for something in the rice or potato family. After looking through alllllll my bookmarked recipes I decided to try my hand at quinoa (pronounced keenwah) and boy am I glad I did! It was super easy and super healthy. This recipe is from Weight Watchers, but I altered it a little. The original recipe said it served 8 and our dinner was going to have 14 people so I made it bigger and also added in mushrooms.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, minced
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 1/4 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
4 cups spinach, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
salt and pepper

Directions:
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until onion is tender, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add quinoa to skillet; cook, stirring frequently, until quinoa starts to turn golden brown, about 2 minutes.
- Add broth, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to pot; bring to a boil.
- Cover skillet and reduce heat to low, simmer for about 15-17 minutes.
- Stir in spinach and mushrooms, cover skillet and cook until spinach and quinoa are tender and liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.
- Season with salt.

The final product was great! The red pepper flakes gave it a little kick, which I enjoyed though I may have gone a little overboard on them. Everyone at dinner seemed to enjoy the dish too! And it is super healthy! The original recipe yields about 1/2 cup a serving and is about 1 pt/serving. This tasted great hot, warm, and cold and I think quinoa may be one of my new go-to meals.