It’s a dish inspired by traditional fried rice but uses quinoa instead. Quinoa is incredibly high in protein for a plant-based food and is the only grain that is a complete protein meaning you don’t need to worry about combining quinoa with other grains or legumes to get the full suite of essential amino acids that your body needs.
It is great post-workout or for when you know you are going to need good quality calories to keep your energy up throughout the day.
Quinoa doesn’t have the same comfort factor that pillowy, fluffy rice has so to bring comfort into this dish I use curry powder which really boosts the flavour and gives it a nourishing warmth.
I also find this dish becomes much more soul warming when you cook it with ghee so if you have it in the cupboard, opt to use it over olive oil.
Paired with a bumper amount of nutrient-rich veg and nature’s superfood, the faithful egg - this recipe will provide you with high quality energy that can replenish your stores post-workout our prep your energy levels leading into.
Fried quinoa with crispy turmeric eggs
Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan option
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked tri-colour quinoa, rinsed
- 500ml vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp olive oil or ghee
- 6 spring onions, white part finely sliced and green part kept for garnishing
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 2 tsp your favourite curry powder
- 200g pumpkin, very finely diced
- 200g snow peas, finely sliced
- 1 bunch broccolini, finely sliced
- 4 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 2 tbsp tamari
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 4 eggs
- 2 tbsp olive oil or ghee
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
How to make
- First, cook your quinoa. Pour the vegetable stock into a lidded saucepan, cover and bring to the boil. Once boiling, add the quinoa and bring the stock back up to boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer, place the lid on the saucepan and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the liquid has mostly absorbed (a little is fine). Turn off the heat, fluff the quinoa with a fork, place the lid back on and leave the quinoa to steam for a further 10 minutes
- While your quinoa is steaming, heat the oil in a frypan over medium heat. Once hot, add the spring onion, garlic, chilli flakes and curry powder and stir fry for 2 minutes until the spring onion and garlic has softened. Then, add the pumpkin, snow peas and broccoli and stir fry for a further 5 minutes, until the veggies have softened
- Now add the cooked quinoa to the frypan as well as the sunflower seeds, tamari and sesame oil. Toss everything with the vegetables and turn the pan up to medium-high heat, frying for 2 minutes to allow the quinoa and sunflower seeds to crisp up. Once done, divide the quinoa between four bowls and wipe down your frypan (no need to wash it completely)
- Return the frypan to the stove and heat it over a medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, turmeric and smoked paprika, mix quickly and then crack the eggs into the pan (you might need to do 2 at a time depending on the size of your pan). Allow the eggs to bubble and crisp up, spooning some of the oil from the pan over the top of the eggs to allow them to cook right through. Once the eggs are crispy and cooked to your liking, add one to the top of each pile of quinoa, garnish with the green sliced spring onion and enjoy
Roberta's tips
- Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days
- Use tofu and olive oil instead of eggs and ghee for a vegan option