“Seashells in the Sand” (Quinoa and Seashell Noodle Pilaf)
Here’s a simple combo of tiny seashell pasta and high-protein quinoa. I’m not usually one for “cute” recipe names, but both the name and the presentation worked wonders to tempt my kids to learn to love whole grains. Adults will enjoy this dish embellished with fresh herbs and toasted almonds; the kids will more likely enjoy it without. Serve with bean or vegetable dishes.
Serves: 6 or so as a side dish
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- 1 cup tiny shell pasta
- 2 tablespoons Earth Balance or other vegan buttery spread
- Salt or seasoned salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup minced fresh herbs (try a combination of parsley, dill, and scallion), optional
- Toasted sliced or slivered almonds, optional
Combine the quinoa with 2 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a slow boil, then turn the heat down and simmer gently for 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a separate saucepan until al dente, then drain.
Combine the cooked grain and pasta in a serving container. Stir in the Earth Balance until melted, then season with salt and pepper. Stir in the optional fresh herbs and/or almonds, or pass around to top individual portions.
- Explore Vegkitchen’s wide array of quinoa recipes.
- Here are more of VegKitchen’s Vegan Dinner Recipes and
more Main Dishes Featuring Grains and/or Beans.
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5 comments on ““Seashells in the Sand” (Quinoa and Seashell Noodle Pilaf)”
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Great looking recipe. Will come in handy for holiday meals coming up. A couple of quibbles. First, quinoa isn’t truly a grain. It acts like one, but its nearest relative common here is avocado!!! Information important to those who can’t eat grains during Passover or for other reasons. Second, it would be very helpful if the print page could be designed so that there are not a couple of printable lines that need to be carried over to a second page and are not actually part of the recipe. It’s inconvenient to have to preview each time before printing or risk having a page with two lines of extraneous print. I use the backs for grocery lists, but it pains me to waste paper.
Here in the U.S. quinoa has been sanctioned as a Passover-friendly food and is now used extensively for the Holiday. The way a printable recipe renders has to do with your browser; there is really no way to control it from this end. So if you don’t want recipes to trail off to a second page, you can set your printer to reduce the text to 75% or 80% or so.
Greetings! The site is great. Thank you for a great resource
I’d like to see a photo of the finished product so I have an idea if I did it right.
Hi Brendan, unfortunately we don’t have photos for each and every recipe, though we do have many. If it tastes good, you did it right, though really, there is no right or wrong! If you do end up taking a photo of the recipe, send it along and I’ll use it in this post!