Yankee Celery Quinoa Pilaf

Cook time:~20 min

Description

I completely made this recipe up one night when I needed a side dish. The instructions below make easily eight or ten servings and the dish works well re-heated as leftovers. I don't actually measure things usually so the amounts below are approximate.

Ingredients

• one (1) cup uncooked quinoa
• two (2) cups water
• two (2) cups diced celery
• one (1) cup diced onion
• five (5) tablespoons olive oil
• one (1) teaspoon ground fenugreek
• one (1) teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• three (3) tablespoons butter or butter substitute
• half (½) a lemon
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Put two tablespoons of the olive oil in a two-quart saucepan and bring it to heat
2. Sauté the diced onion for two minutes
3. Add three more tablespoons of olive oil, the ground pepper, and salt to taste and continue sautéeing until the celery is tender
4. Set aside three quarters (¾) of the sautéed mixture and leave the remainder in the saucepan
5. Pour the water over the onions and celery in the saucepan, add the butter or butter substitute, the fenugreek, and a touch of salt, and bring the water to a boil
6. Turn the water down to a simmer and add the quinoa; simmer for 10 to 12 minutes or until all or almost all of the water is absorbed by the quinoa and it is al dente
7. Remove the quinoa from the heat and drain any little bit of water remaining
8. Add the sautéed mixture you set aside to the quinoa, squeeze the lemon out over it all, and evenly admix everything; you might adjust the flavor with a tad of salt or pepper at this point to taste
9. Serve and if you are feeling sexy garnish with fresh parsley: flat or curley, empower yourself by deciding

Notes

I feel like I must have been possessed by the ghost of some chef while I was making this, because I have never made a pilaf before nor do I even recall having read a pilaf recipe before but what I did is evidently pretty similar to a pilaf. What probably happened is that I read a recipe or description of how to cook it in the past and I have forgotten, of course, but it's still pretty spooky.