Mushroom Quinoa "Risotto"

Living up to my word, more quinoa! This one I'm really proud of. This is probably the first recipe I've ever made that I didn't use a recipe for. I made it up, all on my own, using my own ideas, experience and imagination. Also, it tasted great.

I was staring at the jar of quinoa, wondering what to do with it, when I remembered its awesome powers of substitution for rice. I love risotto, so why not make a traditional mushroom risotto using quinoa instead of arborio? And it never missed a beat. 

Source

Me!

Yield

2 cups dry quinoa -> ~4 cups cooked (I'm entirely making that up. But it sounds right.)

Equipment

Knife for dicing onions and slicing mushrooms

Cutting board for dicing onions and slicing mushrooms

Medium saucepan with lid

Large bowl

Ingredients

1/4 of a Large white onion (using 1 shallot is better, I just didn't happen to have any on hand)

16 oz. Baby portobella mushrooms

4 cups Chicken broth

2 cups Quinoa

Lots of olive oil

2 tbsp. Vermouth

1/2 cup Parmesan

2 tbsp. Butter, for finishing

To taste, Salt and pepper

I was playing with different camera settings while dicing the onion... so bear with me :P

My pretty new Wusthof Classic

Ok, enough of that.

Oil in a medium saucepan, enough to cover the bottom.

Add in the mushrooms,

and cook down until they're soft.

Remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan, add in the onion (or preferably shallot) and a bit of vermouth.

Cook until they're translucent, and add in the chicken broth and the quinoa.

Stir well, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the quinoa is light and fluffy.

Add back in the mushrooms.

Pour it into the serving bowl,

and add in the Parmesan cheese.

Stir in the cheese well,

and serve.

I love recipes like this that re-heat well. The cheese and mushrooms all mixed in really trick you into thinking you're eating true risotto, and the vermouth gives it a really sophisticated finish. Love this recipe, will be doing it again soon!