Thursday Kitchen Cupboard.. Quinoa and Chickpeas

Today's recipe is a random concoction that started with a colorful quinoa mix and what was available in the garden. If you are not familiar with quinoa it is a high protein grain that has a nutty taste- super duper healthy for you!  Here's my good for you recipe to balance the yummy dessert from last week:

Quinoa and Chickpeas
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 chopped carrots
garlic powder
1 can chickpeas
2 cups Swiss chard
balsamic vinegar dressing
cilantro

I added the quinoa and water to my rice cooker.  Meanwhile I heated up the olive oil and sauteed the onions for about three minutes and then added the carrots and garlic powder (I can't wait to have my own homegrown garlic, but that's still months away and somehow I had neglected to buy garlic!).  I cooked the carrots until they were tender and then added the chickpeas and Swiss chard.  I cooked until the chard wilted and then added the bean and veggie mix to the cooked quinoa.

You could eat this either warm or cold as a salad.  I had it as a salad (it's been 90 degrees all week here!) and added some balsamic vinegar dressing because it was honestly a bit bland.  I then topped it with a few sprigs of cilantro.

That's what has been cooking in my kitchen.  If you want to peak into other kitchens and see what others are cooking, head over to Thursday’s Kitchen Cupboard at the Gardener of Eden.