Quinoa w/ Sweet Potatoes, Tahini, & Tamari

Sweet potato and tahini quinoa is one of my favorite go-to recipes. It's a great thing just to have in the refrigerator to toss in a burrito, nachos, or scramble alongside an egg. I've even in a pinch tossed it into potato salads and vegan burgers.

Quinoa is incredibly versatile. I almost always gave either quinoa or lentils in my fridge. More so quinoa in the summer and lentils in the winter. Lentils tend to be a denser flavor that pairs well with cinnamon and warmer profiles. Whereas quinoa is slightly bitter, so it goes better with lighter citrus flavors and vinegars to balance out. Although either is delicious any time of the year!

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Variations of Tahini Quinoa

This is one of my go-to quinoa favorites. I'm quite often tossing in tahini, tamari, and rice vinegar in some combination of sweet potatoes and whatever else I have on hand! As long as you adjust the amount of water slightly to accomodate, you can pretty much throw whatever you want into a rice cooker! It's one of the simplest meals to make and incredibly versatile. I'm constantly turning quinoa into a burrito, cooking it into nachos, or topping scrambled eggs. It also makes for an incredibly easy salad.

Quinoa w/ Sweet Potatoes, Tahini, & Tamari

Quinoa w/ Sweet Potatoes, Tahini, & Tamari

This quinoa combines sweet potatoes, red onions, ginger, garlic, tahini, tamari, and rice vinegar with royal quinoa. You can easily swap in and out your own produce to taste. There are also several different colors and varieties of quinoa that are fun to play around with. Almost all of these will cook in the same amount of time with the same amount of water.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Japanese, Middle Eastern
Servings 2 cups

Equipment

  • Rice Cooker

Ingredients
  

  • 1 sweet potato diced
  • 1/4 red onion diced
  • 1 tsp. ginger minced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tbsp. tahini
  • 1/4 c. tamari
  • 1/4 c. rice vinegar
  • 1 c. quinoa
  • 3 c. water

Instructions
 

  • Add all of the ingredients into a rice cooker. I like to start with the larger vegetables and then add the smaller ingredients. Top with the spices and vinegar. And then add the quinoa and water.
    This cooks the larger vegetables on the bottom, while dispersing the flavor profiles in the middle. Although with some mixing, this really doesn't matter all that much. Everything will eventually cook together!
  • Press the cook button on the rice cooker. It should take about 45 minutes to cook.
  • When the quinoa is fully cooked, let sit for 10 minutes, and then fluff with a wooden spoon and serve.
    Do not use a fork or other metal utensil. It will scratch off the nonstick surface on the rice cooker. This will leach teflon into your food and cause future dishes to stick to the bottom.

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

  • While quinoa is not rice, it does cook the same and oftentimes better than rice in a rice cooker. For more tips and tricks to rice cooker quinoa, check out my article on The Fundamentals of Making Quinoa, including a stovetop version if you don't have or don't want to use a rice cooker.
  • I also tend to prefer tamari over soy sauce. They're both made from fermented soy and a lot of recipes use them interchangeably. Tamari tends to have a richer flavor and less salt content. It also tends to be gluten free.

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