Quinoa w/ Red Hubbard Squash, Ginger, & Turmeric
This Squash Quinoa consists of red hubbard squash, orange bell peppers, Thai dragon peppers, garlic, turmeric, ginger, tamari, and rice vinegar. It's a great dish to mix and match in what you have on hand or your own favorite produce and spices. I just happened to have Thai dragons ripening in the garden and the rest of the produce on hand. Although rice cookers are a great way to toss everything into a pot and have food in no time! Quinoa is great as a salad or side dish to any meal.
Equipment
- Rice Cooker
Ingredients
Red Hubbard Squash
- 1 red hubbard squash (or similarly dense squash or pumpkin)
Quinoa
- 1 c. red hubbard squash roasted & puréed
- 1 orange bell pepper diced
- 5 Thai dragon peppers minced (or pepper of choice)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp. turmeric minced
- 1 tbsp. ginger minced
- 1½ c. quinoa
- 3 c. water
- 1/8 c. tamari (or soy sauce)
- 1/8 c. rice vinegar (or vinegar of choice)
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients
- I used Roasted Red Hubbard Squash in this recipe. This takes a couple of hours and requires a calabaza (or other squash or pumpkin of choice) as well as aluminum foil and a baking dish. You can easily substitute another squash or pumpkin or use canned purée.
Quinoa
- 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!You can also add the rice vinegar and tamari after it cooks. If you add it before, it will be a more subtle flavor that permeates through the quinoa. Otherwise, add it afterwards for a brighter pop of flavor. I go back and forth on which one I prefer and routinely do both.
- 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.