Recipe For Sautéed Quinoa with Swiss Chard

Maricel Presilla’s recipe for sautéed quinoa with swiss chard.
Recipe For Sautéed Quinoa with Swiss Chard
Short ribs in black sauce, with sautéed quinoa with Swiss chard. Gentl & Hyers
Epoch Times Staff
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Sautéed Quinoa with Swiss Chard
Quinua Salteada con Acelga

Near Cusco, in Peru, I once tasted boiled quinoa flavored with the sautéed leaves of the quinoa plant. For centuries, highland people in Peru and Bolivia have used quinoa leaves (lliccha) as a vegetable. Although quinoa is grown in the United States, I have not been able to find the leaves here, so I use Swiss chard or spinach instead. It’s a marvelous combination. At Cucharamama, this lovely quinoa sauté is a side for our braised short ribs; the pairing is stupendous.

Serves 8

7 ounces slab bacon, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, finely minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 medium yellow onion (about 8 ounces), finely chopped (about 1½ cups)
2 fresh yellow Andean peppers (ají amarillo), seeded and coarsely minced
1/2 bunch Swiss chard, leaves coarsely chopped, stems halved lengthwise and then cut into ¼-inch slices
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 cups Simple Boiled Quinoa
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it is lightly browned and has rendered its fat, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until golden, about 40 seconds. Add the onion and chiles and cook until the onion is light golden, about 6 minutes. Add the Swiss chard stems and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Add the black pepper and stir for 1 minute. Add the chopped chard leaves and cook, stirring, until they wilt, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked quinoa and olive oil. Cook to heat through. Season with salt if necessary.

Serving: Serve as you would rice with any braised meat, like short ribs with a brown sugar and mustard crust (page 000) or the Venezuelan blackened eye of round. This is also delicious as a side for grilled breast of duck with tamarillo sauce.

Recipe from “Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America” by Maricel Presilla. (W. W. Norton & Company, 2012)