Quinoa with Pesto And Shrimp

Are quinoa and kale salads ubiquitous items offered at your neighborhood restaurants? They are here and that is fine by me. Quinoa is a complete protein and provides heavy concentrations of anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant phytonutrients. It is the healthiest of whole grains and I love it as a healthier substitute for rice, couscous and pasta.

It was during my illness earlier this year that I decided to increase my intake of these two super-foods by preparing them regularly at home.  Hungry for some really good recipes, I started searching online and quickly came across this recipe -  Heather's Quinoa.  It was such a grand discovery - this recipe is the best - one that I make often and one that has served as inspiration to countless new inventions like the recipe below. But the even greater discovery was the source of this recipe: 101cookbooks. Every food blog reader knows this utterly charming blog, which is chock fill of amazing vegetarian recipes, but at the time I was strictly reading lifestyle and design blogs {my other obsession}. So I became a regular reader of 101 cookbooks and then started checking out other food blogs and down the rabbit hole I went!

This dish, like Heather's Quinoa, is every bit as satisfying as any pesto pasta. My pesto recipe is very good and easy but if you are in a rush, Basiltops pesto at Whole Foods is a delicious alternative.

Quinoa with Pesto And Shrimp

olive oil
1 1/2 c plum grape tomatoes, halved or whole cherry tomatoes
12 oz wild prawns or jumbo shrimp, deveined, shelled,  tails off and cut into 1" pieces
2 T sweet onion, diced
4 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup frozen baby peas
2 c kale, ribs removed and coarsely chopped
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1/3 c raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup freshly grated imported Pecorino
crushed red pepper (optional)
- and for the pesto

2 heaping T walnuts

2 t chopped garlic

1 1 /4  cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

juice from 1/4 lemon medium lemon or 1/2 small lemon

6 T olive oil

Roast the tomatoes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a bowl, toss tomatoes with 1 T olive oil.  Spread tomatoes on the baking sheet and season with a light layer of salt and pepper.  Cook, until tomatoes are soft and blistered, about 30 minutes. Give them a stir at the 15 minute mark. Remove from heat and set aside.

Make the pesto while the tomatoes are roasting

In a food processor, process the first 6 pesto ingredients. Slowly add in the olive oil and process until oil is incorporated. Taste to  adjust seasoning and set aside.

Prepare the main dish

In a small skillet. saute prawns in 1 T olive oil over medium-high heat until they turn from gray to pink, about 1 minute per side.  Remove from heat and set aside.  In a large skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat, add 1 T of olive oil and saute onion, stirring occasionally until onion is translucent, about 2 minutes. Add 2 T water, quinoa, peas and kale and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in shrimp, sunflower seeds and most or all of the pesto, to taste.

Transfer to a serving platter and arrange tomatoes on top and dust with grated cheese.  Serve with crushed red pepper on the side.

Serves 4-6.

Source:  Jill Crusenberry