TGI Carb Night – Quinoa with Shrimp and Vegetables

Cooking with my dad was one of my favorite things to do growing up.  When I was younger, it meant that I got to pretend to be his little sous-chef in a five star kitchen; when make-believe became less cool -- whoo teen angst -- Dad and I still spent many Saturdays preparing family meals and talking about anything and everything.  Well, maybe not everything – but, you get the idea.

One my favorite dishes that my dad prepared is a simple shrimp and vegetable mixture served with pasta.  I've prepared that tonight but have substituted quinoa for the pasta.

You'll need:

1 pound cooked shrimp, tails removed

2 yellow squash, cut into thick slices 

2 pounds roma tomatoes, cut into thick slices

1 ½ pounds broccoli 

1 cup quinoa 

1 stick unsalted butter

1 tbsp. dried parsley 

½ tsp. kosher salt

Soak and rinse quinoa in water before cooking.  Add 1 ¼ cup of water and quinoa to a small pot. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat. Cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.  Remove from heat.

 In a large pot, steam squash and broccoli until squash is tender.

Add tomatoes and shrimp. Cover and steam until tomatoes have softened slightly.  Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan.  Add salt and dried parsley to butter sauce; then, add to vegetable mixture.  (You may need to drain some of the water from the vegetables.)

Plate quinoa and top with vegetables. 

The National Half-Marathon is so soon! The organizers sent an e-mail with final instructions, and I was reminded about how awesome it was to get the official e-mail for the Baltimore Running Festival.  I'm excited!