Baked Quinoa Adobado Recipe
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Made adobado style—a.k.a. loaded with chiles—this baked quinoa dish is so flavorful, all you’ll need to serve it with is a fresh, crunchy salad.
What to buy: Quinoa can be found in your local health food store, gourmet grocery store, or online.
Queso fresco is a mild white cheese that doesn’t melt when heated. It can be found in the refrigerated cheese case of most grocery stores or at specialty cheese shops or Latin markets. If you can’t locate it, go ahead and substitute feta cheese.
This recipe was featured as part of our Whole Grain Recipes photo gallery.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1/2 medium white or yellow onion, small dice
- 2 medium jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 chipotle in adobo sauce, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 3/4 cup crumbled queso fresco
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer under running water.
- Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When it shimmers, add onion, jalapeños, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and pepper and cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add chipotle and cilantro and stir to combine. Add rinsed quinoa and remaining 1 teaspoon salt and stir to coat. Add water and broth and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, transfer quinoa mixture to an 8-by-8-inch baking dish. Spread evenly, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and transfer to the oven. Bake until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.
- Remove the foil, stir, sprinkle quinoa with cheese, and return to the oven. Bake uncovered until all of the liquid has been absorbed, the quinoa is tender, and the cheese has softened, about 5 minutes more.
oh - and instead of the hot pepper, try carrot, that will go well with cumin
cumin? and perhaps a little cinnamon
houseofjenny, we use Diamond Crystal kosher salt here in the test kitchen. Subbing in Morton's or fine table salt will definitely make it too salty. Also make sure your chicken or veg broth is low sodium. If it still seems too salty, lowering the salt to 1 teaspoon can't hurt!
Amy Wisniewski, CHOW
I'd cut the salt by half - made this for friends, and we could all tell it was too salty. I also added extra cheese, as it gives a totally different texture.
Crunchy salad was great balance.
any substitutes for the spicy ingredients? i have a 3 year old to feed and this sounds yum delish!!
Made this recipe last night with grilled corn on the cob and it was delicious, albeit very spicy. Works well as a side dish or a main course.
Quinoa is healthy because it has a ton of protein - it's a great source of a multitude of amino acids, as well as fiber. And it's totally delicious. A great substitute for couscous, which is actually a pasta and not a grain. I use it all the time.
why is this healthy?
a chipotle is a jalapeno that has been fire roasted---so it has a completely different flavor than a fresh jalapeno, but still has all the firepower. the adobado sauce in the can with the chipotles is very potent!
The Adobo sauce in the can smells like BBQ sauce but be warned, it is quite hot. I would take the chili out of the can and just use maybe a Tbs of sauce from the can because I like it hot.
They come in small cans -- I'm assuming that the recipe calls for one pepper out of that can.
i don't understand the "chipotle in adobo sauce" ingredient--how do you buy these? does this mean one pepper? or one... can? i've never cooked with this ingredient before so i just don't know where to begin.