quinoa à la senoritas

Beaver doesn’t like quinoa.

As we settled down for dinner last night, a big bowl of quinoa nestled nearby for seconds, beaver was lurking in the corner of the room, suspicious. He was not in a particularly good mood, having seized a box of graham crackers the night before and eaten them all, mistaking them for wood chips. After moaning piteously and making an enormous scene in which he demanded special attention and extra chopsticks for comfort, beaver had disappeared into his blanket and refused to come out for the rest of the night.

So there we were: the two of us, the bowl of quinoa, and beaver. To allow beaver his privacy, we switched on new girl and watched him from the corners of our eyes. He crept closer and closer, until finally he leapt, throwing himself on the bowl of quinoa and, after stuffing his cheeks like an oversized chipmunk, scuttled back to a corner to eat his treat and gloat, no doubt, about his victorious food snatching.

We were watching him carefully at this point, to see his reaction, as beaver had never eaten quinoa before. A look of disgust spread over beaver’s face as he chewed, and he started spitting the quinoa onto the floor. “Beaver, no!” we shouted as we rushed towards him. “Not on the floor!” Instead of listening, beaver flung himself towards the bathroom, leaving a trail of half-chewed quinoa in his wake, his little legs moving doubletime to escape our outstretched hands as we ran after him. We finally cornered him, squeezed behind the toilet, eyes wide and a triumphant smirk on his whiskers. He was filthy, covered in quinoa bits, so we gave him a bath and settled him into bed with his blanket and a wooden coaster.

Beavers are not easy pets.

And finally, our quinoa recipe – not fit for beavers, but tasty for humans!

You will need:*

• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 1 cup of pre-rinshed quinoa, uncooked
• 2 cups vegetable broth (we like vegan vegetable bouillion by rapunzel)
• 3 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh (or dried) parsley
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh (or dried) thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 fresh lemon

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add in the quinoa and onion. Cook together for 10-15 minutes, until both quinoa and onion are browned.
2. Stir in the vegetable broth, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for approximately 15 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed.
3. Toss the quinoa and onion mixture with the garlic, salt, thyme, parsley, and fresh lemon juice.
4. Enjoy!

Prep time: 20-25 minutes. Serves 3-4 (or two if you are hearty eaters).

Happy eating!

the senoritas

*recipe adapted from this one.