Ever since I discovered that I loved cumin with quinoa, I had been wanting to try a new recipe. I came across an Ingrid Hoffman recipe on Food Network, and modified it.

Spicy Cumin Quinoa
Makes 6-8 servings.
Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 C Quinoa

• 2 1/2 C Water

• 1 TBSP. olive oil

• 1 onion, diced

• 1 green pepper, sliced

• 1 tsp. minced garlic

• 1 Tbsp. Mrs Dash Chipotle seasoning

• 1 tsp. chipotle pepper spice

• 1-2 Tbsp. ground cumin

• 2 tsp. canned chopped green chiles

• 1/2 C fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

• Rinse quinoa in a mesh colander with very fine holes to get off the bitter saponin coating. 
• Place quinoa and water in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Simmer, with lid on for about 15 minutes.
• While quinoa is hot, stir in spices and seasonings.
• While quinoa is cooking, saute the onion and green pepper in a large saute pan. Add salt and pepper. When almost finished cooking, add green chile peppers and garlic.
• Stir in the cooked quinoa into the onion and pepper mixture.
• Top with chopped parsley.

I ate mine with a drizzle of this Lizano sauce from Costa Rica. We brought the sauce back from our vacation because we loved it so much. It has a hearty cumin flavor that goes with everything. It’s like ketchup for Costa Rica!

And then I added a dallop of light sour cream because I found the dish pretty spicy.