Healthy Red Quinoa Plate with Chard, Carrots, Onion & Poached Egg

Not sure what to make for breakfast or brunch this weekend? Let me introduce you to my little friend. Quinoa. Red quinoa to be exact.

I like quinoa and all his cousins.  So I hope you do too!

My relationship with quinoa is quite deep. Quinoa provides me protein and fiber. In return, I crush it into little itty bits with my back teeth. Can’t have that kinda relationship with too many things, now can we.

This red quinoa plate is a healthy and delicious way to get some protein in your daily routine.  And it only gets better from here.

Rainbow chard

Rainbow chard adds color. Dark green leaves and brightly colored stems. Colors are appetizing, aren’t they? They add character. That’s for sure. Kind of like life experiences. But lucky for most raw vegetables they are innate.

The carrots and onion join forces to become the backbone of the dish. They infuse their natural flavors across all the ingredients. In doing so, will make your kitchen and house smell like magic.

I don’t know about you but cooking carrots and onion together always smells very appetizing!!

Lastly, there is an element of earthiness provided by the portabello mushroom. I suppose you could use other mushrooms, but I like how the portabello is relatively flavor neutral.

At least for me, it doesn’t have a distinct flavor that would overpower any aspects of the dish. If anything, it plays more of a behind the scenes role in providing protein and fiber. It’s also quite meaty so it’s a nice volume add to the plate.

To top it off, you add a poached egg. Decadence.

If you’re trying to be vegan, you can always omit the egg. But for me, a warm runny egg yolk is my favorite part. That goes for any dish that has a runny egg yolk. Always.

In summary, I’m going to categorize the quinoa plate as a breakfast dish because it has a poached egg, but it could really be eaten any time of day. It doesn’t discriminate!

Have you come across any delicious quinoa breakfast dishes before ?

I’m always looking for new ways to prepare it, so would love to hear about your experiences.

In case you missed them, here are some of my other quinoa recipes!

[display-posts tag=”quinoa”]

Save

Red Quinoa Plate with Chard, Carrots, Onion, and Poached Egg

Pin Recipe

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 2 people 1x
• Category: Breakfast
• Cuisine: New American

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Red Quinoa and Vegetables

• 1/2 cup red quinoa (rinsed)
• 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (divided)
• 1/2 medium Onion (chopped)
• 1 large carrot (cut thinly 1/4″ thick x 1/2″ wide )
• 1 bunch Rainbow chard (stems chopped 1/4″ thick and leaves torn, divided)
• 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
• 1 portabello mushroom (chopped into 1/2-in. pieces)
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt (dissolved in 2 Tablespoons water)
• fresh cracked pepper
• 1 stem scallions (for garnish)
• 1 dash shichimi togarashi (‘7 flavor pepper’ for garnish)

Poached egg

• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• water (added to a small skillet, ~ 1″ in depth)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, carrot, and chard stems about 7 minutes until softened.
3. Add garlic and mushroom and cook another 2 minutes.
4. Put chard leaves on top of vegetables, add 2 Tablespoons of salted water and cook covered about 2 minutes. After leaves appear wilted, remove lid and allow excess liquid to evaporate.
5. Once there is no visible liquid in the pan, stir in quinoa and remove from heat. Cover while you poach the eggs. Or if not eating eggs, serve immediately.
6. To poach the egg, bring a medium saucepan with about 1 in. of water and the vinegar to a simmer. Crack the egg into a small bowl or cup.
7. Using a spatula, swirl simmering water in a circle, then slowly pour in egg. (swirling the water keeps the egg in one spot and prevents it from spidering out)
8. Cook until white firms and yolk is done or the way you like (for starters at least 1 minute and 10 seconds)
9. Use a slotted spoon to lift egg out of water. Place on a plate. repeat with second egg. Once eggs are ready, serve the quinoa and slide the poached egg on top. Garnish with scallions and shichimi.
10. Evacuate the village before popping egg yolk!