Tre Colore Quinoa

Back in NYC and happy to be cooking on my own stove again, with GARLIC!! My goal this week is to make the entire UWS smell of garlic. Or at least my block.
This meal is only a baby-step to that goal tho.

This is something I usually make as a pasta dish, but in my efforts to expand my use and consumption of quinoa (keen-wah), I decided to try the substitution.
It was still very tasty, but I think I missed the texture of the pasta.
(Candy, this is also in regard to your request for non-pasta vegetarian meals. Sorry it was so long in arriving.)

Step one: rinse and cook quinoa according to package instructions. (Very important. You do not want soapy-tasting quinoa. Blech.)

While that is cooking, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, and when it begins to ripple, add one package of grape tomatoes. Season with salt and stir to coat. Add the lid and cook for about 10 minutes on medium high, until the tomatoes start to burst.

When the tomatoes look like this, I grate in one or two cloves of garlic, and let that simmer another minute or two. Then, I use a potato masher to gently crush the rest of the un-burst tomatoes into a sauce.

I put the lid back on this and simmer on low until it is time to add it to the quinoa (or pasta).

I finely dice some fresh mozzarella and make a chiffonade of basil.

Placing most of the mozzarella in the bottom of the bowl, I then top it with the hot quinoa. Add sauce and most of the basil, and stir to combine.

I top that with a few more pieces of fresh mozzarella and the rest of the basil, and it's ready to eat.

I think I really do prefer this dish made with pasta, but in a pinch, it still works.

And it's definitely healthy.