Rough Night... Nice And Tasty Side: Quinoa

Rough night!! Last night I made food for 125 people. You read that right! Not 12 but 125 hungry, eager eaters. It was absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G (in my own opinion!). Making food for such a great number of people is an obvious challenge, not such in terms of food itself but it terms of planning. Preparing food is not just about putting good ingredients together; it’s also about planning each and every step of the way as well as attaining a perfect timing. Food needs to be fresh and tasty; hot and striking. This kind of an experience is also an incredible rush, a true flood or adrenaline… And one could get hooked to it. I must say I loooove a good challenge and this one, which was given to me by trustful people (thank you, you know who you are!), was one I took on like a bull and ended like a swan (I know, that sounds weird but I felt it ended in such a graceful way that it made me feel like a swan!!).

Anyways, when you go through such a rush of adrenaline, you need a really good break. The glass of wine at the end of the night was absolutely well deserved and the chatting and mingling with the people who devoured the food was a breeze, a relaxing and unwinding moment. Today, I might need more than my usual single cup of coffee and a take out dinner tonight might be what we end up eating. Because spending such great time in your kitchen means hours of pleasure, you still need to get away from it once in a while. It’s like great love: you need a little bit of space here and there to remember how big your love is when you get back to it!

On this note, enjoy some easy quinoa today (or tomorrow!) and enjoy a beautiful day!

QUINOA SIDEDISH

Makes about 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 cup quinoa

2 cups chicken broth

1 dried chipotle

1 tbsp olive oil

½ onion, finely diced

½ red bell pepper, finely diced

1 garlic clove, minced

PREPARATION

In a small pot, put your quinoa, chicken broth and chipotle. Bring the broth to a boil. Bring the heat down and cook for about 20 minutes.

In a small pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and the peppers and cook for a few minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two. Take off the heat.

When the quinoa is ready, add in the cooked onions and peppers. Mix well and serve immediately.