Lemonchick's Leek, Bacon and Quinoa Dish

 Lemonchick's Leek, Bacon and Quinoa Dish

    Dear Readers, I created this recipe this morning.  I've been making a real effort to eat healthier and am also experimenting with alternative protein sources; I'm not anti-meat, but one of my doctors suggested trying to get more protein from sources other than meat, so I am.  One of the things I've discovered that I like, is quinoa. One cup of quinoa contains 8 grams of protein.  I subscribed to Imperfect Foods for about a month and a half, and while it is not a great fit for me, I did get some good produce and tried some new things. For example, I wanted to try leeks, so I got leeks in my last box. There were two leeks and they were huge!!!! I didn't know anything about cooking them, but they are giant versions of the way smaller green onions, so I knew they'd be onion-y (Just like green onions, the closer you get to the bulb, the more onion flavor) and that I could cook them just like you would if green onions.  

    Anyhow, I tossed around the idea of cooking them and making an Asian inspired sauce to serve with.  I went with the much easier, cooked and sauteed with butter.  I had thought about serving them as a side with rice or quinoa, but decided to create a 'salad' if you want to call it that. I'm calling it a 'dish'. So, below is my recipe for my Leek, Bacon and Quinoa Dish.  I enjoyed it; it was pretty easy to make and tasted good, so I would make this again.  

    This can be made without bacon; try cubed or diced paneer cheese or tofu. You could also add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, because I bet that would be yummy.  This time around, I only did the red chili pepper flakes and salt-substitute.  I didn't want to add to much other seasoning, because the leeks would be flavorful enough (I was right).  

Alone or served as a side with chicken, pork, beef, try this and let me know what you think. 

Ingredients:

1 Cup Quinoa

1 Leek (mine was giant), sliced 

8 Strips of Bacon (or more, this is totally up to you)

Directions:

    Cook quinoa according to directions and set aside; cut the tip of the bulb and slice up your leek. Slice as thin or thick as you like (mine were pretty thin) and drop into a skillet pre-heated with a little bit of oil.  Cook until tender, add butter and stir.  While your leek is cooking, add bacon to another pre-heated skillet.  Cook until both sides are browned, but not crispy and drain on paper-towels. Cut bacon into half inch or so pieces. 

    To assemble this dish, spoon 2 cups of your cooked quinoa into a large serving dish (you'll have about 1 cup of quinoa left; so save that to use in another recipe). Add your sliced leek and bacon and stir to mix all the ingredients.  I added a sprinkle of red pepper chili flakes and salt-substitute. 

Lemonchick's Leek, Bacon and Quinoa Dish