By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- 5(454)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Sweet corn and nutty-tasting quinoa make a nice combination that is also nutritionally rich. Quinoa has more iron than any other grain, and it’s a good source of manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and copper. It’s also a good source of protein.
Featured in: Sweet Corn: Getting an Earful in Summer
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Ingredients
Yield:Serves six to eight
- 1cup regular or red quinoa
- 3cups water, chicken stock or vegetable stock
- ½teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½small onion, finely chopped
- 1 to 2garlic cloves (to taste), minced
- Kernels from 1 ear corn
- 1medium zucchini, cut in small dice
- 2 to 4tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- ¼ to ½cup crumbled queso fresco or feta (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Place the quinoa in a bowl, and cover with cold water. Let sit five minutes. Drain through a strainer, and rinse until the water runs clear.
Step
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Bring the water or stock to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Heat another medium saucepan or lidded skillet over medium-high heat, and add the quinoa. Toast, stirring, until the grains have separated and begin to smell fragrant. Add the water or stock and salt. It should come to a boil quickly. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until the quinoa is tender and translucent and each grain displays a little thread. Drain and return to the pan. Cover the pan with a clean dish towel, replace the lid and allow to sit undisturbed for 10 minutes.
Step
3
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes, and add the garlic, corn and zucchini. Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until the zucchini is tender and translucent and the corn tender, five to eight minutes. Stir in the quinoa and toss together. Heat through, add the herbs and serve with a little crumbled queso fresco or feta sprinkled on top if desired.
Tip
- Advance preparation: The cooked quinoa will keep for three or four days in the refrigerator.Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.
Ratings
5
out of 5
454
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Becky
Very tasty! Following others lead, I amped the recipe up a bit to be more flavorful. I useda little extra onion and garlic, diced jalapeno, 2 ears of corn, and a couple dashs of smoked paprika. Towards the end I adeded a generous cup of halved cherry tomatoes and a couple spritzes of lime juice. Garnished with chopped basil and parsley since I didn't have cilantro.
Kaia
This was a terrific and quick side dish to accompany roasted salmon and a baby gems salad on a weeknight. I cooked as instructed (had no feta or queso fresco in the fridge) and did not miss the cheese. Delicious, fast, easy, healthy. A winner!
Coniston
I made this with Italian parsley instead of cilantro (coriander) as husband and son both have the ‘cilantro is yuk’ gene - a real thing. Tasted fresh and delicious.
Gojil
Do try this recipe. “It’s a keeper”. Added a pinch of smoked paprika and used minced shallots to boost the flavor. Served with cold beets and hard boiled eggs. A worthy cultural mix!
Jeanne
Wonderful, fast summer dinner. The key to cooking quinoa in this amount of water or broth is to drain it, and then let it sit under a dishcloth, as described in the recipe. It's super fluffy and delicious prepared this way.
Jeanne
I loved this the first time I made it, and subsequently tried to improve it by increasing the proportion of corn and zucchini, which I love, relative to quinoa. That's never turned out as well the way it's written, and now I stick to the recipe (plus lime). Makes sense--after all, it's "Quinoa with Corn and Zucchini."
Betsy
Not to be 'that' commenter, but I love this recipe and made a lot of changes! Added red pepper flakes and curry powder when the oil was hot for a flavour boost. Plus some dried cherries, a splash of rice vinegar, and toasted walnuts. This recipe is the perfect base to take in any flavour direction for a delicious, hearty meal.
Laguna Niguel, CA
I added black beans to this. It was simple tasty recipe.
Jean
Used 2 c of broth and added lime juice. Very simple and tasty!
Great Base Recipe, Needs Some Flavor Added!
Added garlic and some tajin, made it perfect!
Npr
Added some tomatoes. Delicious!
Yasmin
Such a great and easy summer salad to save and eat for lunch during the week! I subbed cherry tomatoes for the zucchini because i had some and then subbed parsley for the cilantro because thats also what i had on hand and it was delish! Will def make again
morgan
Tripled the recipe to make for a crowd and it was a pleaser.
pat
Basically it’s calabacitas with quinoa. Green chili would be a nice addition
Cool Summer Salad
I replaced the zucchini with cucumber & roasted red pepper, a little dill & served cold. Lots of requests to have it again.
Changes
*Toast the quinoa in bacon fat.*No need to drain, just let the quinoa sit on low heat for double the time, leave covered, and then the last 10 minutes, then cover with towel*Stir fry in this order: chopped fennel bulb, scallion, carrots, zucchini and yellow squash. Add bacon fat and oil to the cast iron. Add cumin, salt, garlic powder, paprika to the mix. *drain corn and beans. Add to cast iron at the end.*Cook all veggies till soft, mix quinoa, add cilantro and lemon at the end.
Edward
I added a good healthy amount of cumin....a tablespoon and a half...and some toasted pistachios. It was divine!
Betsy
Not to be 'that' commenter, but I love this recipe and made a lot of changes! Added red pepper flakes and curry powder when the oil was hot for a flavour boost. Plus some dried cherries, a splash of rice vinegar, and toasted walnuts. This recipe is the perfect base to take in any flavour direction for a delicious, hearty meal.
Sandy
Made this recipe today. When I went out to my garden for Cilantro it was mostly bolted so I used mint instead. It tastes great. I used the pale quinoa but think the red quinoa looks a lot better in the photo as a contrast to the yellow, see through and light green veggies.
Saje
I haven’t yet made this yet because of the first step. I lived in Peru for 5 years and never: A-soaked AND rinsed my quinoa, only rinsed it until the water was clearB-never used 3 cups of liquid to cook 1 cup of quinoa. I still make quinoa here in the US, so I’ll try the recipe rinsing until I see clear water. Toast it and then cook it in a lesser amount of broth. ¡Vamos á ver!
Jeanne
I loved this the first time I made it, and subsequently tried to improve it by increasing the proportion of corn and zucchini, which I love, relative to quinoa. That's never turned out as well the way it's written, and now I stick to the recipe (plus lime). Makes sense--after all, it's "Quinoa with Corn and Zucchini."
Jeanne
Wonderful, fast summer dinner. The key to cooking quinoa in this amount of water or broth is to drain it, and then let it sit under a dishcloth, as described in the recipe. It's super fluffy and delicious prepared this way.
Laurie
As others have noted before this review, I cut back on the stock for the quinoa and used just 2 cups. In other words, I followed the directions on the package. I added cherry tomatoes and used more corn than is called for (3 ears). I added the juice from 1/2 lime and it helped. This is a good foundational recipe that can be tweaked a lot, depending on one's preferences.
Gojil
Do try this recipe. “It’s a keeper”. Added a pinch of smoked paprika and used minced shallots to boost the flavor. Served with cold beets and hard boiled eggs. A worthy cultural mix!
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