Fiery Quinoa Chickpea Stir-fry

Add this Fiery Quinoa Chickpea Stir-fry to your salad bowls, lettuce wraps or just eat as is. It’s hot, crunchy, juicy and delicious!

If I had to choose, IF I had to choose between me and my husband on who eats healthier, or rather makes conscious decisions to gravitate towards a better-for-you meal, I’d have to say…. my husband!

I know, it shames me to say it out loud, but of the two of us, he’s the one without the midnight snacks, monthly chocolate quotas and an endless and varied cycle of all sorts of cravings throughout each day. What can I say, I spend way too much time looking at food, working with food, researching food, reading cookbooks and I can’t help but fall prey to my mental weaknesses. Sure, he is the official taste tester of all the recipes you see here on the blog and more that just doesn’t make the cut, but he still manages to squeeze in salads and quinoa and more beans and lentils than I do and gawd even enjoy eating broccoli – I mean, tolerate, yes, but enjoy? Who does that? Me? I go to the gym one day and feign sore muscles for the rest of the week.

So last weekend, when he was out playing tennis (oh yeah, he does that too!), I wanted to make us a quinoa bowl for lunch, as kind of a ‘see-I-can-eat-healthy-things-too’ thing!

And I knew that cooking quinoa and tossing it with the vegetables and dressing just wasn’t going to cut it. So I made my favorite Asian sauce that I usually use on this Sweet Chilli Tofu – it’s spicy with a slight hint of sweetness and a tinge of tartness that’s barely there. Topped with a generous sprinkle of spring onions, sesame seeds and my favorite – peanuts, this Fiery Quinoa Chickpea Stir-fry surprisingly became my favorite part of that salad bowl!

And as soon as he came home, he scanned the kitchen counter as he normally does, to see if I’ve cooked up something interesting, and when he spotted the quinoa, gave me the funniest quizzical look, as thought some sort of cosmic paradox was at play before him. After he got all the jokes out of his system, we sat down to eat.

Something about the flavors went so well on a cold bed of lettuce, with a burst of freshness from cucumbers. Despite the humorous look on his face watching me enjoy a bowl of quinoa, he did say that it was the best quinoa he had ever had. And at that, I couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit smug!

While I’ve been enjoying this Quinoa Chickpea Stir-fry in a salad bowl, I think it’d also go great in lettuce wraps or just as a side to a generous helping of these Stir-fried vegetables. Ah the possibilities!

Plain quinoa has never appealed to me the way it did others, but doused in this fiery sauce, it was unbelievably delicious. And the chickpeas didn’t hurt the case either. So if you’re like me, not-quite-hopped-up-on-quinoa-yet, then this is something you should definitely try. I’m not saying that I’m going to give up on rice completely, but I wouldn’t mind throwing this in the rotation a few times a week. Now all I gotta do is find more flavor combos that agree with me!

When you make these (which I really think you SHOULD!), be sure to SHARE YOUR PHOTOS with me through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. I’d love to see what you cook from here!

Fiery Quinoa Chickpea Stir-fry

Add this Fiery Quinoa Chickpea Stir-fry to your salad bowls, lettuce wraps or just eat as is. It's hot, crunchy, juicy and delicious!

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Servings: 2

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 2 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 4 cloves garlic, grated
• 3 tbsp sambal oelek (red chilli paste)
• 2 tsp maple syrup (for vegans) / honey
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 tsp soy sauce (celiacs, use a gluten-free brand)
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• a handful of roasted peanuts
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

Method

 

1. Combine sambal oelek, maple syrup, vinegar and soy sauce in a small bowl.
2. Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat and sauté the grated garlic until golden brown. Pour over the sauce and once it's sizzling, add the cooked quinoa and chickpeas.
3. Stir well until the quinoa and chickpeas have been completely coated. Let simmer on the lowest setting for a few minutes for the flavors to absorb.
4. Sprinkle with spring onions, peanuts and sesame seeds. Serve! Keeps well refrigerated for a couple of days.