Pineapple Cashew Quinoa ‘Fried Rice’
Hello friends!! Sunday I shared with you some of my favorite fresh spring salad recipes. Yesterday it was this bonkers amazing funfetti Golden Oreo Ice Cream and today we have pineapple cashew quinoa fried rice! Do you see a trend? I eat real food AND indulge in sweets 🙂 The warmer weather is inspiring me to get more creative and healthier with my dishes and I am thinking I should start sharing with you some of my yummy savory recipes. What do you think?
It’s time for another edition of Mystery Dish! I was inspired to create a healthier version of my favorite all time fried rice recipe when I saw this month’s ingredients. Our lovely host Jen over at Yummy Healthy Easy, picked the ingredients this month and I think she gave us a well-rounded list that got my wheels spinning as soon as I saw it.
The ingredients were garbanzo beans, eggs, flaxseed, cilantro, potatoes (any variety), bread, quinoa, lime, popcorn, dark chocolate, ground turkey and asparagus.
Using three of the ingredients, this quinoa ‘fried rice’ is packed with nutrients and flavor. It’s full of vegetables, pineapple chunks and crunchy cashews! Starting from the crispy lime coconut quinoa, to the flavorful tender vegetables, this is the perfect weeknight dinner.
Pineapple Cashew Quinoa ‘Fried Rice’
Using a handful of ingredients, this quinoa ‘fried rice’ is packed with nutrients and flavor. It’s full of vegetables, pineapple chunks and crunchy cashews!
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cup low sodium chicken stock or water
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 lime, juiced and zest
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 5 tablespoons coconut oil, divided
- ½ red bell pepper, chopped
- ½ orange bell pepper, chopped
- ½ sweet onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloved, minced
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 cups cubed pineapple
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 ½ tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 4 green onions
- ½ cup cashews
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, add the quinoa and chicken stock. Bring to boil over medium high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and cover pot. Cook until all the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Stir in the coconut oil, juice and zest of lime, salt and pepper. Let quinoa cool completely before using. You can do this ahead of time or the day before.
- In a large wok, heat one tablespoon coconut oil over medium heat. Add in onions and peppers and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Add in garlic and ginger and cook for additional minute stirring. Transfer veggies to a bowl. Increase heat a little. In the same wok, add another tablespoon of coconut oil. Add pineapples and cook stirring occasionally until golden, about 5-6 minutes. Add pineapples to bowl of veggies.
- Add ½ tablespoon of coconut oil to wok and cook egg stirring to break apart. Cook for a minute and transfer eggs to a separate small bowl.
- With heat on high, add the remaining 2 ½ tablespoon coconut oil to wok and add in the cooled quinoa. Stir to coat quinoa in oil and let sit for about 1-2 minutes to crisp. Stir to break up clumps. Reduce heat once quinoa is crispy and golden. Stir in soy sauce. Add the veggies and pineapple and stir. Stir in eggs, green onions cilantro and cashews. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Here is a list of the creative recipes members of the group made this month! Be sure to click over to each.
Other Mystery Dish Recipes
Honey Lime Coconut Oatmeal Cookies– March Mystery Dish
Pina Colada Cheesecake– February Mystery Dish
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That looks really good!
This sounds delicious! I love all the colors, too!
So colorful! Perfect for a light and tasty summer dish.
Yes, yes, and YES!! I could eat a huge bowl of this no problem!
I love your choice of ingredients from the list! This quinoa fried rice looks so good, and love that its healthy too!
So much flavorful goodness in one bowl!
Beautiful dish! Love all the colors and flavors.
I love your healthy dishes, Zainab! I just want to dig into this big bowl of quinoa “fried rice”, which was an excellent idea. 🙂 Pinning!
I vote yes to a few (just a few!) more savoury recipes. Just a few because I suspect you will always be mostly a sweet girl at heart. 😉
And … love the idea of this quinoa fried ‘rice’. Yours has so many beautiful flavours going on in there!
I am TOTALLY making this!!! I am a quinoa freak and this looks amazing. I love that you made a savory dish this time. Your pictures are always so beautiful, too. Pinned!! Thanks for another awesome Mystery Dish!
YAY you used lots of coconut oil 😀 Totally digging this dish! Love the flavors you used, and the way it was prepared. Regular fried rice has very little nutritional value to it. This one is filled with bright fruits and veggies, plus healthy fats….and quinoa has lots more going on for nutrition. Pinned for later, thank you Zainab!!
This looks awesome! I love fried rice and love how you made this healthier with quinoa. Such a creative use of the ingredients this month!
Love the idea of using quinoa instead of rice. Pineapple really is the ultimate savory + sweet partner.
Holy yum, Zainab! I love that you used quinoa for this (and cashews and pineapples)! These flavors rock so hard!
Thanks Amy!!
I love fried rice, so I’m really excited to see a healthier version, especially one using quinoa! I love the sweet, salty, crunchy factor this “fried rice” has going on!
Ooh I really love all the yummy flavors you have going on here… coconut oil, pineapple, soy, cilantro, ginger… I bet this dish is just bursting with fresh flavor! 😀
Thanks Allie! It is really a flavorful dish 🙂
This looks delicious. I had another similar dish with pineapple this winter and it was amazing! I would be happy to try this one out any day.
DROOLING!! This looks SO good! I would love if you shared over at Link It Or Lump it along with any other amazing projects you have…. http://www.sohosonnet.com/link-it-or-lump-it/link-it-or-lump-it-sunday-link-party-35/
Thanks Sonnet! I just linked up 🙂
Love love love this fried rice quinoa – it looks amazing! Pineapple fried rice is Mr. Hubs favorite fried rice and I absolutely love your healthier twist on this – pure genius girl! Hopefully his favorite dish will get him to like quinoa more than he does and I seriously can’t wait to try this – pinning 🙂
Thanks Kelly! I hope you make this for your Hubs. I’m sure he will love it. Mine enjoyed it very much even though he does not like quinoa.
Using quinoa instead of rice sounds so interesting! What a colorful and delicious dish!
This looks fabulous! I love adding pineapple to dishes – it always really brings out the other flavors. Hope to try this soon!
DEFINITELY throwing this into the mix on our menu!! I get so tired of rice all the time, but quinoa we don’t eat enough of because we never know what to do with it. Love love love this idea!
Thanks Dani!! It is hard to get creative with quinoa and why I love Mystery dish 🙂 Hope you get to try this soon!!
As soon as I saw this picture I knew I wanted the recipe. This is my kinda food Zainab! The recipe sounds killer, love the pineapple addition, and you used the mystery ingredients this month so well! Pinned this and totally on my list to try! YUM!
Thanks Krista!
Looks delicious! I never know what to make with quinoa. This is a great variation.
i love making fried rice with quinoa. nice choice this month 🙂
This is such a scrumptious, colorful fried rice! I could devour the whole bowl!
Whoa, that coconut lime quinoa sounds incredible! You are putting Chipotle to shame (I can’t believe I just said that, but it is true!) Delicious and gorgeous recipe Zainab!
This is such a great recipe, Zainab. It’s got quinoa in it so you know I want to try it! Love the pineapple in it too. 🙂
Thanks Julie!
This looks awesome, Zainab! You’re really good at this mystery dish thing. 🙂 Love this fun twist on fried rice, especially the pineapple!
Thanks Beth! I always panic when I see the ingredients for the month but this time I was excited.
I am on a quinoa drive at the moment so love all things quinoa. especially when there is cashew added in….
I love your quinoa drive!!
OMG this looks so amazing!!! I must try this.
Oh my goodness yum! So many amazing flavors together! I love fried rice and I need to try this!
Eating real food AND indulging in sweets just might be my life mantra! I could not agree more. I really enjoy quinoa and I love fried rice but rarely make/eat it for the obvious reasons. I do use brown rice if I make it and I’d love to try it with quinoa. Thanks for the great idea and recipe.
Thanks Monica!
You never ever cease to make me hungry. I don’t understand. I guess we just have the same palette, because every single thing you post has me drooling.
This looks so delicious! All of that pineapple and cilantro and cashews! Heaven!
Oh my goodness…this looks amazing. I LOVE all the ingredients in this recipe and I wanted to just make it right now! I can not wait to try this one, thank you! PINNED!
Thanks Nichole! I hope you try it soon.
This looks amazing! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!