Cajun Crawfish Quinoa Recipe
This Cajun Crawfish Quinoa Recipe was inspired by my time in Louisiana. Most often, a crawfish tail recipe uses rice. This crawfish recipe incorporates quinoa with the full, rich flavor of crawfish tails and the bright cheerful color of healthy vegetables.
Quinoa is an ancient grain loaded with protein and wonderful for many dishes that include rice, such as many Cajun dishes. Of all the recipes for crawfish you’ll find in Louisiana, this one may be the most unique.
If you’re a meat eater, crawfish is a good source of high quality
protein. It’s included on the Greenpeace safe list for mercury, so you
can use Crawfish on any detox diet that allows shrimp.
In addition, you can use shrimp in this recipe instead of the crawfish. The flavor will be slightly different, but they are often used interchangeably in Cajun dishes.
If you’re wanting to make this a vegetarian dish, the meat can be eliminated and it will still be a very tasty dish.
The colors create a pretty display and the dish is a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds.
Cajun Crawfish Quinoa Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups stock, use shrimp stock, vegetable stock or chicken stock
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 large onion
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper (red or orange are good also)
- 1/4 pound crimini mushrooms
- 1/4 pound fresh green beans
- 1 carrot
- 1 pound crawfish tail meat
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- several sprigs parsley
- 2 green onions
- Cajun seasoning to taste (or simply use sea salt and cayenne pepper)
Directions
Rinse the quinoa to remove the saponins and let drain. In a 2 quart saucepan, bring the stock to a boil. Add the quinoa and stir. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and let it stand for five or ten minutes until all the stock is absorbed.
Prepare the veggies. Chop the onions and bell pepper, slice the mushrooms, dice or grate the carrots and cut the green beans in one inch pieces. Slice the green onions and chop the parsley.
Heat the coconut oil in a skillet and add the onions and bell peppers. Sautee five minutes and add the mushrooms, carrots and green beans. Continue cooking until the veggies are tender.
Add the crawfish and seasoning and continue to cook until the flavors have blended nicely, about five minutes. Add the quinoa and toss until just mixed. Add the parsley and green onions and lightly mix them in.
Serve and enjoy my favorite quinoa recipe.
