Grilled Okra and Fresh Tomato Quinoa
Grilled Okra and Fresh Tomato Quinoa
1 cups quinoa
2 cups water
1 pound fresh okra
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 medium-size tomatoes, seeded, chopped
3 chopped green onions
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Fresh cracked pepper to taste
Bring water and quinoa to a boil. Cover and turn down to simmer for 12-15 minutes or when water is absorbed. Transfer cooked quinoa to a large bowl.
Preheat grill to medium high heat. In large bowl, toss fresh okra with 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and season with ¼ teaspoon sea salt. Place okra on hot grill and cook for about 1o minutes turning often to grill each side. Remove okra from grill let cool slightly. Chop into ½ inch pieces.
Add extra virgin olive oil to quinoa and toss in grilled chopped okra, chopped tomatoes, green onions, chopped basil, lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste. Gently toss to serve.
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Yes, yes it is okra time! Long gone are the days of laborious tasks of taking all day to make a delicious dish. This one is quite a quickie, only taking about 20 minutes as your are multitasking. Even the naysayers of okra are in favor of this recipe when the okra is grilled and only sliced a few times to lessen the “goo” and kept a little crisp. If you look closely at this photo, it actually has some grilled asparagus it as well. This is called “improvising” in the kitchen when you are running short of okra! Cheers to our digestive tract and keeping it on track with this awesome yum recipe! -Chef Megan
