Quinoa Pilaf with Shiitake Mushrooms, Carrots and Pecans

Hello all!
Sorry its been a while since I've posted, things got very busy very fast! But I did have some time over the past few days to make a lovely quinoa pilaf with shiitake mushrooms, carrots and pecans. First let me say how much I LOVE quinoa! If you haven't tried it, you should. It makes a great rice substitute, has twice the protein of brown rice, more fiber, but on a down side has a bit more unsaturated fats in it than brown rice. I'm not even comparing white rice because we all know that it is delicious but not so nutritious. This site has all the numbers if you're interested:
http://www.cookingquinoa.net/quinoa-vs-rice

Another nice thing about quinoa is that its pretty quick to cook and is very versatile. I've used it before to make cheesy quinoa cakes, which were fantastic and had a nice nutty/hashbrown flavor and then more recently I've also tried making "cheesy broccoli quinoa" which was pretty good as well, though I think I could do some tweeking to make it better. This recipe on the other hand was PERFECT without any tweeking and thus I'm happy to share it with you!
Here is the original link in case you want to see other pictures or exactly how they did it:
http://www.onceuponachef.com/2012/02/quinoa-pilaf-with-wild-mushrooms-carrots-and-pecans.html

And here is my version of Quinoa pilaf with Shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and pecans

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa, pre-rinsed or rinsed
• 1-2/3 cups low-sodium chicken broth (I use Trader Joe's broth packets)
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 small carrots, peeled and diced
• 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted if desired

Hey look! The mushrooms come already sliced! Whoo hoo!

Rinse the quinoa by putting into a seive and running under cool water.

Combine quinoa and chicken broth in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to low, cover and simmer until quinoa is cooked, about 15 minutes.

Prepare and chop veggies!

Lazy chef just buys garlic cubes rather than peeling and chopping garlic :-)

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat then add the onions and cook, until they start to soften, 2-3 minutes.

Add the carrots and thyme and cook until the carrots are just tender, 5-7 minutes.

Or forget about adding the Thyme until the last minute, Woops!

Add remaining tablespoon of olive oil, along with mushrooms and garlic.  Cook, stirring constantly, until mushrooms are cooked through, a few minutes. Season vegetables with 1/4 teaspoon salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Add cooked quinoa to vegetables and stir in pecans and chopped parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve hot or warm.

Voila! And it tastes just as good as it looks!

Easy right? And a great rice alternative! Not that I don't love me some rice, but this makes for a good substitute if you or a guest are allergic, or you just feel like something new. Plus with a higher fiber and protein content it made me feel fuller for a bit longer, which is always a good thing! Matt loved this and had 2 servings. I also really liked this but for very different reasons. The carrots added a bit of sweetness to the dish which was pleasantly surprising, and the pecans added a nice crunch. If you aren't a fan of shiitake mushrooms, you could always try a different kind (portabella maybe???) but I thought they made a nice compliment to the carrots and thyme.
Let me know what you think and in the mean time...
Happy eating!