Melanzane Con Quinoa (That is fancy Italian for "Eggplant with Quinoa")

So tonight was another success!  We have been on this Italian kick (Or at least I have, and everyone else in my family has to suffer since I am the one who cooks.) so yet again, I made a delicious, Italian type concoction.  My rating:  5 stars.  So here's how it's done:

Here is what you need:

For Quinoa:

2 cups quinoa (rinsed)
4 cups water
olive oil

For the rest:
2 medium eggplants chopped

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1.5 cups chopped bell peppers

3 cloves finely chopped garlic

3 tbsp EVOO

1/4 tsp onion powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp parsley

1tsp basil

Your favorite marinara sauce. (I reeeeeeaaaaalllyyy promise I will post my recipe soon!)

First things first: Making the quinoa.
Put the water in a large pot to boil.  While water is boiling, put a bit of olive oil in a skillet and heat on med.  Once oil is all swirly, (or for normal people, when it is heated.) drop in your rinsed quinoa and saute for a couple minutes just to toast it.  This brings out the nutty flavor a bit more than just boiling it.  Once it is a pretty golden brown color, put it in the pot of boiling water.  Cover, and reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove it from the heat and just let it sit while you are cooking everything else.
Now for the best part:
Place your olive oil, onion powder, salt, pepper, parsley and basil in a skillet and mix it all up over low heat. Toss in all your chopped veggies and saute for about 20-25 minutes.

While those yummy veggies are sauteing and filling your house with an amazing smell, warm up your favorite marinara sauce in a sauce pan. Once the eggplant is cooked through, it's time to dish up!

Fluff up the quinoa with a fork and then make a nice little bed for your veggies with it.  Plop the veggies on top and spoon a bit of the marinara sauce on top of that.  Sprinkle with some cheese alternative (I had some leftover from dinner last night.) and serve with some leafy greens and your favorite dressing!  Enjoy!

And for desert, I made "cheese"cake!


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<3 Ashlyn