Quinoa Fried Rice

This is one of my favourite recipes for the first trimester, when the only things you feel like eating are savoury carbs. This recipe is relatively bland, easy to digest, and settling to a queasy stomach. But the quinoa is much lighter than rice, with heaps of protein to help balance blood sugar, and is a superfood packed full of amazing nutrition to nourish your baby.

Use whatever veges take your fancy, and play with the vege/quinoa ration that feels right to you. The key ingredient here is a good quality sea salt, which serves to enhance the flavours in this dish. It’s normal to crave salt throughout your pregnancy, it’s a sign your body is craving minerals. So make sure you choose a good quality salt (see our article on the importance of salt).

Quinoa Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup of uncooked quinoa which makes approximately 1 1/2 cups of cooked quinoa

2 cups water

1 medium sized onion

1 small leek (green part included)

6 medium portobello mushrooms

A glug of olive oil

Handful of italian parsley

Directions:

1. If you have time, soak the quinoa for a minimum of two hours before cooking. You can avoid this step if you don’t have the time, but it improves the digestibility of the grain significantly. Drain the quinoa and rinse thoroughly.

2. Put the 1 cup of quinoa in a saucepan with 2 cups of water.

3. Cover and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20mins until all the water has been absorbed.

5. Turn off the heat and rest for 5mins with the lid on. The steam will help to make the quinoa fluffy.

6. Put a glug of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and leek until the onion is translucent.

7. Add the thinly sliced mushrooms and fry until well cooked. Approximately 5 mins.

8. Take off the heat and sprinkle the italian parsley through the veges, it will wilt and cook lightly with the heat from the veges.

9. Add the quinoa to the veges. Season with salt (at least 1/2-1tsp) and pepper and serve.

Optional:

If you wish to beef up the protein content of this dish I’d use to eggs to make a thin omlette. Mix eggs in a bowl, place a glug of olive oil on a medium heat, and pour the egg mixture into this. After approximately 2 mins flip this mixture if possible, and leave on the heat for another minute or so. When the omlette is done chop it into small cubes and mix it through the quinoa fried rice.

You can also add chopped nuts or seeds, which is another great source of protein. Some of my favourites are chopped almonds, hemp seeds and sunflower seeds.