Anneliese's Quinoa

I'm proud to say I developed this one by myself! The flavor combination is simply yummy! This is not a vegetarian friendly quinoa recipe, but could be, if you decided to remove the pancetta.

Ingredients:

1 cup of quinoa

1 box of Chicken stock (I prefer Trader Joe's organic)

1 shallot

1 cup of cubed pancetta (again, Trader Joes sells this pre-packaged)

1 cup of cubed butternut squash, cooked

2 cloves of garlic

Olive Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook 1 cup of uncooked quinoa with 2 cups of chicken stock (this gives the quinoa amazing flavor, versus cooking it in water. You will add about another cup as it cooks and the stock dissapears. You want to cook the quinoa until it is soft, and fluffy with a fork, which is about 20 minutes.

2. Sautee olive oil in a small pan. Add two cloves of minced garlic and 1 thinly sliced shallot. As they start to become transparent, add the package of cubed pancetta. Sautee until pancetta is cooked through.

3. As soon as quinoa is cooked through, and fluffy with a fork, add the pancetta/onion/garlic mixture.

4. Heat up the pre-cooked, cubed, butternut squash pieces in the pancetta pan. It will absorb those good flavors! When heated, add to the quinoa as well. Use salt and pepper as needed. Enjoy!