Everybody needs their go to sides for the various seasons. Though just plain quinoa leaves a lot to be desired, with just a few additions you can turn your quinoa into a highlight on the plate instead of just a filler.

A classic pilaf is a rice dish that is made using broth, butter and almonds but we are going to give it an upgrade. While tri-color quinoa works here too and I personally think it’s fun, using white quinoa goes home with the kiddos a bit better. As a bonus it only take 15 minutes and pairs with just about any meal your hearts desired.

Have fun and experiment with this basic recipe, switch out the herbs and seeds to match your main dish, i.e. use cilantro and toasted coconut flakes with Indian food or pine nuts and nutritional yeast for Italian.

The main idea to take with you is that cooking the quinoa in broth brings a lot more flavor into it and by adding seeds and nuts you create more texture which is especially nice to saucy foods.

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This is a guest post. Any opinions expressed are the writer’s own.