Grilled Vegetable Quinoa

This post is about a month old along with the next one...somehow they got lost in the shuffle!  I had been wanting to make another quinoa side dish recently and had the idea to do a grilled veggie one since I am loving grilling this summer.  We loved the sweet grilled corn from this pasta so I definitely wanted to include that.  I also included zucchini, squash, eggplant, tomato, and roasted garlic.  I decided I wasn't a fan of the eggplant consistency in it, so I left it out of the recipe below!  I roasted the garlic by putting it on the back of the grill while the rest of the veggies cooked, but you can also do that in the oven.

Ingredients:

1 bulb garlic

1 squash

1 zucchini

1/4 red onion

3 roma tomatoes

1 ear corn

3 basil leaves

olive oil

1/2 cup quinoa

Method:

Slice zucchini & squash lengh wise.  Slice the top off the garlic bulb.  Brush zucchini, squash, garlic, & corn with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper.  Place the garlic clove at the back of the grill and grill all veggies.  Corn will take the longest, be sure to grill it on each side until it starts to turn carmel colored - it will take about 40 minutes total.  Add whole tomatoes to the grill last and watch carefully.  They will get mushy and stick to the grill if you cook too long.  While veggies are grilling add diced red onion and a few tablespoons olive oil to a saucepan and saute until the onions are tender.  Add 1/2 cup water to the pan with onions and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, add 1/2 cup quinoa.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 12 minutes.  Once veggies are grilled, dice them, slice corn off cob and squeeze out garlic cloves.  Add all veggies to cooked quinoa.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper to taste.  Top with thinly sliced fresh basil.