We go through quinoa like it’s going out of style in my house. Last night I finished up yet another bag of my favorite
Sprouted Quinoa from TruRoots making this delicious taco recipe. I’m always in search of and looking for the best products to buy. I pay close attention to all the details even in something as benign as quinoa!
Using sprouted quinoa vs. regular quinoa takes the nutritional content of your dish to a whole another level. The sprouting process creates natural enzymes that brake down starches and release amino acids, making the food more digestible. This process also increases the vitamin content exponentially and produces even more phytochemicals (heart disease & cancer fighters!) If you haven’t tried Tru Roots Sprouted Quinoa yet…or any of their other products, they are a must try. Not only does this company source it’s grains in a sustainable way, but they are a pioneer in the movement to bring shelf stable sprouted foods to your kitchen (and mine!) hassle free. The best part about all their products – they take only minutes to cook.
It took me only 18 mins from start to make these tacos last night…This is a tasty all star recipe to make on a busy week night. I hope you enjoy the crunch and the lightness of this nutrient dense dinner.
- 2 romaine hearts or 1 head of romaine lettuce
- ½ cup dry quinoa cooked to package instructions + 1 tsp chili powder
- 2 large ripe avocados diced
- juice of one lime
- 1 and ½ cups of cherry tomatoes diced in half and squeezed of excess liquid
- ¼ cup white onion diced
- handful of cilantro diced
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp fresh cracked pepper
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 jalapeno or serrano pepper diced with seeds removed
- Combine quinoa and chili powder in water and cook to package instructions
- Make guacamole by putting all ingredients except romaine in a bowl and combine well
- Place washed and thoroughly dried romaine leaves on a platter
- Serve family style – Make the tacos by using a romaine leaf as the shell, adding a scoop of quinoa and a scoop of guacamole to the middle
- Make it fancy by adding slices of lime, salsa, hot sauce, tortilla chips, sour cream and/ or goat cheese to serve as toppings or on the side
What’s your favorite way to eat quinoa?
Hasta Luego,
Food Babe
Those look awesome. A must try, thanks!
You are welcome Tiffany!
This looks awesome and I love Quinoa and glad to have another receipe. I must try the sprouted quinoa since I have not had it yet.
Hi Kim! You can get it online, or at HHM or Earth Fare… I’m glad I can provide you another gluten free recipe!
Can’t wait to try this recipe. We do not have food allergies but have eaten a lot of quinoa this week because it is kosher for Passover.
Thanks for sharing Molly… Happy Passover
I am definitely making these tonight. Instead of Romaine lettuce leaf I will be using kale leaf with crushed pecans mixed in. YUM!!!
Mmmmm…pecans, that will be tasty! I really think the romaine makes these tacos… so next time try romaine if you can get it
I will- just did not have Romaine at home lol
Yum. This sounds so good. Perfectly crisp and refreshing for these hot days we’re having in Florida! Will try this weekend
Hi Shalini! Great to hear from you – I’m excited for you try it… let me know what you think.
Yum! Yum! Can’t wait to try this. We usually have Quinoa mixed with carrots, parsnips, onions & lots of garlic sauted in coconut oil.
Mmmmm… I love coconut oil. My husband made pancakes with coconut oil last weekend and they were to die for!
Totally agree! I made pancakes for a large crowd several weeks ago and everyone was raving about the flavor and asked for my “secret.” I’m convinced it was the coconut oil…soooo delicious!
Can’t wait to try these tacos – I’ve been needing some new quinoa recipes! Thanks so much
These look delicious!!! I will definitely be making these for our next “taco night”. Have you ever tried them using butter lettuce? I bet that would be really good too. Thank you for sharing the recipe! I love all the GF recipes I can find!
No I haven’t – but I LOOOOVE butter lettuce. It’s one of my favorites!
We just discovered quinoa about 2 weeks ago, and have been eating it constantly! This looks delicious! Our current favorite quinoa recipe is to mix it with broccoli and balsamic vinegar and serve cold. We’ve been eating it instead of pasta salad, and it’s wonderful when it’s hot!
Haha… That’s great. Yes – I eat it cold all the time on top of salads for my protein component. Check out my Hong Kong Quinoa Recipe and my Warm Quinoa Salad…I think you’ll like those too! Here are the links – http://foodbabe.com/2011/06/23/hong-kong-quinoa/ and http://foodbabe.com/2012/02/01/winter-warm-quinoa-salad/
That looks like my dream dinner! I need to pick up some more sprouted quinoa! We are big fans of lettuce wraps + anything with guacamole in our house
OMG. These look absolutely DIVINE! I bet corn and cilantro would be good in those, too!
This looks amazing. Definitely bookmarking this recipe! Love anything and everything with avocado.
YUM! Will try these tonight!
These were seriously amazing!! Super easy, really filling and just delish. Will definitely make them again!
Hi Vani,
I’m so excited to make this later! I actually have almost all of the ingredients!
Here is one of my favorite ways to eat quinoa:
1 cup garbanzo beans (Do you have a secret or preference? I usually just buy the organic canned ones, but I’m sure there is something better)
5 small sweet peppers, diced
1 small sweet onion, diced
2 small tomatoes, diced
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 cup cooked quinoa
chopped romaine lettuce
toasted walnuts/ pecans (I usually give them a quick chop)
Combine the beans, peppers, onion, tomatoes, vinegar, oil, and s&p in a bowl and let sit for at least half an hour for the flavors to combine. On a bed of romaine, scoop 1/4 cup HOT quinoa. Top with veggie mixture. Sprinkle with nuts.
I love this because it’s super easy, nutritious, and you can make it ahead of time! It’s also great to take to work.
So I made your tacos and they were absolutely delicious! I ended up using collards for the wrap instead of romaine :]
I’ll have to try collards one day – but I just love the crunch of romaine with the avocado!
Thanks for sharing… Sounds delicious!
This sounds great Abigail! Glad I found this one as well as the tacos!!
I’ve recently added quinoa to my diet and I would like to keep eating it, in fact this recipe looks delicious. However, every time I’ve eaten quinoa I’ve gotten SO sick. I’m talking laying on the couch, nausea, bloated sick. I’ve tried reducing the amount I eat, rinsing it even though my package says I don’t have to, I’ve tried it cold and hot. Nothing works. I’m ready to give it up even though I love it. Any suggestions as to why I get so sick after eating quinoa? Am I the only one who has experienced this?
Mmmmm…that’s so strange, I never heard of anyone being allergic to quinoa. Maybe you could sub this recipe with another whole grain like farro or brown rice? Good luck!
I share your love/hate experience w/ quinoa. It has the same effect on me. And excuse me for stating this…but awful BM’s. I share this b/c I thought that this effect was just me. I have been fine with mixing 1/2 T. or so in with my slow cook oatmeal and or mixing some in cookie recipes. Eating it by the spoonfuls is not for me!
Sally,
I actually rinsed my quinoa even though the package said I didn’t have to and that seemed to really help as well as eating a little bit less of it. I was having some of the exact same problems you did and I think I wasn’t used to a better diet. Now that I’ve been eating healthier, I think my body is more used to the quinoa. I still rinse it every time and I haven’t had any problems since.
Thanks for letting me know that I wasn’t alone in my quinoa misery.
Just curious — did you try sprouted quinoa or the standard quinoa that’s readily available? I would think the sprouted variety may be a little easier on the tummy.
I guess it would have to be the standard kind since I didn’t know there was such a thing as sprouted.
I bought a huge bag of the regular stuff at Costco so maybe I’ll try sprouted when I finish this bag. Thanks for the suggestion.
Wow! This looks incredible. I discovered quinoa about a year ago and I just bought the Tru Roots brand, but haven’t tried it yet. Just ran across your page by way of “100 Days of Real Food.” I love your blog! The Panera and Chikfila articles were very eye opening.
I made this today for lunch and had to tell you that my kids (five of them) and I really enjoyed them! This was also the very first time we had ever had quinoa, also. We are sold on both! Thank you for such a yummy, simple recipe. I am definitely looking forward to trying more.
I found your blog four days ago and I have been devouring it. I love that you have your workout regime listed. It makes me excited to start working out again. (It’s been awhile). Today was day three drinking lemon water with cayenne and drinking something green. Unfortunately, for some reason, I have also decided to give up coffee at the same time and I have been super tired the last two days.
Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you for the time you spend on your blog and for sharing information about the way you eat each day. Seeing what you eat and how you work out gives me a guideline to follow and it feels much easier to start.
We had these tonight but added spiced shrimp (with Old Bay) to the “tacos” and it was delicious!
Mmmm…sounds delicious!
These are so good! I will be making these again. We had them with black beans for dinner tonight! Yum! Thanks!
You are welcome Sharon – so happy you liked them!
These tacos are flavorful and filling. I loved them! I tried one with Romaine lettuce and one with Savoy Cabbage. They cabbage was great and added a nice crunch.
Definitely going to try cabbage the next time I make them – thanks for the idea!
These look awesome! Will definitely be trying them soon.
One of my new favorite ways to eat quinoa is by making patties using Heidi Swanson’s recipe from Super Natural Every Day Cooking. They are amazing! If you haven’t tried these yet you need to!
I have loved quinoa in every recipe I have tried and I am obsessed with tacos…SOOO Im sure this will be amazing! Thanks
These look fantastic – all of my favorite things here! Avocado, quinoa, onion, cilantro, lime and chili spice, Holy Yum!! I will be making this inside a week. And thanks for the Tru Roots recommendation, I will be buying some of their products online. I’ve sprouted my own grains in the past but it is a bit of a pain since I do tend to forget about my poor little sprouts hidden in the dark part of my cupboard
Made this tonight for dinner and it would have been delicious if it wasn’t 5-alarm spicy (even after removing the seeds of the jalapeño and rinsing the pepper!) Is there a different, less spicy pepper that you would recommend? The flavor was great but just too hot for me! Or maybe a defective pepper? I don’t cook with jalapeños too often so I don’t know how spicy they usually are. Thanks and I love your site!
What about a poblano?
Crazy news about the pepper – I just made them again tonight and had virtually no spice. Probably a very spicy pepper…
Love these! Hoping you can shed some light on whole grains for me. I keep reading conflicting messages about whole grains and some whole food blogs claim that whole grains are unnecessary, and in fact, damage gut health. Any advice or opinion on that?
I really don’t like consuming whole wheat flour very often personally. It is very processed and I do believe has a negative health effect – I’d stick to sprouted wheat and other whole foods – like quinoa, millet, and brown rice. Good Luck!
Yum! Will have to try this! You asked how we liked to eat quinoa…
thanks for sharing!
Something about quinoa and sweet potato I love..and quinoa and salmon.
There are two ‘cake’ recipes i use for these ingredients that everyone in the house gobbles up and that is unusual since there isn’t a lot we ALL love. Haven’t tried avocado and quinoa..maybe this will become my next new fav
I love cinnamon apple quinoa for breakfast! This recipe looks really good, too.
I made these tonight and they are a keeper for sure! They were perfect! Lots of flavor and filling too.
I just tried these tonight. They were a huge hit (even by the 13 year old). I’m going to have the leftovers as a quinoa taco salad at work tomorrow. I especially love that it was such an easy recipe after a day of work. We’ll definitely make these again. Thank Vani!
Wish we could post photos here – I just made this the other night with a friend we used red quinoa – it looks fantastic! The color really pops on the romaine & avocado. =)
Plus it tasted great too!
Me too! – Come over and post it on my Facebook Wall – I’d love to see it. You also can email me photos too! Love it.
Good idea! I just posted one to your FB page.
Been eating more Quinoa lately…looks like a great go to meal. Thanks!
Made these tacos tonight and they were delicious!! Thank you for all the hard work you do for us…
A new fan,
Stacy
So glad you liked them Stacy. Yes, they are sooo good. I might have to make them tonight. I think I have all the ingredients. Welcome to the blog!
Whole Foods has an organic sprouted quinoa that’s cheaper (from the bins). Do you know how does it compare to the Tru Roots brand?
Sure that is fine to use! Always good when you can save some money.
We are going to have to try this on our Meatless Wednesday meal!! Not sure if my kids will do it, but it’s worth a try and they will eat almost anything in taco form-lol. So far I have not found a way to get my boys to eat avacado :/
Michelle, I have a great recipe for you to convert your kids to avocado eaters. I made these for my non-avocado eating friend and she flipped out over them. She can’t believe she thought she didn’t like avocados. So simple and so delicious! Haven’t made them for my kids yet but I think they will like them because they like cheese on everything. http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/chipotle_cheddar_avocado.html
Let us know if you try them.
I was wondering if you could include the nutritional info with your recipes. Total amount of protein, carbs and sodium would be helpful. I love your recipes! Thanks
I made this for dinner tonight, and it was delicious! My entire family loved it, which is saying a lot because my 7-yr-old always complains about quinoa.
Just made these and they are FABULOUS!!!!! Thanks for this great recipe. Can’t wait to make them again. YUM!
Made these tonight and they were delicious!! The boyfriend was skeptical as always but ended up really enjoying them as well. Best quote from him ever “You are really good at making healthy stuff taste good.”
Great quote! Good job Rachel.