Dream dinners: Stir-fried quinoa and cashews 

Dream dinners: Stir-fried quinoa and cashews

Quinoa is a good source of calcium and tryptophan, while cashews contain sleep-enhancing calcium, magnesium, potassium, vitamin B6 and tryptophan.

SERVES 4

PREP 15 minutes

COOK 20 minutes

60g cashews

480ml vegetable stock

200g quinoa (dry weight)

250g broccoli, cut into florets

150g mangetout, trimmed

2 tbsp olive oil

1 bunch spring onions, sliced

1 red pepper, deseeded and diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2.5cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and diced

½ tsp ground coriander

3 tbsp light soy sauce

grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

200g baby plum tomatoes, quartered

a handful of fresh coriander, chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • Set a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cashews and gently toss them for 1-2 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the pan immediately before they catch and burn then set aside.
  • Heat the stock in a saucepan and when it starts to boil add the quinoa. Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes until tender, and most of the liquid has been absorbed so the ‘sprout’ pops out of each seed. Remove from the heat and leave to steam in the pan for 5 minutes before draining and fluffing up with a fork.
  • Meanwhile, blanch the broccoli and mangetout in a pan of boiling water for 1 minute. Plunge into a bowl of iced water to cool, then drain.
  • Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan over a medium heat and stir-fry the spring onions, red pepper, garlic and ginger for 2 minutes. Stir in the ground coriander, soy sauce, lemon zest and juice, tomatoes, broccoli and mangetout.
  • Stir-fry briskly for 2 minutes, then add the quinoa and cook for 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Divide between four bowls and serve sprinkled with the cashews and coriander.

TIP The beauty of a stir-fry is that you can add whatever vegetables you have in your fridge. Try it with courgettes, green beans or mushrooms. You can also swap the cashews for almonds.