Single Serve Quinoa with Broccoli and Feta (Easy Meal Prep Dish)

This Single Serve Quinoa with Broccoli and Feta is a quick and easy dish to whip up and can be made even faster with a little bit of meal prepping.  It makes a filling lunch or a light dinner and you can easily add additional proteins of your choice.

 

I like a good meal in a bowl. Bowls, I feel, are the single person’s china of choice. You can eat at your desk with a bowl or over the sink with a bowl or on the couch watching Netflix with a bowl. One dish, one utensil, and everything stays in the bowl when you mix things up. Food in bowls seems less “spillable” to me (or maybe I’m just messy!)

That’s why I eat a lot of “bowls”.  And this Single Serve Quinoa with Broccoli and Feta works great in a bowl – or on a plate if that’s your choice.  It’s quick, tasty and makes for a great lunch or a light dinner.  If you want a more filling dinner, you can easily add an extra protein of your choice.  And, it works great warm or cold.

Meal Prepping the Quinoa and Broccoli Ahead of Time

I’ve included instructions on how to cook the right quantity of quinoa and broccoli in the recipe but I highly recommend cooking them both in larger quantities ahead of time.  Because let’s be honest – cooking a small amount of pretty much any grain is a pain in the patoot.  Most grains keep for up to a week in the fridge and they’re easy to reheat.

I’m not a big meal prepper but I am an ingredient prepper.  I’ll take an hour a couple of times a week to prep veggies, soft boiled eggs and a grain or two so I can easily throw a bowl together for lunch or dinner when I don’t really feel like cooking or eating a sandwich.

Prepping Quinoa

Quinoa has a simple 1:2 ratio when you’re cooking it:

• 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water = 3 cups of cooked quinoa

You can adjust to whatever works for you but 3 cups of cooked quinoa is usually a good amount for me to do in one batch. It gives me 3-4 meals and lasts long enough that I don’t waste it.   Simply bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a pot. Once it boils, cover it and turn the temp to low so it simmers for about 10-12 minutes or the water is absorbed. Remove it from the heat, fluff the quinoa with a fork and let it sit covered in the pan for a few minutes.  Then transfer it to an airtight container to cool a bit more. Cover and put it in the fridge until you need it.

To reheat, place the amount you want in a microwave safe dish and add a tsp or two of water and heat until hot (times will vary greatly depending on microwaves but I find about 30-45 seconds works for me).

Prepping the Broccoli

I will also steam or roast a large batch of broccoli and/or cauliflower once a week to keep in the fridge for 3-4 days and add it to dishes – because I love both of these veggies. But you can prep a lot of veggies ahead of time – even if it’s as simple as cutting up cucumber and carrots.

While roasting takes a bit more effort (and adds a lot more flavour) my little shortcut for steaming veg is to do it at the same time as I cook a batch of rice in the rice cooker. Simply use the steamer bowl that came with your rice cooker and and steam your veg while the rice is cooking. Easy peasy!  If you don’t have a rice cooker – just steam a batch on the stove in a saucepan with a steamer insert.  It takes just a few minutes and you have cooked veggies you can use for the next few days.

Adding Additional Proteins to Your Quinoa and Broccoli

You can add additional proteins if you want to make this more filling. I usually use whatever I have in my fridge – often something leftover. But here are some great add-ins for a protein boost:

• black beans
• leftover chicken or pulled pork
• cooked shrimp (shrimp cook up in a flash and it’s so easy to cook just a few)
• canned tuna or salmon
• hard or soft boiled eggs

Topping Off Your Single Serve Quinoa With Broccoli

Once you’ve got your main ingredients cooked, let your pantry do the work – feta or even Parmesan will add a bit of salty flavour.  Dried cranberries add a pop of sweet and tangy flavour and they all play off each other nicely.  You could also add some pumpkin seed or nuts or toasted nuts for a little extra crunch.

Top it off with a dressing of your choice. I’ve been using Mother Raw’s Mediterranean Dressing (I worked with them for a food photography workshop I taught a few months ago and had some leftovers to take home – the Mediterranean flavours work really well with this dish. And no, this is not sponsored. I’m just using what’s in my fridge!).  But you can easily use what you have in your fridge or whip up a quick dressing yourself.

More Recipes For One Person

• Single Serve Classic Oatmeal
• Single Serve Beets with Feta Cheese

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