Pineapple Fried Quinoa (in a pineapple boat!) is on my menu today. A bright yellow pineapple and a bag of quinoa was all I needed to inspire me to dream up this tiki chic recipe.
Aloha wishes, South Pacific daydreams, Maui wowie, kowabunga and lets-luau-all-night-long-under-the-glow-of-tiki-torches, just about covers everything that is wrapped into this bowl of pineapple bliss.
These flavors will bring you to the party. Mint. Tahini. Pineapple zing. Sassy and sweet. Shiitakes. Tamari. Pepper. Jalapeno. Simple yet complex. Exotic yet so familiar.
To round out the dish - I added some peppery tofu triangles on top. This way to the Tiki Room! Cue the Hawaiian music..
Easy. Perky. Tiki chic. Colorful. Healthy. This quinoa rocks the beach party.
I'm doing the hula for this delicious pineapple fried quinoa. It's healthier than the name implies. But Pineapple Sauteed Quinoa just doesn't have the same ring to it.
This dish tastes just as sassy as it looks all dolled up in my hand-crafted, literally pineapple boat serving dish.
And FYI, you can skip the pineapple boat if you choose. Coring this darn thing was much harder than I expected. So not beachy of me to be whacking my knife into a pineapple at 10am while squealing in frustration. My coring tured into a "hacking" a massacre really.
Those Food Network fruit show piece people who hallow out pineapples and melons and chop them into snazzy zig zag designs along the sides. A hundred in like ten minutes. How do they do that?! I used tofu triangles for my zig zags.
Anyways, lets get back to this quinoa. Quinoa is the backbone of this dish. Tips on how to cook it here: How-to Cook Fluffy Quinoa Every Time.
This dish has a lot going on. Just how the tiki gods like it. Tender chunks of fresh pineapple, tofu and a creamy alluring dressing to drizzle over top. The peppery tofu triangles are flavored with tamari and maple. And the tahini mint pineapple dressing is creamy and tangy with a cool hint of mint.
Grab a pineapple and make this stuff!
And with all that leftover pineapple you may have - you can whip up my Pineapple Tahini Kale Tofu Wrap
Pineapple Fried Quinoa (in a boat!)
vegan, makes 6-7 cups
pineapple note: If serving in pineapple boat you will need whole pineapple, if not serving in boat, you just need about 2 cups fresh pineapple.
first saute:
Tofu Triangles
10 mini sized tofu triangles
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoon tamari
fine black pepper
add in:
½ cup red onion, diced
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced
second saute:
1 ½ cup fresh pineapple, diced
4 cups cooked quinoa (I used Trader Joe's Multicolor Quinoa)
¼ red onion, diced
sauteed shiitakes + red onion from tofu saute pan
1 cup kale, shredded
¼ cup nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon dried jalapeno (for spicy accent)
to taste: splash of maple syrup and pinch of salt
Garnish saute:
½ cup finely diced pineapple
1 tablespoon mint, chopped
safflower oil for sauting
Tahini Pineapple Dressing
2 tablespoon Tahini
3 tablespoon pineapple juice
1 teaspoon chopped mint
Directions:
1. Cook your quinoa. I used 1 ¼ cups dry quinoa + 1 cup water + 1 cup veggie broth + pinch salt. Set cooked quinoa aside.
2. For your first saute, you will cook the tofu, shiitakes and red onion. Cooking them all in the same pan helps to season the tofu a bit. Start off with a thin layer of safflower oil. Add tofu triangles (dry them as much as possible). Allow to sizzle for a minute or so. Then add in tamari and maple syrup with a generous layer of black pepper. Cook on high 2 minutes on both sides. Then add in the shiitakes and onions. Cook until the veggies are tender. Remove tofu from pan and set aside. You can leave the mushrooms and onions and any excess liquid in the pan.
3. For the next saute, add the quinoa, pineapple, more red onion, mint, kale, nutritional yeast and jalapeno to the pan with a splash of safflower oil. Turn heat to high and cook for about 3 minutes - moving quinoa around so it cooks on all sides. A few crisped bits of quinoa is a good thing. Do a quick taste test and add a splash of tamari or maple syrup if needed. Transfer the fried quinoa to a bowl. Set aside.
pineapples added to saute with quinoa and shroom mix..
4. Quickly saute the pineapple garnish. Just brown the edges a bit. The pineapple will pick up the flavor left in the pan.
5. Mix your dressing. Set aside.
6. To plate you can either use a pre-hollowed pineapple or a simple bowl. Add the fried quinoa.Then the pineapple garnish over top. Some fresh chopped mint on top is nice too. You can serve with the dressing and tofu on the side or you can add right over top this dish.
Aloha 🙂
Katrina says
Made this for dinner last night with some leftover quinoa and subbed seitan i/o tofu. SO good! Thank you for another great recipe!
Carol-Lee Grams says
Where is the print option? I just need the recipe and instructions not the pictures.
Katerina Bernleithner says
Just made this for dinner and it was awesome. I usually really don't like tofu but I couldn't get enough!
Kathy Patalsky says
Awesome! So pleased to hear that 🙂
Gina Leung says
I made this for my boyfriend last night. I got a smaller pineapple and I ended up using the whole pineapple and we each have one "boat" this is lovely! He wants me to make it again soon! Thank you so much for this great recipes!
Tiffany Merritt says
Looks so yummy! Wanted to let you know that I'm doing a round up of recipes that I can't wait to try in the near future, and I'd like to include this one. I will be listing the name of your recipe, linked back to your site, as well as your site name. A photo will bein a collage format only, so that your picture cannot be "swiped" from my site. And there will be no information about the ingredients or recipe steps so that readers must come visit you if they want to know how to make it! This will go live on the 13th; please do let me know if you don't want me to link to you for some reason. I hope it brings you a lot of traffic!
Suzanne says
This is delicious Kathy!! I didn't have mint- used (very scant amount) peppermint extract and it worked!! Fresh Jalepeno was nice, and spinach replaced Kale. I couldn't figure out to hollow out the pineapple without chopping off a thumb, so I served it in a pretty bowl and was done with it!! Yet again, my non-veg family loved it (skeptical brothers gave it a 8.5/10!) Keep the vegan recipes coming 🙂
Ana Martins says
Thank you so much!
Just did it!
Was amazing! Wow!
Thanks again!!!
Katie says
Hey, this was good! I made it for Easter dinner with my parents. We all thought it was yummy, but if I was going to serve it to someone who wasn't open-minded about vegan food, I might make it with rice to make it seem more Asian and easier for them to categorize, since it doesn't quite fit into a specific cuisine (that I know of!). I used asparagus and snap peas to make it seem more spring-like and didn't end up using the kale. I also cut the nutritional yeast in half because I was worried it would be too weird, but you didn't notice it in the finished dish. I was also liberal with maple syrup and soy sauce throughout cooking. Thanks for a really fun recipe! Next time I will serve it in a pineapple boat!
Catch the Arsonist says
was that firm tofu??
Natalie says
Sounds delicious! I can't wait to try it without the mushrooms, though!
Brandi Magsaysay says
I made this tonight...absolutely DELISH!!!
Amanda Kreighbaum says
I'm not a vegan or even a vegetarian but this was so yummy! Thanks for the great recipe and expanding my horizons. 🙂
Tricia Cardone says
Now this looks AMAZING! Thank you for sharing!