I have never tried it before so I bought some today. I am so glad that I have found this thread. I like the suggestion to eat it with black beans because those are my favourite bean.
One of my favorite dishes in the warmer months is quinoa salad. I lightly sautee red onion, red or green pepper, zucchini, garlic, and a serrrano pepper. Then I mix the veggies and quinoa together with corn (which I toast) and black beans, then I dress the whole thing with a lime and cumin dressing and lots of fresh cilantro. It is SO GOOD and really healthy and low in calories. Sometimes I add grilled chicken, other times I eat it on its own. It's my standby for summer parties and potlucks and people always love it.
One of my favorite dishes in the warmer months is quinoa salad. I lightly sautee red onion, red or green pepper, zucchini, garlic, and a serrrano pepper. Then I mix the veggies and quinoa together with corn (which I toast) and black beans, then I dress the whole thing with a lime and cumin dressing and lots of fresh cilantro. It is SO GOOD and really healthy and low in calories. Sometimes I add grilled chicken, other times I eat it on its own. It's my standby for summer parties and potlucks and people always love it.
I adore quinoa. We recently found a nice recipe where you make the quinoa as normal, and in a pan saute in olive oil chopped carrots, onion, garlic, celery, red bell pepper, leeks and pine nuts. Saute until carrots are cooked through and I like a little caramelizing on the onions. Mix altogether with the quinoa and it is a delicious side dish!
Edit: I saw someone mention that they weren't sure you could make this in a rice cooker. You can, absolutely. It's how I prepare mine. Use the same water:quinoa ratio you would in the pot. The cooker automatically turns off when it should.
Last edited by EagleRiverDee; 05-21-2012 at 08:20 PM.
It also cooks well in a crockpot (even overnight). I tend to lose recipes or have difficulty finding them, so I find most of my recipes online. Even the crockpot quinoa recipes I usually find by typing "crockpot quinoa" in the google search bar, and then looking for recipes that include reviews from people who've tried the recipe. Or I'll go directly to the sites I know have customer reviews (such as allrecipes.com).
Overnight quinoa does tend to be creamier than other cooking methods. Even in a crockpot, if I'm cooking it during the day when I'm going to be home to check on it, I usually will turn off the crockpot when the quinoa is tender but still "pops" against your teeth. Overnight quinoa tends to be much softer and there's less "pop" but it has a creamy texture that's just as good, just different.
I love quinoa. I eat it plain as a side dish to replace rice. My mum sometimes puts it in porridge. It's much more filling than rice (probably because of all the protien).
I used quinoa in lieu of bulger wheat when making tabouleh a couple of weeks ago. Basically: cooked quinoa, mixed with chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, scallions, with a bunch (or two) of parsley and some mint from the garden finely, finely chopped, dressed with a light vinagrette made mostly of lemon juice, with salt, garlic, and a bit of olive oil.
It is exactly the same texture as bulger wheat, and has added protein.
I was also in Peru in May. There was surprisingly little quinoa on the menus. It is apparently particularly expensive for locals in Peru right now because of its popularity in the States. I'm not sure how I feel about that, (vaguely guilty) but it has not stopped me from enjoying quinoa.
I did have an Andean vegetable soup several places, which combined quinoa, with local veg (a stripped green summer squash, rather like zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, lima beans, onions) in a broth, maybe with cilantro, sometimes served with Andean cheese. (I liked Andean cheese, but not in soup. It didn't do well when melty, IMO). It was always delicious, but I somehow feel like I'm missing some especial ingredient in there, because I don't think my approximations have matched it.
