Now What to do with a box of QUINOA?

This grain is easy to prepare, but definitely rinse it first. It has a sour coating called saponin that easily dissolves off if rinsed first. We eat Quinoa, cooked with vegetable broth and mixed with sautéed veggies, or mixed with nuts, dried fruit, and a bit of cheese (like walnuts, cranberries, and chèvre or feta). You can also use it to coat fish and then little fry in a pan. I've also used it as a filling for stuffing acorn squash or red peppers before roasting. And for the quelque chose de sucré, I often mix cooked quinoa with some melted semi-sweet chocolate, a bit of peanut butter, coconut oil, and raisins and then press into a pan lined with wax paper. Stick it in the fridge to set up. It makes a "candy bar" that I feel just a bit better about allowing my daughter to eat as a treat. Sometimes I mix puffed rice cereal into it as well. I'm sorry I don't have a recipe. I just add until I have the right balance of chocolate coating all the other ingredients. :)
 
I love quinoa and make it almost weekly. One of my favourite ways to prepare it is to toss it into a saucepan with about a tbsp or two of good olive oil with 1/2 a diced onion and a minced clove of garlic and toast it a bit, stirring until the onions turn a bit translucent and careful not to burn the garlic. Then I add chicken stock (scantly double the amount of the quinoa), 1/3 cup (approx) of chopped dill and the juice of half a lemon, salt to taste. Cover and cook on low for about 15 minutes then fluff with a fork. Yummy with any fish dish.
 
Thanks Melissa-I knew about the thorough rinsing. I like the idea to cook it in broth-I will do that the second go around. I want to see what it tastes like just plain before I start getting too creative.
 
Fairly tasteless plain. Maybe a little nutty. If I don't want the flavouring then I cook it in chicken stock with a garlic clove and salt and use it as a rice substitute under main course dishes I make that would normally go on top of rice. Anything you can do with rice you can do with quinoa. Also some people prepare it as a morning cereal sort of like cream of wheat but grainier and then add sweet rather than savoury flavourings like fruit, nuts, maple syrup etc.
 
First go around I will taste it plain. Then I can add chopped green peppers, onion, garlic and I am thinking broccoli bits and serving as my side dish.
 
Good on ya for the healthy alternative, my YSS! I'm not a fan of quinoa, but I eat it regularly. Let me know your thoughts.
 
I think that any way that Jean Claude can prepare it would make for a fabulous dining experience. On my own, not so much....
 
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