Quinoa

The past month has been a whirlwind of final exams and packing and spring cleaning and the closing of yet another life-chapter. While the flurry of activity seriously cut back on my updates here, it didn’t make much of a dent in the cooking department. After all, when you’re avoiding corn, relying on store-bought convenience foods isn’t really much of an option!

Yesterday I cooked up some plain quinoa for breakfast. I’d reached the bottom of the usually-bottomless container of brown rice, and the small jar of quinoa looked rather alone and dejected in the now mostly-empty pantry. So I scooped some out, and rinsed it thoroughly to remove the saponin – a bit of a feat in itself since the colanders and strainers and such were already packed.

I remembered reading that quinoa’s flavor can be enhanced by toasting, so I poured the soggy quinoa into a saucepan and heated the seeds until they were dry enough to begin toasting. After a few minutes of Mexican jumping bean-like action and a pleasantly muted popping sound, I added water and covered the pan, then settled back to wait for my breakfast. (Actually, to be entirely honest -- I didn’t ‘settle back’ at all. I rushed off to attack another item on the to-do list.)

In the end, I missed the toothy nuttiness of the brown rice, and thought the quinoa’s flavor was dreary and mild. I certainly don’t feel that my comfort foods are in any danger of being usurped by this super-grain. . . .

1 part quinoa, rinsed and toasted
2 parts water

In covered saucepan, simmer on low for 15-20 minutes.

. . . but then again, it could very well be that I’m just not preparing it properly.

corn-free, corn allergy, recipes, quinoa