Experimenting with Quinoa

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is reputed as the Incan superfood. I've been interested in it because

a) it is quick cooking --There have been many a night of a starving me vegging on popcorn while waiting for a pot of brown rice to cook. It take FOREVER.
b) is a perfect protein--as a broke college student with a fear of raw meat and rotten eggs, I lead a relatively vegan lifestyle. Protein is of course very important and quinoa provides all the essential amino acids!
c) tastes freakin' amazing! -- I would liken it to a creamier couscous. And it is also a whole grain which has its own benefits.

I bought a box of Trader Joe's organic Quinoa a while ago and have been meaning to experiment with it. I also should add that Quinoa is cheap! For 2 dollars a box, it would make a great alternative to rice or pasta. My favorite application from past experience has been in a tabouleh-like salad. The creamy and nutty quinoa go nicely against the cool crunchy vegetables and tangy dressing.

After consulting a plethora of recipes via the interweb and an inventory of my currently very dismal pantry. I devised something to the likes of a recipe.

This recipe would probably serve for maybe 2 light lunches or more if eaten as a side dish.

Totally Improvised 10pm Curry Ginger Lime Quinoa salad

1 cup quinoa, uncooked
2 cups water (or vegetable broth, if you have it. I personally did not...unfortunately)
1 tsp Curry Powder (this is approximate, I just added "enough")
1 clove garlic, chopped
1.5 tsp ginger, chopped fine
Pinch of salt

Diced cucumber
Diced Bell Pepper (I used maybe 1/4 of a large one. Red ones make it look pretty)
Drizzle of Olive Oil (maybe 2 tbsp or so)
Juice of 1 lime
Salt
Pepper

1. Quickly rinse the Quinoa. A mesh strainer would be helpful here since the grains are very small and will fall through a traditional collander. Rinsing as you would rice would also be difficult, as I found out, since quinoa grains also tend to float making straining out the water a wasteful endeavor.

2. Cook the Quinoa. I used my rice cooker and treated it as I would rice. The ratio is 2x liquid than amount of Quinoa. In this case, 2 cups. I simply used the premeasured lines on the side of my rice cooker and it turned out fine. I added a pinch of salt, the curry powder, ginger and garlic to the water and set it to "cook."

3. After the quinoa is cooked, I took the pot out of the rice cooker and set it aside to cool. In the meanwhile, I chopped up the veggies. I only had cucumbers and bell pepper (and the bell pepper was on loan from my lovely roommate), but there are so many more veggies that you can use! I personally would have liked celery, onion, broccoli, and corn. I also debated adding some spinach leaves near the end of cooking to wilt it a little. Added nutrition and flavor. Unfortunately, my quinoa was already nearly cooled when I figured this out. And don't limit yourself with veggies. I think some chopped nuts or dried fruit would go great and provide good contrast. I just didn't have any of this stuff on hand.

4. Add the veggies and mix. Next dress the salad with a drizzle of olive oil, juice of one lime, salt and pepper (to taste of course) and mix once more. Let it cool a little longer and it is ready!

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If it isn't obvious by now, I definitely improvise when I cook. Heck, I rarely if ever use a recipe except when it comes to baking. And that's the beauty of cooking I believe. Sometimes, it turns out great and better than you'd ever hope for...other times it is a hot mess. I just use my intuition and past experience. Also, it allows for me to keep my pantry stocked with basically whatever I want. I like ingredients that are versatile and can be added to just about anything...and store for a while. I rarely buy anything that I would only put into just one dish that i make sometimes.

A quinoa salad is pretty basic and definitely quick. My first expedition into quinoa was a tasty success, though i have yet to actually eat any of it. Tomorrow lunch time will be the moment of truth and I seriously can't wait.

Anyway, that is all i have to say for tonight. Wow, my first recipe! Hope you enjoy!