Tuesday, October 26, 2010

New Foods: Quinoa

246_edited-1New foods don’t only happen to kids. I have a ton of quinoa in my cupboard. Why?

Um, I saw it at Costco.

(did you read that post where I said I was ashamed of myself for being such a corporate-struck foodie? Yesterday I was saying to myself, “FORGET BUYING LOCAL! Just give me a drive-thru supermarket!” It wasn’t one of my better moments after shopping with kids for 2 hours.)

I’d heard about quinoa, so I bought it, thinking, “This is so healthy. I will totally love this.”

Are you laughing yet?

I didn’t like it. It’s so… Crunchy. I like crunchy, yes, but it’s too crunchy. Even when I tried to cook it longer. With more water. And more. And more. It just tastes uncooked to me.

I’ve been ignoring it for weeks now (months?). I felt embarrassed when I was going through my cupboard and saw it was still there. Can’t it take a hint?

238_edited-1 I finally decided to give it a go when I saw a recipe for a quinoa cake. I liked it. (plus gluten free!) I really would have never known it was quinoa. Fudgy and moist.

My mom told me that my dad likes it mixed with the regular rice in the rice cooker. I was skeptical but finally gave it a go.

I LOVED quinoa in the rice cooker. I put a ratio of 1 rice cup (if you have a rice cooker, I hope you didn’t throw this away) quinoa and 3 rice cups rice (duh) and filled the water up to “rice” line 4. The quinoa wasn’t overwhelming, and it was fluffy with just the right texture.

So I think I might venture even further and try this parfait.

Do you like quinoa? Send some recipes my way so I can like it too.

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9 comments:

Syl said...

Ah! Thank you! I've been curious about quinoa for forever.

Damaris said...

I love quinoa with broccoli, the kind my friend Chessa makes. I've never made it before. I totally got rid of my rice cooker. I'm an idiot.

Sonya said...

ha ha ha ha you said *can't it take a hint!* ha ha ha
i have no idea what quinoa is...so i guess it's gross.

burp_excuzme said...

Not a fan of quinoa...at least, not the way I made it. I think I'll have to ease myself into liking quinoa, first by making that cake! :D

thelittlefoodie said...

Why would you do that??

thelittlefoodie said...

I know. I've previously hated it. I thought I was the only one.

thelittlefoodie said...

It is, sometimes. :)

Danny said...

I love Quinoa, just never thought of making a Quinoa cake! Will definitely try this recipe.

Robyn said...

i just started eating quinoa about a year ago--yeah, cuz costco had it. i like it for breakfast with dried cranberries and honey. (i make a batch ahead of time and stick it in the fridge; i ate it cold in the summer, like a summer oatmeal.) i also like it in salad, you know like a tabbouleh type thing.

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