Fear of Quinoa

Today was a big day. Today I overcame my fear of Quinoa. Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), is a Peruvian grain from ancient times that's been sort of "rediscovered" and is starting to go upscale. It's one of those things that everyone says you should eat if you're gluten free (or even if you're not), because it's easy to digest and loaded with protein. I've avoided it because I have a vague memory of eating it years ago and not liking it. But last weekend I was at a potluck party and my friend Lauren brought this delicious grain salad, and when I found out it was quinoa, I had to ask for the recipe.

Quinoa is a quirky little grain – it behaves a little bit like couscous – but with a vaguely nutty flavor. Whole Foods says to rinse it well before cooking, use a 4 to 1 water to grain ratio, and cook for 20 minutes. I didn't do any of that because the recipe Lauren gave me said differently and it turned out fine.

Here's her recipe, with my adjustments. She said she found it by Googling, so I apologize for not being able to correctly give credit to its author.

Balsamic Quinoa Salad

½ cup balsamic vinegar (I used a little over ¼ cup)

¼ – ½ cup best quality extra virgin olive oil (I used ¼ cup)

2 T Dijon mustard (I didn't have Dijon so I used deli style)

6 cloves of garlic, minced

2 shallots, minced (I used one)

Salt, pepper and cayenne pepper, to taste (oops, I didn't notice until just now it called for cayenne. Didn't use it.)

1 ½ cups quinoa

Bouillon cube (didn't use this since the recipe doesn't say what to do with it.)

5 Sun Dried Tomatoes (Not in oil.)

1 red pepper, chopped

4 oz blue cheese (I didn't have blue cheese so I used feta.)

1 can black beans

Make dressing by combining vinegar, mustard, garlic, shallots and olive oil. Season to taste.

Add quinoa to three cups of boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes.

Rinse with cool water and place in a fine mesh colander. Boil water and place quinoa and sun dried tomatoes in the colander over the water. Cover with a kitchen towel and lid. Steam for 10 minutes. (I misread this and steamed the quinoa and sundried tomatoes first. [Never make a recipe for the first time while you're talking on the phone.] I realized my mistake after the ten minutes were almost up and just dumped the quinoa and tomatoes into the boiling water for another ten minutes, then rinsed them under cold water. I thought rinsing after cooking would reduce it to mush, but quinoa has a weird sort of dryness to it – the water didn't get absorbed and the texture was fine.)

Allow to cool.

Cook red pepper in a small skillet until tender. (I used fresh red pepper and didn't sauté it at all. It added a really great crunch to the salad.)

Combine pepper and remaining ingredients with quinoa. Add dressing and toss. Enjoy!

This recipe is pretty much idiot proof. Even though I messed up the cooking process and used different ingredients, it was delicious. All four family members liked it, including my vegetarian teenage daughter who proclaimed it her "new favorite dish." That's high praise indeed.

I served it with potato leek soup and a green salad. Yum.