Through amber waves of...quinoa?

      Once upon a time my mom made quinoa when it was just becoming known, and I hated it. This wasn't a mild case. I went into college thinking that this wretched seed(?) was going to become the new poster child for nutrition in the 21st century. Not on my watch. I went around telling any biddy that would listen that quinoa was just a fad and wasn't worth their time. I was an out of control quinoa vigilante. 

     Fortunately, this all changed my junior year of college. One of my roommates who does not eat gluten was preparing those creepy lil squiggles and I immediately jumped for my anti-quinoa pamphlets, but was stopped. My roommate held me down with a dull vegetable peeler and demanded that I taste the pearls of doom. Boom! My opinion of quinoa was changed forever.

      When I confronted my mom about her batch, we decided that the offending qualities simply came from over-compensation. The trendy quinoa pioneers had tried to win over our hearts by creating recipes that totally covered up what makes quinoa great. When cooked with just a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, quinoa is delightfully nutty and chewy and can be added into almost any dish. 

     Discovering that quinoa was in fact a tasty alternative to wheat pleased me. Don't get me wrong, I worship wheat, but having options is always preferable. Here are two basic recipes for a wheat/meat free meal.

Mediterranean Spiced Quinoa

     Prepare 1/4 cup of dry quinoa as directed. Peel and dice 1/2 cup of carrots and add to a small pan with 1/2 cup of water. Cook the carrots on high until all the water has evaporated. The carrots should be tender at this point. If the carrots are not soft enough, you can add a few more tablespoons of water and continue to cook. Add the quinoa to the pan and season with salt, pepper, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp powdered ginger, 1 tsp garlic powder, and 1 tsp of honey. Heat until the quinoa has dried out a bit. Lastly, add a cup of fresh spinach that has been chopped or sliced. This will serve two or one mildly hungry bear.

Salmon Teriyaki Fried Rice

     Woahhhh, leftover city, over here. Combine 1 cup of steamed green beans with 1 1/2 cups of cooked, brown rice, and four ounces of cooked salmon. Heat over a medium flame and season with 2 tsps of soy sauce, 1 tsp teriyaki sauce, 1 tsp each of onion and garlic powder, 1 tbsp of light brown sugar, and a healthy pinch of pepper. Now turn that sucker up to high and scramble some eggs in a bowl. Make a well in the middle of the pan for the eggs and add a tsp of vegetable oil. Pour dem eggs in and stir just to combine. Now let the rice sit for a good 30 seconds and then stir again. Who doesn't like big chunks of egg in their fried rice? You can add extra soy sauce at this point if you like it salty. I do. This makes about 3 servings.

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