Question of the Day: Quinoa!

A friend from long ago and far away writes to me on Facebook. She's not celiac but is raising a vegetarian family and is interested in recipes with quinoa.

I have to confess I am not too good with actual recipes. I have tendencies or patterns of combining foods, textures and flavors, so I'll share some of those.

I love quinoa. It tastes good, cooks fast, and seems to be more nutritionally dense than other grains.

I buy three different colors of quinoa -pale, red, and black- mostly for visual variety though I think they taste slightly different from each other.

I cook quinoa, sometimes using two or three different colors, in my rice cooker.

Sometimes I'll cook brown rice and quinoa or amaranth and quinoa together.

*Cook quinoa with brown sushi rice, make into patties with hijiki and minced ginger. In blender, puree almond butter and frozen mango chunks for a sauce to put on top, garnish with minced green onions.

*Toss cooked quinoa with chives, toasted pine nuts, and chevre. Maybe a tiny bit of truffle oil at the end.

*Sauté cooked quinoa with cashews, kale, and shiitake mushrooms.

*Bake cremini or white mushrooms: stuff with quinoa & oyster mushrooms and little spritz of wheat-free tamari. Make tahini lemon black pepper sauce to drizzle on top.

*Make quinoa salad with chopped pears, chives, balsamic vinegar, and chopped walnuts.