I LIVE for quinoa. In fact, I ate basically this exact same dinner lats night. Holla.

Hope NYC was fun!

I've given quinoa a few tries, and it's just not my favorite. I can't get over it's complete blandness, and I've tried adding high flavor sauces like pesto or garlic/lemon vinaigrette.. but it just doesn't do it for me. I'm going to give it one more go in place of cracked wheat in some tabbouleh & if that doesn't work I'm quitting it for good! haha.

I don't know about the quinoa, but roasted asparagus makes anything better!

Hollie - I think lots of things can be bland on their own - like rice, for example. I would try and make something else the star of the show - and let the quinoa take a supporting role.

my husband discovered quinoa last week. loves it! can't stop talking about it. i'll pass him this recipe. pam

ps i already liked it.

Do you own a pepper mill?

I have had a box of quinoa in my cupboard for a year and a half (at least!) and was so convinced that I would hate it that I have avoided eating it. Well, after reading your post I felt inspired to finally give it a try so I threw some in the rice cooker with some vegetable broth and then when it was done I just sprinkled a little pepper on top and chowed down. Oh.My.Goodness. That was delicious. Thanks for giving me the motivation I needed to try a new food.

1) I blogged about Quinoa today too! (mix it with mandarins, snow peas and green onion. mmmmmm)
2) As I was eating that dish, Matt told me it reminded him of frog eggs. Which is gross cuz I hate tapioca.

Kevin - We do have a pepper mill.

Melissa - I'm glad to hear you liked it on it's own!

Favorite ever: quinoa for breakfast. Quinoa, spoonfull of pumpkin, splash of milk, dash of cinnamon, drizzle of maple syrup, and a palmful of walnuts. I'd eat it all day every day.

Quinoa is the boss.

yuuuuuuu-uuuuummm..


:) thank you for this! i love it already!

Yeah, I get a little obsessive over things. I'm pro-quinoa.

Thanks for the shout-out.

I love quinoa, but this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/world/americas/20bolivia.html makes me feel like an asshole for eating it. Now I'm in a super grain moral quandary. Thoughts?

This is one of my favorite ways to eat quinoa! The more veggies - the better. Where did you find the tri-colored quinoa?

haha I was just wondering cause I put it on everything...

This is one of our most frequent quinoa meals!

I too am wondering where you get tri-colored quinoa....or are just mixing it yourself?

LOVE quinoa. And I can thank you for turning us on to it! This weekend on Martha Stewart radio, they did a whole show on quinoa and the buyer for Whole Foods was talking about all the different ways to prepare it. She even suggested substituting apple juice for veggie broth/water/liquid of choice and now I'm majorly intrigued to try it. Maybe half juice, half broth or water?? Curious.

This Black Bean Cocoa Quinoa is one of my all-time favorite quinoa recipes. We eat it regularly and It. Is. Awesome.

Quinoa is great for baking too! This is my all-time favorite recipe...quinoa muffins! (tho not vegan)
http://3191.visualblogging.com/archives/11518_1443007713/343553

Shoyu. You are totally speaking my girlfriend's language. Yummy.

I haven't done much with quinoa yet, but I do like it. Kathleen, I would seriously consider veganism if I weren't so in love with milk and eggs and butter. Those are the only things holding me back.

Sarah without an h - I'm just now getting to read that article. It's hard. Just like everything else I eat that's not 100% local. Just like the little bits of dairy I do eat. Just like the clothes I wear. They all come at a price - I think the only way I could ever feel okay with all of this stuff is to grow all my own food and never buy anything ever again. I do what I can and my pick my battles as best as I know how. :(

Kate & Julie - Those recipes look AMAZING. Thank you for sharing.

Ashley - I know, right!? That's why I said it. ;)

Brandi - I'm curious why you would seriously consider it? If you're into the idea at all I would try it out. I was eating WAY too much dairy and eggs and I'm still not 100% vegan and I doubt I ever will be. For me it's not so much what I'm missing out on but more about what I'm getting out of eating a mostly vegan diet. When it comes to dairy I would much rather find locally produced dairy and eat that on occasion than eat overly processed fake cheese. Again, it's about picking battles.

I definitely like the tri-colour variety over the plain whitey colour. I think it's exciting to see the grains change as you cook them.

Speaking of! For those asking where to find the tri-color - I actually bought it that way in bulk from Native Roots. But you could definitely blend your own.

I love keeeeeen-wah! ;)
Seriously though, good stuff!

Hahaha, love this post. I'm crazy for quinoa. I've been eating it for breakfast. It's also amazing served warm on salad with goat cheese. I don't think the Native Roots in Norman has the tri-color; I totally would have bought some last week when I was there.