WOW Quinoa!

Ever since I heard about Quinoa (Keen-wah) I've been meaning to give it a try. I think I first heard about it from the forum, the abode of collective wisdom.  It's packed with protein (a 1/4 cup contains 6grams of protein!!!) and is gluten free which makes it oh so nutritious.

I was shopping around in Costco and what was right there staring at me in  the face? A big 2lb bag of Quinoa. Now I usually don't buy items I've never tried before in bulk but this time I was feeling the love and picked up the bag. And so far it's not disappointed.

I've really only tried one dish- Quinoa Upma but it's captured both my stomach and taste buds so it's a regular at our house now.

Quinoa Upma

Ingredients:

- 1 carrot chopped
- 1 onion chopped
- grated ginger 1 tsp
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1 serrano chilli or more if you like your heat
- 1 green pepper (or any other pepper) diced
Add any other vegetable like potato, sweet potato, zuchinni.... sky's the limit.
- 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 2 cups water or veggie stock
- handful of cilantro chopped

Directions:

1. Dry roast 1 cup of Quinoa till it turns light brown and starts to smell a little nutty.
2. Sautee onions, ginger, green chilli in a bit of oil till onions are translucent
3. Add the curry and cumin powder and continue to sautee
4. Add all the chopped veggies in order of the time it takes to cook.. eg. add potatoes and carrots in the beginning and peas towards the very end.
5. Add the roasted quinoa and water 
6. Cover and let cook for 25 minutes on medium heat.
7. At the very end add the frozen peas and cilantro. Fluff the quinoa with a fork. It should look transparent else it needs to cook a bit more.
8.  Serve warm (I like mine with ketchup or a bit of sourcream!)