Quinoa!

I use quinoa any time I would normally use rice. I always make it with 1 large bouillon cube per cup of quinoa – (chicken or vegetable). I think that gives it a better flavor.

My new favorite thing is to make a large casserole with quinoa and then split it out into servings (I usually make 5-7 servings) which I either freeze for later or use for meals that week. My two favorites are a broccoli quinoa casserole (I make a sauce from 98% fat free cream of (whatever) soup, fat free sour cream and fat free milk, pepper and nutritional yeast (gives it a cheesy flavor) and if I have calories to burn, I’ll top it with some parmesan and bake.

My other favorite is what I call Taco Casserole – made with veggie-meat crumbles (or you could use lean ground turkey), tons of red bell peppers, green peppers and onions with low sodium taco seasoning and nacho cheese soup (this has a lot of sodium but I don’t salt anything else.) This comes out to 261 calories per serving.

You can friend me and check out some other ideas in my food journal if you want! 

Just google it, there are tons of recipes out there that it can be used in. I recently made up some Turkey & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers and a Chickpea & Quinoa w/tahani & lemon salad. Just use caution when cooking it, as it tends to grow in the pot, I always seem to end up with double or more of what I need for a recipe.

I love a cold quinoa salad with basil, goat cheese, walnuts, and dried cranberries, with grilled chicken. Add whatever vegetables you have/like and dress it with balsamic and spices. There are some great quinoa salad recipes out there.

I also love to make it like I'd make pasta -- with tomato sauce and cheese! Delicious.

I just bought some and I made it into a curry - sauteed onions, carrots, curry powder, golden raisins and sliced almonds. Yum!

I did Chinese style Quinoa for my lunch the other day... Spring Onions, Ginger, Garlic, Dark Soy and Chinese vinegar. Simple but very tasty. The trick I've found with Quinoa is to make absolutely certain that all the water has been absorbed otherwise it is a very soggy mess and makes it less pleasant.

I love to use Quinoa flakes as a breakfast cereal akin to cream of wheat or oatmeal. For me I love to mix a little bit of applesauce, some cinnamon, and a spoonful of truvia in it. Mmmmmm. Try it!

Thanks for reminding me that I have some in my cabinet, and that I should be using it more! And I love some of the ideas posted here!