Unprocessed Quinoa tends to be coated with a substance called saponin, which tastes bitter and protects it from birds and insects. Fortunately its consistency is more or less that of soap, so rinsing in cool water and rubbing the grain between your hands is enough to remove it. Just be sure to drain the rinse water!

Other than that, substitute quinoa for rice in pretty much any recipe. Because the seeds are smaller than most rice grains, you'll probably want to shorten the cooking time a bit. Also, because quinoa contains all eight amino acids that the body needs to synthesize protein, you don't need to balance it with either legumes or dairy (as you do with grains like rice) to get complete protein in your meal.

Unprocessed Quinoa tends to be coated with a substance called saponin, which tastes bitter and protects it from birds and insects. Fortunately its consistency is more or less that of soap, so rinsing in cool water and rubbing the grain between your hands is enough to remove it. Just be sure to drain the rinse water!

The draining part is crucial! Otherwise, yeah, it's bitter, but not in a good way. And make sure you keep your eyes out for the occasional small pebble, depending on where you're getting yoru quinoa from. When it cooks, it goes from looking like millet to being almost clear and having a sprout-like tale.

I often cook it in a low-sodium broth instead of water. Veggie. Chicken. Whatever suits your tastes. The broth gives it a nice touch. When I make it for breakfast, I make it plain and put a pat of butter and a lil bit of salt on it, like grits or oatmeal. Sometimes I'll just put a little bit of cheese (cheddar, parmesan, whatever) on it.

You can also use it to make a mock tabouleh by substituting it for the wheat. Keep the parsley, tomato, oil, vinegar, garlic, etc... just swap your grain to the quinoa.

I've found that I can make a pot of it, drain and rinse it, and keep what I don't use in the fridge for a day or two. it keeps nice and doesn't change in texture like rice does.

I do a combo half brown rice and half quinoa in low sodium chicken broth. Be sure and rinse it first. I make a batch on Sunday and utilize it during the week for lots of things. Like adding a scrambled egg to it for an easy quick breakfast .

I made a bean salad with it last week, added green beans, kidney and white beans- it was good! Also found a great mix @BJ's with brown rice-very good!

I second or third the choice to make quiona with chicken broth. I add Mrs Dash garlic to it too. Goes great with chopped veggies.

Quinoa Chimichurri - Rinse and cook quinoa as directed and set aside to cool.

Chimichurri - Skin one or two heads of garlic or about 10-20 cloves and place in an oven safe dish with olive oil to coat. Roast garlic in the oven until edges turn golden 375-400 for 20-30minutes. Soak and rinse one or two bunches of flat leaf parsley cut off stems. Add olive oil, zest and juice one half or use the whole thing if you like it more tangy. Add all ingredients to a food processor and whirr into a green paste Add salt to taste.

Mix chimichurri and quinoa together in a bowl and set aside for the flavors to fix. Enjoy hot or cold! Great with chicken or beef

My favorite is to cook it in chicken broth, then add a can of rotel tomatoes with chilies and some Parmesan cheese!