Quinoa is my new favorite cooking ingredient. This tasty grain is a nice change from rice. Smells good cooking (you toast it, then you cook it like rice in water), cooks up faster than rice, fun to eat (nutty tasting and crunchy) and it’s chock full of health–a good source of Omega 3.
Last week I was looking for a way to use up some spinach that wasn’t the same old green salad variation and I was surprised to come across a salad using spinach and quinoa. Super easy–just toss the cooked quinoa with chopped spinach and dress it with a lemon vinaigrette. The secret ingredient is the slices of lemon, which pack a pucking wallop. I think we’ll try a different citrus next time. At the very least, we’ll cut the lemon pieces much smaller.
The recipe is from Mark Bittman’s latest, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian; a fresh and tasty salad, especially for the dead of winter.
2 Things @ Once 
I LOVE quinoa. Love it. And hey, I’m also helping to spread the word about a new vodka made from the stuff. If you drink vodka, try Qino One. It’s the best I’ve ever tasted (and I’m not just saying that) and it’s available in Chicago.
But getting back to the grain itself, I can’t wait to eat some after Phase 1 of South Beach ends on Wednesday. Note to self: make sure quinoa is okay for Phase 2.