Good morning! So I decided to give Quinoa another chance. Sure, it was mediocre the first time I made it, but I was a quinoa virgin back then!
Tonight’s recipe was from a Betty Crocker cookbook I have (of course, with my own tweaks!) The dish is called Creamy Quinoa Primavera:
- 1 cup of uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups of chicken broth
- 1 carrot, 5 asparagus stalks, one tomato
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tbs butter
- 3 oz of cream cheese and goat cheese (or any other soft cheese)
- 1 tsp basil
- shredded parmesan cheese
- Boil 2 cups of chicken broth with 1 cup of quinoa
- Once boiling, cover, and turn down the heat. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes (or until broth has evaporated)
- While simmering, chop up veggies
- Eat a carrot with some hummus (totally optional
)
- At about 5-7 minutes until simmering time is almost done, melt butter in a nonstick pan at medium heat; brown garlic
- Put chopped up veggies in the pan, and cook for 2-4 minutes
- While veggies are cooking, stir in the cheese and basil into the quinoa mix
- Pour the quinoa mix into the nonstick pan with the veggies and garlic;
dump onsprinkle with paresan cheese:
- Serve alone
- or with crackers!
Voila! Creamy Quinoa Primavera.
Now…drumroll pleeeease….THE VERDICT!
I’m very saddened to tell you it was, yet again, mediocre. I don’t know if I’m just not making it right, or if you have to have a certain taste to like quinoa, but I just thought it was kind of meh. Needless to say, there won’t be an attempt #3 – at least not with me as the chef.
It’s OK though, because I had two On the Glo bars for dessert 
What do you think? Was there a step I was missing? Or is quinoa just not for everyone??
On a better note, I’m so excited to go up to Chicago this weekend with my girl, Kim to see our girl, Destiny! We’re pretty much a trio, and haven’t all played together in a long time I wonder what shananigans we can get into this weekend
Well, at least it looked pretty! Those On the Glo bars look great, too, I might have to give those a try! Have a great time in Chicago!
Aw, I'm sad you didn't like quinoa
Did you rinse it first? I think I read somewhere that it takes away some of the bitterness.
I've never tried quinoa! I wonder if I'll like it…
Aw… I'm sorry you didn't like it! I love quinoa… there is a site, http://www.danispies.com... she uses quinoa for quite a few things… if you do decide attempt #3, maybe start there?
Have fun this weekend!!!! I love girls weekends… haven't had one of those in a LONG time!
Yes, you must rinse it first! This is a crucial step to take away the bitterness. Now there's a chance you still may not like it, but I would definitely try rinsing!
Christina and Eve, I rinsed it a little, but not thoroughly! Maybe that would help. Thanks!
holy smokes that quinoa sounds delicious!! sorry to hear it was kind of a miss though :
Last time I cooked it (last weekend) I found I needed to cook it for longer, more like 40 – 45 minutes before it lost the "crunch" and was soft and creamy. Looks nice though with the vegies!