Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Cooking with Quinoa

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is something that we've only been cooking with throughout the last six months or so and have become quite hooked.

What and, um, why. . .you might ask??

Well, this grain-like ingredient that not only tastes light and refreshing, somehow proves itself hearty and satisfying. An added bonus is that quinoa happens to be gluten free and is considered one of the very best power foods. If you're curious and want to incorporate quinoa in one of your favorite recipes -- keep in mind that you can easily substitute for cous cous, bulgar wheat, small pasta (ie - orzo), or farro.

A recipe that we just made this past weekend (and absolutely loooved) was this Grilled Portabella "Sandwich" compliments of Gourmet Magazine. The only elements we improvised on were using quinoa rather than bulgar and (of course) tripling the garlic -- so delicious. And, yes, you might notice from our picture below that the portabella caps act as burger buns. . .we're definitely suckers for creatively healthy recipes like this :) Not to mention, you get to be outside enjoying and perfecting your grilling skills!
Note: Be careful not to burn the portabella caps like we did! They grill VERY quickly.

6 comments:

Heidi Robb said...

You two, I can't tell how appetizing this dish looks. I am a huge fan of quinoa and your portabella sammie looks like the perfect summer vehicle.

Anonymous said...

It's always kind of scared me, but you guys made quinoa look appetizing. May have to try it. BTW it was SUCH a pleasure meeting the two of you last week!

Anonymous said...

looks delicious, kids. ain't gonna help you win the race, though. muhahahahahaha.

emily said...

my mouth is totally watering right now! i am so intimidated by quinoa, but this recipe looks amazing! don't be alarmed if i show up at your door around dinner time one night;)

evencleveland said...

I love quinoa! So tasty. I love the idea of sandwiching it with portobello ... mmm.

Unknown said...

That looks so good!!!