Epic Fail Quinoa Dinner
These leftovers will remain left alone.
Over the past week I’ve been cooking from Joy Bauer’s new cookbook, “Slim and Scrumptious”. If you watch the Today Show, you may be familiar with Joy since she’s the nutritionist/diet consulttant for the show. She is always ready with advice on healthy eating and improvements on our normal diets. She’s very skinny and peppy, which can be a bit much when you’re feeling guilty about your own dining preferences after you’ve heard her advice. But the book was offered to me for review, and I thought I’d give it a try since it promised family friendly recipes. Most of the recipes I’ve tested so far have been pretty good, and while not always family favorites, certainly family tolerable for a healthy type of book.
So what family friendly item did I choose for tonight’s dinner? Quinoa salad. Quinoa has been touted for years as the miracle grain of the Aztecs. You cook up the quinoa in a pot of water, much like rice. I sauteed some fennel, yellow pepper, and swiss chard. Whisked up a dressing of mustard, lemon juice, olive oil. Tossed it all together with toasted pine nuts and raisins.
Epic fail.
Joe was kind enough and hungry enough to eat his dinner and a second helping without complaint; Annie bravely gagged down 2/3 of her portion; Louisa flattened hers into a giant pancake while commenting on how disgusting the curlicue quinoa looked and how it was just like poodle hair on her plate. Yum. I’m not sure if she managed to pick at and taste a few grains, but I don’t believe she got past the look of them. Frankly, I think the look of the grain was kind of cute, but the flavor was pretty bland. When I offered the leftovers to Joe for his Good Friday lunch tomorrow, his unchecked refusal told me all I needed to know about his opinion of this meal.
You can’t blame a mom for trying once, but quinoa won’t be happening in this kitchen again anytime soon.
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3 Responses to “Epic Fail Quinoa Dinner”
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Well I doubt the Aztecs had swiss chard and fennel so you may not have been eating quinoa as the Aztecs would. From you description, and not being familiar with quinoa myself, you may have what I consider a canvas food that absorbs the flavors of the other foods that are cooked with it. Quinioa might be a good filler or extender for a more meaty dish like chili. I think it would be interesting to try quinoa in a Jambalaya.
The problem with Quinoa is aesthetics. It is semi-translucent and the opaque center of the grain looks like it contains a little tapeworm. Add to that the slightly jelly-like nature of of the cooked product in your mouth and few will think Quinoa is natures finest moment.
You’re right about the chameleon factor, but it also has its own kind of bitter or astringent type of flavor, but not in the best sense. People do use it in the type of dishes you suggest, but it still stands out for both appearance and flavor.