Quinoa, the New Grain

I'm late coming to the Quinoa party but Thursday night I made my first recipe using this ancient Inca grain. It all started when I roasted some veggies with the idea of making a soup for part of supper. It ended up with the roasted veggies served over quinoa, along side of a small salad with tuna and ranch dressing. It was a good first meal using quinoa. The taste and texture went well with the other ingredients on the plate. Couscous would also have been good. Now I'll freeze the rest of the Quinoa in 1/2 cup portions for later use. The cook book that I used had two different sets of instructions. Under "Grains" it said to cook 1 cup quinoa in 1 3/4 cups liquid, simmer for 12 minutes. Under a recipe, it said to cook 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups of liquid for 20 - 25 minutes. I ended up using the "Grains" instructions for the proportions but had to simmer it 25 minutes to get the liquid soaked up. I had bought red quinoa, which made a visually appealing addition to the salad. While I haven't really researched it, my Brother tells me it's high in protein, low in carbs, and a good nutritional addition to your diet. One caveat - you have to wash it well to remove the saponin that is on the outer hull. I used an old, fine weave metal coffee filter. That was the perfect size for rinsing one cup of grain. The saponin is suppose to make suds when it rinses off but I didn't see any of that. One source that I did read mentioned a brand of quinoa that is already rinsed. As you can see, meals here are "evolutionary" and subject to change without notice.