Expanding Our Bases

I opened 2013 with a bang in the kitchen: quinoa.

Ok, so it wasn't a total departure, but it was a new base. Teriyaki steak, with snow peas, carrots, and red pepper over a bed of quinoa. 

The quinoa was an impulse buy. We were walking through Sam's one day recently and the smallish (for Sam's club) bags of quinoa caught my eye. I looked at the back and read the description and thought "Hey, it's worth a try." So, it went into the cart. 

Review: quinoa is easy to prepare. It is very similar in preparation to white rice. So, it cooks relatively quickly. It looks funny, but it has a nice texture. It has a cereally, nutty-ish flavor that is nice and subtle as a base. The recipes on the back of the bag are for pilaf-type creations. I can definitely see that as a dish.

Quinoa joins couscous and orzo as new bases for our household (I'd had couscous a decade ago, but only recently did I re-introduce it). We still like rice and pasta, but it is nice to add a little variety from time to time.