QUINOA WITH PEPPERONCINI

Before I became addicted to Food Network, I had never heard of quinoa.  So when I started watching shows like Chopped, Food Network Star, and Good Eats, I was like "I've gotta try this fancy quinoa stuff."  But you have to remember I heard the name but never saw it, so when I came across recipes for kwih-NO-uh, I had no flippin' idea what it was.  Luckily it wasn't long before I figured the two were the same thing and KEEN-wah, just like every other word in the English language, is stolen from somebody else.

And here's a fun fact for ya: Quinoa is NOT a grain.  It's a seed, more closely related to beets and spinach than to corn, rice, or wheat.  Totally blew my mind.

So for my first adventure with this mystical munchie, I decided to go simple.

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 c. quinoa
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
2 forkfuls sliced pepperoncini

DIRECTIONS:
1.  This one's pretty simple.  Add quinoa and salt to water.  Boil, then reduce heat to low and cook, covered, until quinoa is cooked through and is light and fluffy.

2. Mix in pepperoncini and voila!  There you have it! Serving it up with a thai sauce or curry makes it a much happier side dish too.

Just like a homely, asocial nerd, I find that quinoa needs a little dressing up before it can really shine.  I imagine it has a lot of potential, but it didn't really have a chance to reach that here.  The pepperoncini did an okay job, but I imagine some sausage or veggies would really do well with it.  Although I wasn't really fond of the beans themselves, the sauce did a pretty awesome job of jazzing up the quinoa.  I'm thinking a curry might be a next step.  I've also heard it's also good for stuffing vegetables like zucchini or peppers, so it could probably go in a lot of directions.

But at the end of the day, my interest is piqued, so I'll be taking another look at it in the near future.  You could say I'm keen on quinoa.  See what I did there?

Official Grade: B-