Quinoa

First of all, this is not pronounced Kwin-O-Ah.  I put that here for Iris, who manages to cook and eat the stuff, but mutilates the pronounciation.  It's KEEN-wah.  Honestly, this is the perfect grain, except it's not a grain.  This is actually a seed from a plant that looks a lot like spinach.  It was a staple of the Incan diet and no wonder since it's a complete protein.  That means it contains all of the essential amino acids.  That does not occur often in the plant world. 

It's also really easy to cook...just think of rice.  Two parts water or broth to one part quinoa.  Bring water and quinoa to a boil and then simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes.  It's done when you take a fork and part the grains and find no water.  Use the fork and fluff it like you would rice.  You'll find it used in a lot of my recipes that will get posted in the future.

Oh, and don't forget that it needs to be rinsed before cooking.  Quinoa has a coating on it that keeps birds from eating it while it's on the plant.  Rinsing gets rid of any bitter flavor the coating imparts.  You'll need a pretty fine meshed strainer for this or else the quinoa seeds will escape!  Some quinoas have already been rinsed so read the package and you may not have to bother with rinsing.