Quinoa - need recipe ideas

[JoshandJamie]

I have a bag of quinoa in my cupboard and I'd like to use it to make something for dinner for my 9 month old and my 2.4 year old. My little one is ok with lumps and my big one doesn't mind mush. Anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do with it?

Use it like rice and make a sauce to go with it. I boil one part quinoa to two parts stock for about ten mins or until the grain seperates. Then leave it to sit and soak up for five more minutes and it's ready.

Or make a puy lentil and quinoa salad. As above then add puy lentils (about 50/50 is good) and any other salady stuff you think your kids would like.

My quinoa is always horribly stodgy and strange tasting what am I doing wrong - or is that how it should be ?

Twinset sounds like too much cooking with too much water. I use slightly less than two parts water to one part quinoa. You can always add water from the kettle if it's not enough.

I think, if I'm honest, quinoa does need to be flavoured with other stuff. It's not great on its own. In the same way you'd never serve rice on its own.

Will try that thanks.

Thanks for the ideas. One more question - can you freeze cooked quinoa? I ended up making a hidden veg sauce that you could also use on pasta but added it to the quinoa instead. 9 month old loved it (I pureed the sauce). The 2 year old was less excited but I left his sauce chunky - might have been the problem.

I've never tried but I don't see why you couldn't freeze it.
I'm glad your baby liked it. Perhaps puree for the toddler too.
My kids eat veg well but are put off by slimy textures of lumps (eg cooked carrots/onions etc) in the sauce. The either have the veg seperate and al dente or cooked and pureed.