Please help me turn quinoa into something I want to eat !

[LooseleafTea]

I have food intolerances to grains and often end up boiling quinoa while others have pasta or rice, but I find it soggy and bland.

Can anyone please help as I have a huge bag of the stuff and know it is good for us but I would love to have ideas for it to make it less boring

Pop a chicken/veg stock pot in with it, makes such a difference. Also when it's cooked and all the water is gone put a folded tea towel over the top of thesaucepan and then the lid on top of that. It soaks up all the steam and stops it being soggy.

Agree it can be deathly boring can't it. Have you tried cooking it in vegetable stock? I do that, add lemon juice, olives, sun dried and fresh tomatoes, feta and some fresh herbs. Maybe also some chickpeas?

Don't Iver cook it, season it well and drizzle some olive oil through once cooked to keep it separate.

Then use it like wild rice, add cooked veg, spices, pumpkin seeds, raisins, make a spiced jewelled quinoa salad.

Or add jerk paste and veggies, or sun-dried tomato paste and sun-dried tomatoes and halved cherry tomatoes and some basil.

Health food shops near me have quinoa pasta which could be worth a try?

My favourite quinoa dish is slow fried onions and courgettes mixed with diced feta all stirred into the quinoa. Peppers and aubergine could work well too.

Serve as a side with grilled meat. I had a quinoa, tomato and cucumber salad alongside a grilled lamb steak And a bit of hummous this weekend. It was yum. (No good if you are veggie though.)

I do as @Swifey40 says. Also, depending on what you're eating it with, a little bit of harissa paste stirred through it is nice. Or, if all else fails, Tabasco or chilli or wasabi sauce makes anything edible lol.

I’m not sure it’s meant to be a substitute for rice or pasta. I would use lentil or edamame pasta and cauliflower rice if you can‘t eat the normal stuff.

If you do want to eat quinoa because it’s so good for you, maybe cooking it in a different way would make more sense. I make this a lot and it’s delicious:

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/halloumi-quinoa-fattoush

Thank you so much , you are all amazing as I think I will enjoy every idea here!
I didn’t mean I eat it just because it’s good for me and do use lentil and buckwheat pasta regularly but I get so stuck on the same things I will be keen to give quinoa a fresh go!
Thanks very much as this all much more inspiring

Have you tried toasting it in a dry pan? It really brings out the nuttiness. Really good in salads.
Other than that I think it’s just like cous cous, you need to introduce some flavour. Cook in stock, plenty of fresh herbs, seasoning, lemon juice etc.

Twochubby Cubs have recipe for quinoa stuffing to be used in chicken etc might be worth looking up. I've not tried it though.

Have you tried millet? It's very cous cousy

Definitely dry fry it first, and when it's absorbed all the water keep it on a high heat for a minute or two to dry out, stirring quickly.