First Taste of Quinoa

Wow, I can't believe it's already July and that Marshal is gone. We took a trip with his family to move him into his apartment and then spent the weekend at a cabin in Pigeon Forge. We said goodbye yesterday. That was by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do. He'll only be gone for 3 weeks before he comes home for a couple days, but its just not the same without him here. 

Writing on this blog makes me feel closer to him, so I was inspired tonight to finally try quinoa. I've had some to make for a while, but haven't felt like making it. We recently got some cucumbers and squash from my cousin's garden, so I decided to add that in and see what happened. 

I used chicken broth from Trader Joe's to boil the veggies and quinoa in. 

I was following the recipe on the box of Trader Joe's quinoa, but I ended up adding more of the chicken broth than the recipe called for. But it still ended up tasting great, at least I thought  anyways. I've never tasted it before so I have nothing to compare it to, but it tasted pretty good to me. 

Here's the quinoa mixed in with the broth and veggies:

It didn't look like there was much quinoa in the box, but I used a little less than 1 cup and still had a lot leftover- both in the box and in the pan. 

I let that mixture simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Towards the end, I added a little shredded cheese which gave it a nice touch and made the consistency and little better I think. I also added a little salt and pepper to it, once I had it on my plate. 

Paired with Terra Sweet Potato Chips, it made for a nice dinner.

I liked it, but I think I would enjoy it better with some kind of meat, maybe some chicken or beef. I think it would be a more filling and better tasting meal with that. I think Marshal would like it better that way too. =)

All in all, I'm pretty proud with the way it came out, and hopefully I'll be trying the leftovers with some chicken in the next couple of days.

Hope you all enjoy! If anyone has any tips about cooking with quinoa, feel free to let me know! I would love to learn anything and everything I could about it!

For the Fourth of July coming up, I'm going to try an apple dessert (my favorite kind of dessert, with chocolate coming in a close second)! So stay tuned! 

Sorry again for my long absence. I will try to update as much as I can! Thanks for sticking with me, and as always, stay gluten-free! =)