Everybody's doing it: Quinoa Style

I still remember my first quinoa experience, circa Memorial Day 2009, a lovely quinoa and summer squash salad at a winery in Sonoma, served by a nice hippy wine owner as part of her "tasting experience".

I swear we were asked 35.456 times if we were on our honeymoon and we weren't even engaged...I was so discouraged, but its cool because we are now happily wed!

The salad was delicious, but honestly I got home and sort of forgot about using quinoa again....fast forward 3.5 years later and now its is ALL THE RAGE!!!  At my first Costco trip of the year I decided to jump on the band wagon and over ambitiously bought a 20lb bag of the stuff.  Ok, its probably more like 2 pounds, but still, for just 2 people it will probably be a year supply.  I have used it twice already so we have made a small dent in the giant bag, and both times it has come out well so we are on our way!  The first time I cooked the quinoa in some chicken stock, simultaneously sauteed some onions and mushrooms and at the end added a little balsamic vinegar, then mixed it all together - easy and delicious, just my style!  Yesterday I made The Novice Chef's Cheesy Broccoli Quinoa Casserole and it definitely did not disappoint, with a crunch on top, cheese and relatively waist line friendly - winner!  I am looking forward to creating some more quinoa recipes to share with you and would love any suggestions for how you use this new, all the rage, super food!
Sincerely Loving Food,
Lainey