No thanks, Qui-NO-a

I continued my work on Resolution No. 6 this week with another new ingredient I'd never used before. I decided to try quinoa, which is not really a grain, but is often used in place of grains for people with wheat and gluten allergies.

Somehow in my head I assumed quinoa was a bit like couscous, which I love cooked up in chicken broth with toasted pine nuts and honey. I found a recipe for herbed quinoa from the Food Network Web site and I was all set to go. The quinoa, which I bought in bulk in the organic section of a local grocery store, was added to boiling chicken broth and lemon juice, and then covered with the heat off for 15 minutes.

While the quinoa was cooking, I made up the dressing of lemon juice and zest, thyme, basil, parsley and olive oil to mix into the quinoa when it finished cooking.

To go along with the side, I marinaded some chicken breast in lemon juice and thyme, and grilled them up with a little olive oil.

When the quinoa was done, it was fluffy and tasted okay to me. I sat down to eat my plate of chicken, quinoa and string beans. And things were going just fine, though the texture of the quinoa became a little less palatable as it cooled. I was halfway through my meal when I took a forkful of the quinoa into my mouth - and suddenly it started coming up instead of going down, if you know what I mean.

Needless to say, after that I lost my appetite and I think I probably won't eat quinoa again. I even work up with a little bit of a rash on my face today, which may be completely unrelated, but which I will blame on the quinoa.

I tried to find some information online about allergies to quinoa and there didn't seem to be much, but according to wikipedia, which we all know is a great source of information, quinoa seeds can have a coating on them that is mildly toxic if it is not washed properly. I assume my quinoa was washed before I purchased it, especially since no one else in my family got sick, but perhaps that was the reason I couldn't keep it down.

At any rate, I am ready to move on to the next new ingredient - and this time I will do a little better research on how to wash it.