When it comes to cooking quinoa, and all of the delicious ways it can be used, we have a lot of catching up to do! Quinoa is high in protein and completely gluten-free. You can make a pilaf with it, or use it for stuffing, or just eat it plain. I stumbled upon a recipe for “Quinoa con Queso”, or quinoa with fresh farmers cheese, in Culinaria: The United States: A Culinary Discovery, and have since found many other variations online. As I played around and experimented with this recipe I had two revelations. The first is that quinoa tastes great with milk poured over it. Which is why it works great as a breakfast cereal. The second revelation is quinoa tastes great with cheese (queso)! Here we are using queso fresco, a Mexican fresh farmers cheese, but you could also use Cotija, feta, or mozzarella. You can keep it simple with tomatoes, onions, garlic, and cheese, or dress it up with zucchini, roasted chiles, or potatoes. Add the chopped tomato, about 1/2 teaspoon salt, dried oregano, and tomato paste. Add chopped green chiles (cooked) if using. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Stir until well combined. Let cook until the tomatoes have cooked through and the sauce has cooked down a bit. Then stir in the cheese. Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. Garnish with chopped basil, parsley, cilantro, or chives.
