TJ and Me

We tried the quinoa last night and it was as promised - almost. I really like the flavor, but I think I used too much water/broth to cook it in. That seems to be a problem with rice as well. Alton Brown (FoodTV) had a great show on rice awhile ago and made the observation that you can cook rice with far less water than the amount indicated on the package. I have a feeling that it's the same with quinoa.

For this meal I cooked a turkey thigh with Greek seasoning, 45 minutes in a covered casserole dish at 375. Then I dissected the thigh, removing all of the remaining fat and skin and setting the meat aside. I chopped up about 1/2 cup of red onion and 3 cloves of garlic and placed them in the casserole dish. I sauted that for about 2 minutes. I cut up 2 small zucchini and added those to the pot. I also added the cut up turkey and 1 cup of chicken stock to the mixture and let it simmer while I added the remaining chicken stock to the liquid I was going to cook the quinoa in. The quinoa cooked for 15 minutes, following directions on the box...but it was still a little bit wet? Now it was time to add some sliced fresh mushrooms to the casserole dish and in a few more minutes we were ready to eat.

Very good...but I might add red bell pepper next time, just for the color. And there was a spice missing? I just don't know which one...

So it's back to Trader Joe's for more quinoa and maybe the missing spice. What would I do without TJ? The only other store that fascinates me like the Trader does is Larry's Markets in Washington. Now those are good stores!