Tips for getting more protein?

[OakLeaf]

Coincidentally, DH just added some quinoa to the last batch of pea soup he made. It was pretty good!

I think some brands of quinoa sold in the US are pre-rinsed. Eden brand (my favorite brand for staples) is not rinsed. It wouldn't be "tasteless" if it wasn't rinsed though, it would be very bitter.

I's not my favorite thing in general (too sweet IMO, with a flavor that doesn't really blend with a lot of things, unlike the sweetness of rice), but it's pretty good in bean salads; a vinaigrette dressing offsets the sweetness. In the pea soup, the flavor pretty much disappeared, and it just left a little bit of a crunch.

[bluebug32]

Do you know if there's a faster way to make quinoa? Is it possible to make it in the microwave?

[OakLeaf]

Everything you always wanted to know about protein, from the World Health Organization (over 200 pages). http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_935_eng.pdf

There's a flaked quinoa hot cereal available that ought to be pretty quick cooking. Microwaving grains doesn't decrease cooking times, because water has to penetrate the dried seeds.

Really, the 20-minute stovetop cooking time for quinoa is less than what it takes to prepare the rest of a meal - just start the quinoa before you start chopping veggies, the same as you would for rice or any other grain. But Lorna Sass (pretty much my favorite cookbook author) has several pressure cooker recipes with a 12-minute total cooking time.