Out of sheer laziness.

I officially really, really love quinoa. I know quinoa isn't the newest food on the market these days, but I kinda view it like I do skinny jeans: they have been popular for a few years now. At first, I shied away because they were different. Then, they got so trendy that I tried to avoid them out of principle. And yet, after awhile I grew to realize something- hey, this is awesome! (BTW- I officially really, really love my skinny jeans, too).

I could tell you that next to barley quinoa has the highest protein content of any grain. I could tell you that it serves the exact same purpose as couscous in every recipe I have tried so far. I could tell you that it really tastes so much better than brown rice (especially when made with chicken or vegetable stock). Yes, all these things are true, but if I'm honest, what's the real reason I started making quinoa so often?...because it cooks in 15 minutes.

Am I the only person who at least once a week has dinner hot and ready and then realizes that she forgot to start the brown rice 45 minutes ago? "Crap!" I say out loud in my kitchen, and then scramble to make something healthy and whole grain. (or sometimes I just give up)

Not only that, but you know what else takes 40 minutes to cook? Steel cut oats. I am not a morning person. I wake up crabby (I know what many of you are thinking right now. "No kidding."), and the last thing I want to do is wait 40 minutes for my breakfast to be ready. I have just discovered that quinoa is awesome when cooked in coconut milk and served as you would oatmeal; with maple syrup or brown sugar, fruit, and nuts. It's actually quite rich and filling.

If you don't want to start with a recipe, you can do as I did in the picture above and throw any and all of your leftover veggies together with a hot pan of quinoa. Then, throw in some chevre (simply because it never fails), and enjoy!