Curried Quinoa with Chickpeas and Almonds

I feel stupid saying this, but here goes: I don't really know how to cook rice or other grains. It seems like this mysterious process. I am clearing the air with that, because this week I made a quinoa dish. I don't lump quinoa in with rice exactly, but it is another grain that always seems to taste better when someone else makes it. More on quinoa in a bit, but first, I am actually posting early this week. Yay me! I feel so responsible. If only I was this responsible with my school work, which is actually why I am posting tonight. I am somewhat freaking out over the work load this quarter, and other than starting my training for the Colfax Half Marathon tomorrow, I am reserving the day for working my way through about twelve hours of reading that I am looking to jam into six. Sweet!

But back to the quinoa! (Pronounced like "Keene," New Hampshire, followed by "WAAAAA!") Quinoa is a unique grain because it contains all essential amino acids and has the highest protein content of any grain as well. Plus, it makes any dish sound far more exotic and interesting than using rice. I mean seriously, how much better sounding is quinoa?

This recipe came out okay, but I'm going to have to do further study on cooking time differences between Denver, CO, at the wonderful elevation we so enjoy here, and sea level, where all recipes seem to be made. The quinoa literally took half an hour to cook tonight, and it was only supposed to take 15... but anyways...

I adapted this recipe from one I found online on Weight Watchers. It's from the cookbook Dining For Two, from Weight Watchers Publishing Group. I thought it was really lame that you would go to all of the trouble to cook only to make two servings, so I doubled everything. What follows is 4 servings.

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa (Quinoa has to be rinsed before you use it, apparently to get rid of the outer most shell of each grain, which tastes bitter when eaten. I am confident that I've gone without rinsing the quinoa first, and couldn't taste the difference, but I'm trying to be a proper cook now and following etiquette, so all quinoa was rinsed. But what's annoying is that I keep forgetting to buy a smaller strainer for the quinoa. For the most part, the little grains don't fall through the one that I have, but some do, and I feel like the messes up the overall proportions... but anyways...)
1 cup orange juice
1 cup water
3 tsp curry powder (I thought that was a lot. It did end being sortof strong to me, but I am also pretty sensitive to any spice. And I also always tend to add more spice than than whatever the recipe calls for through accidental spilling...)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium to large onion, chopped (I used a large one, and definitely didn't chop into small enough pieces. The photos pretty much say it all.)
1 clove garlic or garlic powder (I didn't realize that garlic has to be stored in a plastic bag to keep from drying out after it's been started. Oops. I thought I was going to use fresh...)
1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed (I just used half of a 16 ounce or so package and called it good.)
1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained (The recipe I used actually called for 5 ounces of chick peas. I washed and drained the can and then weighed them, and they came out to 8.8 ounces. Close enough.)
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup golden seedless raisins (I thought I was buying golden raisins, and then when I opened the box they were the normal purple/brown color. I was pissed. Didn't make much overall difference though.)

Directions:
1. Combine the orange juice, water, and quinoa in a medium size cooking pot and cover. Bring the liquid to a boil, then simmer until all the liquid is gone. This step apparently varies in cooking time. If you're at sea level it should take about 20 minutes for the quinoa to cook. If you are cooking in my kitchen on my stove that apparently has it in for me, allow additional time, even as your stomach is growling and you are wishing that you'd just bought something quick at the store to eat for dinner instead of having to cook at all... but I digress.

2. While waiting ever so patiently for the quinoa to cook: In a medium to large size skillet, heat the oil, then cook the onion, peas and carrots for 3-5 minutes, until the onion starts to cook, and the liquid from the veggies goes away.

3. Add the chickpeas and almonds, and allow to cook another few minutes. Remove from the heat, and add the raisins.

4. The quinoa will finish cooking whenever the quinoa decides to be finished. When it is, combine everything in the pan that you cooked the faster items in, and voila. This recipe can be served at room temperature, and I think letting the whole thing sit may bring out even more taste. I'll see how the leftovers turn out.

So, thus far, I have managed to keep my new year's resolution to maintain this blog once a week. I am not going to lie, I'm pretty impressed with myself. I am taking suggestions for next week if anyone would like something made...

It's interesting, because before I started cooking I would look at cookbooks just to study their beautiful, glossy photos, imagining what it would be like to actually make them. I would get really bitter and irritated whenever cookbooks didn't include photos, or there were few and far in-between for the number of recipes included. Now that I'm actually making the recipes, I have been enjoying the mystery of having no photo reference. It's like I'm actually getting to make it for the first time, or that at least I have creative license for the recipe to come out exactly as I want it to, and it doesn't have to mold to how the original maker decided it has to look. I don't know why I felt compelled to write that, just an observation I guess.