Quinoa

Eastside Road, Healdsburg, June 22, 2009—

I AM NOT a pilaf guy. There's something about small grains that, well, goes against the grain. I make exceptions, of course: I like a good risotto, and wheat, oats, and rye are fine with me. Outside of a risotto I'm not fond of rice. And all those tiny grains — millet and all that — well, far as I'm concerned, they're for the birds.
So tonight Lindsey made a pilaf using quinoa, a grain I know to be touted as extremely healthful, and to have come to us from Peru, whence also came alpacas and llamas, animals I don't like looking at in Northern Hemisphere pastures. To each thing its terroir say I.
Still: Lindsey made quinoa pilaf, flavored with mushrooms and a grating of nutmeg and strewn with chopped parsley, and I liked it well enough to have a second helping.
Green salad, bien sûr.

Cheap Nero d'Avila (see yesterday)