Quinoa with corn, scallions and feta

Once upon a time, quinoa creeped me out.

When quinoa is cooked, it has a little curly thing (apparently the germ separating from the seed) that comes out. Just looking at this gave me the chills once upon a time...it's just something about the way it looks. I know that makes no sense. No one could ever relate to my tales of woe and I only ever got weird or blank looks for my troubles, so I stopped describing the scariness of quinoa to people and eventually got over it.

Now that quinoa no longer puts me on edge, I am happy to say that quinoa is pretty amazing. It's technically not a grain but a seed, although it's reminiscent of couscous but with more character and an almost nutty taste. It's light and fluffy with a tiny bit of almost crispy chewiness when cooked right. For some reason, I get it wrong a lot of the time even though it's as easy to cook as rice, if not easier (and faster)--and it turns out a bit too moist, so the fluffy lightness is not necessarily there, but it's still good nonetheless.

Not only is quinoa interesting to eat on its own, it also happens to be nutritious as well. The way I remember it from the one or two days in my life I considered becoming a vegetarian, even though beans have a relatively high protein content, that protein is incomplete. You can't just eat beans alone as a protein source because beans on their own don't have all the essential amino acids your body needs. But if you eat beans and rice, you've got it made. Quinoa, on the other hand, is a complete protein. If I actually were a vegetarian, I'd be even more all over this stuff for an easy protein fix. As it is, I feel virtuous every time I eat it (no matter what else I add to it).

My favorite way to serve quinoa is with other deliciousness introduced into the mix, especially corn, scallions, and feta. First of all, there is hardly a lovelier combination than corn, scallions, and butter. I know--butter is a no brainer--but butter on its own is no match for butter plus corn plus scallions. It's definitely a case of the sum being greater than the individual parts. Cooking the scallions in the butter reduces the sharp raw flavor and sweetens the scallions; the butter also enhances the sweetness and flavor of the corn. At this point you might wonder why you would bother to then mix these with quinoa, but the corn and scallions added to the quinoa makes for a very nice bowl of various textures and flavors. Sprinkling some feta on top adds some concentrated cheesy saltiness that complements the sweetness of the corn.