Looking for something to go with a simple salmon dinner, I came up with this slightly fancy side dish of quinoa, rescued from blandness by a splash of OJ and some spices.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or other vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon whole cumin seed
• Hot water
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 small (2-3) inch piece of kombu
• 2 garlic cloves, halved
• 1/2 cup orange juice

I used red quinoa, because that’s what I had, but ordinary white quinoa, or a mixture, should be fine too.If you don’t have kombu, I suggest 1/4 teaspoon salt and a bay leaf.

Stir the quinoa (assuming it’s still wet) in a 2-3 quart saucepan over medium heat until it’s dry, or nearly so. Then add the cumin seed and olive oil. Stir to distribute the oil and keep stirring until the mixture is hot and (hopefully) fragrant. Add hot water to just cover. Add the ground spices, the kombu and garlic cloves, and the orange juice. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover the pan, and simmer until it’s done. Check every 5 minutes or so to see if more water is needed – you don’t want this to boil dry. At 5000 feet this took about 20 minutes of simmering – at sea level it would be faster. Remove the kombu (bay leaf) before serving. Serve warm or hot. I served this with salmon and string beans.

Keys: food,recipe,side-dish,vegetarian,vegan,quinoa