Quick & Easy - Lemony Herby Quinoa

Quinoa - the new darling of the healthful eating - has captured the entire food world's attention in 2012.  A source of complete protein with high concentrations of minerals, it is praised as a fantastic substitute for grains such as rice, millet, & couscous.  I had actually bought a pack of quinoa months ago but had shoved it into the back of the cupboard & only found it a week or so ago when reorganizing the kitchen.  The original recipe is from the Food Network & I made some minor modifications to suite what we had in our fridge.

To make my version of the recipe, you will need...
     1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
     1.75 cups low-sodium chicken stock
     0.3 cup lemon juice (~1.5 lemons)
     0.25 cup extra virgin olive oil
     0.75 cup fresh parsley, chopped
     1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
     1 tablespoon lemon zest
     Salt & black pepper to taste

In a medium sauce pan...
     Bring the quinoa, chicken stock, & 0.25 cup of the lemon juice to a boil
     Lower the heat to a simmer until all the liquid is absorbed (~12 min)
     In a large bowl, whisk together oil, remaining lemon juice, parsley, thyme, lemon zest, & salt/pepper
     Once the quinoa is cooked, pour in the dressing & mix well

The quinoa tasted good, even if it did look a little like the bean sprout experiment that we all did in elementary school.  Although I adjusted the recipe to use less lemon juice, it was still a little bit too acidic for our taste; maybe I should substitute the cooking lemon juice with water.  Also, the 1 cup of quinoa turned out to be a lot!  I have quite a bit left over so now I am going to add in grape tomatoes, cucumbers, & feta to make a salad for lunch.