A friend of mine was in town a few weeks ago, and we stumbled upon a really great restaurant called Peels in NYC. It was fantastic, and we were both in awe over this quinoa dish that we had there. It looked good on the menu, based on the description (Warm Red Quinoa Salad - quinoa, roasted cauliflower, black olives, and pine nuts), but it was so much better than what we were prepared for. It was creamy and delicious, with a nice bit of tang from the olive brine. I asked our server what made it so creamy, and she said Parmesan. I thought I had tasted that in there, but I had no idea it could add so much richness to the dish. Anyway, I was determined to try to make something similar at home, and this was my attempt. I also came across a post online that said you can cook quinoa in a rice cooker, which I tried out this time, and it worked beautifully! My dish didn't turn out as good as the one at Peels, but it was still pretty tasty. I'm going to have to try it again. I didn't get it creamy enough, and there was definitely something missing. I added lemon juice and a bit of Dijon mustard. It was a very tasty dish!Labels: cauliflower, covelli, olive, peels, pine nut, quinoa, roast, salad, vegetarian