When I picked the ingredient, I chose quinoa because I saw on the list of previous challenges that there were no "Q" foods, and quinoa immediately popped into my head since it's something we quite like around our house. But I am overwhelmed and astonished by the creativity with these recipes that went above and beyond the typical.
It wasn't easy to come to a decision. These challenges are so subjective due to the individual food preferences of the judge, with likes and dislikes of certain ingredients, and without the challenge entrants being mind readers, how can they possibly know if the judge has particular ingredients that they absolutely don't like? But that being said, any judge can figure out that substitutions can be made to recipes in most cases to tailor to those individual tastes.
I think I probably had 8 entries that were tied for first place and several more that were close seconds. Just about everything that was posted is something I would eat (with a few minor substitutions here and there). But, as other judges before me have noted, it all comes down to what the judge keeps coming back to over and over again. And of course there can only be one winner.
By a
very narrow margin,
caseydog wins with the
Recipe - Quinoa Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise Sauce.
I am so sorry I couldn't pick the other 7 first-place recipes that were a tie in my mind. Everyone who posted recipes did such a fabulous job and you are all creative geniuses, thank you to all of our CB forum members who took so much time and trouble to embrace your inner quinoa lover!
Nobody has to be a vegan or vegetarian and give up meat to eat quinoa, it makes a great side dish (and apparently can be used in a main entree quite successfully as well). As we grow older, many of us need more protein to maintain lean muscle and structural integrity and sometimes meat products just aren't enough to do the trick without clogging up our blood vessels, so plant-based proteins are a great alternative.
And
caseydog, I am glad you decided you like quinoa. Congratulations and good luck with being the judge for the next challenge!
