Serves 4

Cooking brown rice with red quinoa turns it into an interesting dish. Toast the quinoa first in a dry skillet so it stays crunchy after simmering. Begin cooking the brown rice and halfway through add the quinoa and let them cook together.

3½ cups water

Salt, to taste

1 cup long-grain brown rice

½ cup red quinoa

1. In a saucepan, bring the water and a large pinch of salt to a boil. Add the rice, lower the heat, and cover the pan. Simmer for 20 minutes (it will not be tender).

2. In a dry skillet over medium heat, cook the quinoa, stirring with a heatproof rubber spatula, for 5 minutes, or until it starts to turn darker. Tip the quinoa into the rice, re-cover the pan, and continue cooking for 20 minutes, or until the rice and quinoa are both tender. Total simmering time is 40 minutes.

Sheryl Julian