<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Dear Listmates, I received a lot of mail regarding the Salpicon recipe I posted a few days ago [http://tinyurl.com/2vdggw ( http://home.comcast.net/~vhdolcourt/gfbaking/<http://home.comcast.net/%7Evhdolcourt/gfbaking/>)]. A number of people already make salpicon or tabbouleh, and many use brown rice as the grain. Some people also use millet or amaranth. One person suggested toasted buckwheat kasha as the starting point. This is a good choice, but the result will have a stronger flavor, and the result will be more of a pilaf. In addition, the kasha will turn to mush unless it is saluted first. The trick with a number of these grains is to cook the starch before boiling the grain in water. Quinoa is one of the exceptions, and no special preparation is required. Arguably, quinoa is the easiest. During the past few days my wife and I have made one small batch of salpicon de avena and one much larger batch of salpicon de quinua, the later was brought to a birthday party on Sunday. The batch with quinoa was cooked in full-strength chicken broth. The idea was to give the quinoa grain some additional flavor. There was also plenty of garlic in the form of chopped raw garlic and roasted garlic mashed into the oil and lemon/lime juice dressing that was made with Trader Joe's garlic flavored olive oil. If this sounds like too much garlic, the attendees at the birthday barbecue certainly didn't think so. The quinoa salad was well consumed. But then again, so was everything else. Based on all of the practice making salpicon, and a mis-fire with McCann's quick-cooking oats, I've updated the information on my salpicon page accessible from the internet. Don't even try to use McCann's quick oats. If you are short of time and don't want complexity, stick to the quinoa. I also received several inquiries about McCann's and whether or not it was gluten-free. To those people I forwarded an article from Columbia University Medical Center. Other people told me that (1) they couldn't eat oats at all, or (2) that they were successful only with certain brands (Gift of Nature or Laura's) but not conventional McCann's or Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats. One person advised that we all should be extremely careful in reading Bob's Red Mill packages as Bob's offers both gluten-free and conventional oats. Thank you to all who shared ideas and experiences. Vic-Sunnyvale, CA * Send administrative questions to mailto:[log in to unmask] * Archives are at: Http://Listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?LIST=CELIAC