Quinoa: The Blank Slate

Tonight I made my first attempt at cooking that renowned and trendy grain, quinoa (keen-wah, for those of you who are saying in your head, "qwih noe ah" like I did. For years.) It was...confusing.
Because I had never cooked it before, I threw my scruples to the wind and followed the suggested recipe on the back of the box (Trader Joe's, for those of you unfamiliar with my grocery store obsession). I cooked the quinoa just like rice, 1 parts quinoa to 2 parts chicken broth. Then I stir-fried cubed chicken with thinly sliced onions, bell peppers, and garlic, and tossed it all together with the quinoa, basil, and some parmesan.
I was curious about the quinoa, and since it was done before the rest I tested a few forkfuls. After I got over the optical experience (cooked quinoa looks like fish eggs, translucent with the wheat germ ring around each grain) I was immediately bowled over by the texture. It feels in the mouth exactly how it looks -- like fish eggs. I was reminded of the scene in Overboard when Goldie Hawn is detailing how caviar should taste..."it should burst in your mouth at precisely the right moment." That's how quinoa is. Initially it is very soft, but there is a bite to it that is somewhere between the burst of caviar and the bite of perfectly cooked al dente risotto. Very interesting. The flavor, however, sucked.
It was really kind of gross. It tasted earthy, musky, almost dirty. And I did wash it in three changes of cold water, so it wasn't actually dirty. But it was strange. I'm wondering if I was tasting the flavor of the chicken broth, since it wasn't the brand I usually use and quinoa seems to be...well, a blank slate.
I say that because when all was said and done, it tasted like garlic, peppers, and onions with this strange texture added in. After I had added a ton of salt (and I'm not a salt-my-food-regularly type of person) and pepper, I really enjoyed it. But what I enjoyed the most was the texture. It was fascinating. I think it needs more assertive flavors. I'm inclined to try again with feta, cherry tomatoes and some oregano or basil, maybe sauteed with some shallots and garlic, but as my husband points out, I fall back on feta and tomatoes for everything. (However, as I pointed out, it's because they're such delicious flavors that there's no point in not falling back on them.) If any of you out there have great quinoa recipes, please send them to me. I'm really, really interested in experimenting with this neat little grain.