I always carry food, I never cook.

I would say that the problem is probably the chef, not the ingredients.

Try this:

-Roast some pine nuts in olive oil until golden and set aside
-Boil 1 cup of Quinoa and 2 cups water together with a cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and salt.
-Once the quinoa is tender add the pine nuts, about 1/2 a cup of chopped italian parsley, and the zest of half a lemon
-Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If you can't get down with that then get your taste buds checked.

On the subject of whole grains... you can carry a grain, such as wheat, barley, spelt, &c and sprout it as you go. You have to plan ahead, since it takes a couple days-- first you soak the grain (like in a nalgene bottle) for 6-12 hours, then you rinse it every 8-12 hours for a day or two. Just before the grain sprouts, the carbohydrate turns to sugar, so it's sweet and tender, and the sprouts are like salad. I admit it's strange, since it's like a cereal and a salad at the same time. You can eat it raw, or you can cook with it, spice it, whatever. I like it.

If I have to cut it with all those spices and nuts to make it palatable, then I think the problem is in the ingredient. I've have it prepared by a couple different people, and I couldn't get past the walnut shell taste. Like I said, there's no accounting for taste. If it tastes good to you, go crazy with all those amino acids.

Do you cook plain pasta with no spices and eat it? Does it taste good? Three spices is a lot for you?

I always carry cooking gear. I don't mind eating at a restaurant occassionally but that gets old pretty fast. And there's lots of places where the nearest restaurant is more than a few miles away Missoula Montana to Kamiah ID comes to mind. There's not a lot of places to eat along the western side of Iowa either.

I have several recipes that I use at home that are pretty easy to fix on the road. They are good and filling and don't require too much preparation. But I only cook an evening meal. I've found through many bad experiences that riding and heavy eating don't work for me. So during the day I use granola bars, fruit bars, cookies (fairly low fat ones), etc. to keep me fueled. My evening meal is to recharge what I've used during the day.

Breakfast is always cold except for a cup of coffee. I hate cleaning up dishes in the morning while trying to break camp.

Sorry for detouring the thread - Thanks for the advice Zoltani and friends. Quinoa is new to me. Like I said, I bought some in the store awhile back much out of curiousity. I tried it as a side dish at breakfast. I was pretty much eating it cooked with no accoutraments. Since then, I've tried mixing it in with pasta sauces for extra protien. It's unique texture had me wondering how to prepare it. Have to admitt it reminds me a little of grits. I've never tried sprouting grains on a tour. It is SOP to start soaking the rice & lentils around 2:00pm. Then it takes less fuel to cook them. Something I learned on this forum that works like a charm.

I can make pasta or rice with just butter, or just tomato sauce, or just cheese, or even plain, and it'll be ok. Maybe bland, yes, but not objectionable. Quinoa itself has a specific and relatively strong nutty flavor that I don't like. On a bike tour especially, pine nuts roasted in olive oil, lemon zest, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and fresh parsley is a fair bit of work to cover up that flavor. I'd rather make that recipe with a grain that I like and get my protein elsewhere.