Cooking Quinoa

Cooking Quinoa

 

This can be served hot as a side dish, or cold as a salad.

The key to a great tasting quinoa is the washing and toasting:

To wash quinoa, soak in a bowl of water, then place your hands in it and move the quinoa around, then take handfuls of quinoa rubbing it between your hands. This removes the saponin, a bitter natural coating on the quinoa. You'll notice the water become murky and the residue will rise to the surface. Once you've agitated it and rubbed it, rinse in a fine strainer. If the saponin isn't properly removed, the quinoa will have a bitter taste to it but it is harmless. Some people soak

The key to a flavorful quinoa is the toasting:

Now that your quinoa is clean, take the clean, drained quinoa (it will still be wet) and put it a cup at a time in a pan on the stove on medium and stir it around until it's toasty. White quinoa will turn toasty golden. You can smell the nutty flavor as you toast it. Once the quinoa is completely dry, now you can store the toasted quinoa in an air tight container in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook it or you can cook it immediately.

To cook:

One cup quinoa to 1 ½ to 2 cups of water. I use 1 ¾ cup or until the water is just about an inch higher than the quinoa in the pot. You do not have to boil the water first, just place the quinoa and water in the pot together and boil for about 15 minutes. Unlike rice, you do not have to close the lid completely. I vent my lid and once the quinoa has sprouted (it will sprout it's little tail) and the water is absorbed, it's ready. You can fluff it with a fork. If it's mushy, you used too much water.

There are several ways to serve quinoa. You can substitute your rice dishes with quinoa for a healthy alternative to your meals.

With Red quinoa, I serve with cranberries and chopped pecans and about quarter of a cup of maple syrup.

Some other variations are serving any color quinoa with a southwestern flavor with black beans and corn with cilantro, or a Mediterranean flavor with chick peas, olives, and feta cheese. The possibilities are endless and there are a ton of recipes for it online.

Blueberry mango quinoa salad makes a refreshing summer treat.

If you have a great quinoa recipe, please let me know so I can try it out.

**I buy my quinoa at whole foods in the bulk aisle by the pound. The red quinoa is rare and costs $6.99/lb. White quinoa costs $3.99/lb. There are multi-colored varieties as well. Sometimes they are in the barrels on the bulk aisle as well. You can find it in the regular grocery store sold in a box. Quinoa doesn't go rancid like some other grains (it's actually not a grain but a pseudocereal such as buckwheat and is an edible seed). It keeps in the pantry for a long time (years). It's been said that the vitamin e is what keeps it from turning but it's a great staple in my house.