How To Cook Quinoa
I have been buying quinoa and quinoa flakes for a while now. Sadly, the packets die a slow death in the pantry. Honestly, I can’t tell you why I am so apprehensive to cook it. Maybe my fussy offsprings are to blame. But I still buy quinoa, like clockwork. Maybe I am an eternal idealist. Maybe I have too much going on in my pantry. Well this is the year, that changes.
Believe it or not, but quinoa makes me think of Heidi Swanson. Lateral thinking at its very best. Her blog 101 Cookbooks was where I first read about it and realised that quinoa, amaranth and millet were actually all different. My mum used to give me a breakfast bar that we used to call "guldhani" and I can’t be sure whether it was made of quinoa or amaranth. I must admit at this point that as a child I wasn’t a big fan of those breakfast bars but my mum seemed to love them a lot. And maybe that is the reason why I shied away from cooking quinoa because I feared history would repeat itself with my progeny.
Seeing the art of quinoa condensed to three sentences in a little box in Heidi’s Super Natural Every Day Cookbook, I decided to take a leap of faith. It looked non-daunting and suddenly I wanted to make a big bowl of quinoa. Cooking quinoa is very much like cooking couscous, except you actually cook it on heat. So I cooked quinoa, stored it in the fridge for 3 days and made Garlic And Thyme Quinoa Patties for a snack after we returned from a sun kissed trip to Whale Beach. Rivs who is growing taller and ganglier as he approaches eight, proclaimed he wanted to eat the patties for dinner every night. He wolfed down quite a few and really took a shine to them. Gummi Bear whose main food group is dairy in cheese, milkshake, yogurt and more cheese format; tried. He really did and I was proud of him for that. But he has a while to go before he can love quinoa. At least, there is hope.
Quinoa
Adapted from Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson
Makes approximately 5 cups
Ingredients
2 cups uncooked quinoa
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt flakes
Method
Combine all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes until water disappears, the quinoa is tender and you can see the little curlicues. Remove from heat. Cool and store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month.
January 2012 Spotlight – Heidi Swanson
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Garlic And Thyme Quinoa Patties
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This is a great guide. It took me a while to also get the hang of cooking with it but now I feel quite comfortable. Gorgeous clicks Sneh!
Peter G | Souvlaki For The Soul´s last [type] ..Loukaniko and Haloumi Quesadillas
Great shots Sneh! I have been buying and cooking quinoa “rice” for the kids and I for a while, but it’s the Mr who doesn’t quite trust round grains. Quinoa and all types of cous cous are served very sparingly on his plate. The patties sound good though!
Martyna @ WholesomeCook´s last [type] ..Chimichurri my way
ha ha, men are big babies aren’t they? The patties might convert him though.
I know what Quinoa is, I see it in recipes, but as yet have actually had a go at using it myself. Thanks for your easy guide to cooking it, has made it a lot easy for me to give it a go.
Sara (Belly Rumbles)´s last [type] ..Happy New Year!
Quinoa is cooked almost exactly like rice, thats what we love about it. Simple ingredients, cooked in the simplest ways.
Beautiful photos… I have never cooked quinoa before.
I had never eaten quinoa till this week. Part of my new year resolution to eat more unfamiliar things. Quite a succes in my family. I wrote a blog describing all the health benefits of this (almost wonder)food. How did I ever survive without it?
Many greetings from a rainy Holland.
http://gewoonlekkergewoon.blogspot.com/2012/01/niet-meer-onbekend-en-zeker-bemind.html
Gerry/Gewoon Lekker Gewoon´s last [type] ..Niet meer onbekend en zeker bemind.
For a little extra nuttiness to your quinoa, put a little oil in the pot and toast the quinoa first. Then add the water & salt and continue with the recipe. It also adds flavor to it if you do 1/2 chicken broth instead of all water. I eat quinoa almost every day.
Love these little hints. Thanks Nikki!